Browsing by Author "Wallis, LA"
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- ItemEnvironmental context for late holocene human occupation of the South Wellesley Archipelago, Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia(Elsevier, 2015-10-22) Moss, PT; Mackenzie, LL; Ulm, S; Sloss, CR; Rosendahl, D; Petherick, LM; Steinberger, L; Wallis, LA; Heijnis, H; Petchey, F; Jacobsen, GEA 2400 year record of environmental change is reported from a wetland on Bentinck Island in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia. Three phases of wetland development are identified, with a protected coastal setting from ca. 2400 to 500 years ago, transitioning into an estuarine mangrove forest from ca. 500 years ago to the 1940s, and finally to a freshwater swamp over the past +60 years. This sequence reflects the influence of falling sea-levels, development of a coastal dune barrier system, prograding shorelines, and an extreme storm (cyclone) event. In addition, there is clear evidence of the impacts that human abandonment and resettlement have on the island's fire regimes and vegetation. A dramatic increase in burning and vegetation thickening was observed after the cessation of traditional Indigenous Kaiadilt fire management practices in the 1940s, and was then reversed when people returned to the island in the 1980s. In terms of the longer context for human occupation of the South Wellesley Archipelago, it is apparent that the mangrove phase provided a stable and productive environment that was conducive for human settlement of this region over the past 1000 years. © 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
- ItemHuman occupation of northern Australia by 65,000 years ago(Springer Nature, 2017-07-20) Clarkson, C; Jacobs, Z; Marwick, B; Fullager, R; Wallis, LA; Smith, MA; Roberts, RG; Hayes, E; Lowe, KM; Carah, X; Florin, SA; McNeil, J; Cox, D; Arnold, LJ; Hua, Q; Huntley, J; Brand, HEA; Manne, T; Fairbairn, AS; Shulmeister, J; Lyle, L; Salinas, M; Page, M; Connell, K; Park, GY; Norman, K; Murphy, T; Pardoe, CThe time of arrival of people in Australia is an unresolved question. It is relevant to debates about when modern humans first dispersed out of Africa and when their descendants incorporated genetic material from Neanderthals, Denisovans and possibly other hominins. Humans have also been implicated in the extinction of Australia’s megafauna. Here we report the results of new excavations conducted at Madjedbebe, a rock shelter in northern Australia. Artefacts in primary depositional context are concentrated in three dense bands, with the stratigraphic integrity of the deposit demonstrated by artefact refits and by optical dating and other analyses of the sediments. Human occupation began around 65,000 years ago, with a distinctive stone tool assemblage including grinding stones, ground ochres, reflective additives and ground-edge hatchet heads. This evidence sets a new minimum age for the arrival of humans in Australia, the dispersal of modern humans out of Africa, and the subsequent interactions of modern humans with Neanderthals and Denisovans. © 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature.
- ItemOchre through the late Quaternary at Gledswood Shelter 1, northwest Queensland(Australasian Quaternary Association Inc, 2014-06-29) Wallis, LA; Lowe, KM; Popelka-Filcoff, RS; Bennett, JW; St George, C; Watson, C; Fitzsimmons, KE; Wight, C; Watchman, A; Lenehan, CE; Matthews, JGledswood Shelter 1 (GS1) is a sandstone rockshelter located in northwest Queensland containing archaeological evidence for human occupation dating from at least 35 ka to the recent past. Considerable quantities of ochre fragments (many with striations caused by grinding) have been recovered from the 2.5 m deep cultural sequence, particularly in the pre-LGM levels. The abundance of ochre varies through time, in line with recovered stone artefacts, suggesting that these materials reflect different periods and intensities of site use. This evidence possibly indicates that the production of painted or stencilled art in this region may be earlier than previous evidence suggests (ca 9,000 years ago). The GS1 ochre samples were initially characterised according to visual characteristics including colour, texture and inclusions using low powered microscopy. This work suggests there are several groups of pigment present, including fragments that would more normally be referred to as ironstone and not considered as an 'ochre', but that have anthropogenic ground surfaces indicating their use as a source of pigment. In this paper we present the initial characterisation and preliminary neutron activation analysis results of the GS1 ochres, and consider their implications for the human history of the northwest Queensland region.
- ItemUsing stable isotope analysis of archaeological pandanus nutshell to understand past rainfall at Madjedbebe, northern Australia(Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, 2021-11-17) Florin, A; Roberts, P; Marwick, B; Patton, NR; Schilmeister, J; Lovelock, CE; Barry, LA; Hua, Q; Nango, M; Djandjomerr, D; Fullagar, R; Wallis, LA; Faibairn, AS; Clarkson, CArchaeological research provides a long-term perspective on how humans live with various environmental conditions over tens of thousands of years. However, to do this, archaeologists rely on the existence of local and temporally comparable environmental proxies, which are often not available. Our research at Madjedbebe, a ~65,000-year-old archaeological site on Mirarr country in northern Australia, developed an on-site proxy for past rainfall from pandanus nutshell, a remnant of ancient meals eaten at the site. This talk will discuss how we can use ancient food scraps, such as pandanus nutshell, to document past rainfall and what the results of this research mean for communities living at Madjedbebe in the past.