Browsing by Author "Wright, D"

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    The archaeology of Bindjarran rockshelter in Manilikarr Country, Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory
    (Australian Archaelogical Association Inc., 2015-06-01) Shine, D; Marshall, M; Wright, D; Denham, T; Hiscock, P; Jacobsen, GE; Stephens, SP
    Archaeological excavations at Bindjarran rockshelter in Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, have revealed evidence of human settlement on the East Alligator River floodplain from the terminal Pleistocene through to the twentieth century. This excavation report summarises the archaeological, ethnographic and rock art research from the site, focusing on dated distributions of stone artefacts. The findings from Bindjarran conform to archaeological findings from previously investigated sites in the region and contribute to a greater understanding of Aboriginal society in this region during the Big Swamp phase, Freshwater phase and in the last 600 years. © 2015, Australian Archaeological Association Inc.
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    The archaeology of overburden: method within the madness at ˇSv´edův Stůl, Czech Republic
    (Elsevier, 2021-08-01) Wright, D; Hughes, PD; Skopal, N; Kmošek, M; Way, A; Sullivan, M; Lisá, L; Ricardi, P; Škrdla, P; Nejman, L; Gadd, PS; Nývltová Fišáková, M; Mlejnek, O; Králík, M
    In the 19th and early to mid-20th centuries, a rush to better understand the European Palaeolithic led to the substantive removal of deposits from limestone caves. In the 21st century the situation has changed. Many caves are now excavated, leaving behind a human-made environment of diminished cave sediments and large spoil heaps, with the latter now targeted by those searching for artefacts missed during the original excavations. In an age in which archaeologists are increasingly attempting to balance their roles as cultural heritage educators and destroyers, the question remains - how much do we know about the taphonomy of these features? In this paper we report results from the excavation of a large spoil heap outside Švédův Stůl Cave, in the Moravian Karst region of Czech Republic. Results show heterogeneous sediment formation (revealed primarily through their field characteristics and ED-XRF and Itrax geochemical analyses) and patterns in artefact distributions (evident through assessment of Iron Age, Neolithic and modern artefacts) and faunal remains. This allows partial context to be provided for some artefacts and a methodology to be developed for excavation of overburden. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd.
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    Jaws caught on the IMBL
    (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, 2021-11-25) Maksimenko, A; Reser, D; Häusermann, D; De Veer, M; Panagiotopoulou, O; Huveneers, C; Wright, D; Hall, C
    Maturational changes in feeding behaviour among sharks are associated with increased mineralisation of the teeth and jaws, but this relationship has only been demonstrated in a few species. Large, highly mobile shark species are rarely available for detailed anatomical study, despite their importance for ecological health and widespread interest among the general population. We examined the crania, jaws, and teeth of two great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), a 2.3 m juvenile and a 3.2 m young adult. The CT scans used a 230 keV (mean energy) polychromatic beam from the 4 Tesla wiggler, with a filtration of 6mmAl, 6mmCu, 3mmMo and 3mmPb. The detector was a Teledyne-Dalsa Xineos 3030HR with 100µm pixels, a width of 300mm, and a 1mm CsI converter for high efficiency at high energy. Image noise was reduced by collecting 18,000 projections per rotation to deliver an image quality good enough to segment out different tissue types. With a beam size of 300mm x 35mm, the shark head was covered by ‘tiling’, and stitching the tiles, with the full-head image made up of two columns and 21 tiles, to image a 600mm x 520mm area. Total scan time was 9 hours. The heads were also imaged using conventional CT and 7 Tesla MRI for finite element modelling of bite forces produced by the jaw musculature. These results will be compared with measurements of the difference in mineralisation of tooth and jaw cartilage between the two specimens to assess developmental changes in tooth and jaw hardness as the animals shift their diets from largely fish-based (juvenile) to larger prey, such as seals, scavenged whales and surfers (adults). © The Authors