Using stable isotope analysis of archaeological pandanus nutshell to understand past rainfall at Madjedbebe, northern Australia

Abstract

Archaeological 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.