Using stable isotope analysis of archaeological pandanus nutshell to understand past rainfall at Madjedbebe, northern Australia
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Date
2021-11-17
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
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.
Description
Keywords
Stable isotopes, Archaeology, Rain, Australia, Environment, Food, Indigenous peoples
Citation
Florin, A., Roberts, P., Marwick, B., Patton, N. R., Shulmeister, J., Lovelock, C. E., Barry, L. A., Hua, Q., Nango, M., Djandjomerr, D., Fullagar, R., Wallis, L. A., Fairbairn, A. S., & Clarkson, C. (2021). Using stable isotope analysis of archaeological pandanus nutshell to understand past rainfall at Madjedbebe, northern Australia. Paper presented to the 15th International Conference on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry. ANSTO Sydney, Australia. November 15th – 19th, 2021. (pp. 144). Retrieved from: https://ams15sydney.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/AMS-15-Full-Program-and-Abstract-Book-R-1.pdf