Wesley, Daryl, Litster, Mirani, O'Connor, Sue, Grono, Elle, Theys, Jeff, Higgins, Andrew, Jones, Tristen, May, Sally K., and Taçon, Paul (2018) The archaeology of Maliwawa: 25,000 years of occupation in the Wellington Range, Arnhem Land. Australian Archaeology, 84 (2). pp. 108-128.

PDF (Published Version) - Published Version Restricted to Repository staff only

 

6

1

Abstract

The archaeology of Bald Rock 1, Bald Rock 2 and Bald Rock 3 at the sandstone outcrop of Maliwawa has established $25,000years of Indigenous occupation in the Wellington Range, northwestern Arnhem Land. Flaked stone artefacts were found from the beginning of the sequence, with ground-edge axes, pounding and grinding technology and ochre recovered from deposits dating from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the recent contact period. Maliwawa was occupied during the LGM and other major regional environmental changes arising from post-glacial sea level rise and stabilisation along with the climatic variability of the Indonesian Australian Summer Monsoon (IASM) and El Nin~o Southern Oscillation (ENSO), supporting models that define Arnhem Land as a refugium. Lithic assemblages are repre- sented by a quartz and quartzite flake abundance technological strategy, with an unusual lack of stone points observed, although other typical Arnhem Land Holocene retouched lithics are present. Raw material diversity in the late Holocene, alongside a variety of emer- gent pan-Arnhem Land rock art styles in the Wellington Range, supports the proposition of increasing exchange between Indigenous groups. These changes in the archaeological record signal the expansion of cultural systems throughout western Arnhem Land, docu- mented historically and archaeologically, at the time of culture contact.

Actions (Repository Staff Only)

Item Control Page