Ponomareva, Irina, Cunningham, Cate, and Stephenson, Birgitta (2026) Late Holocene Occupation and Resource Use in the Sub‐Coastal Moreton Region: The Open‐Air Howard Creek Site, Southeast Queensland. Archaeology in Oceania. (In Press)

Preview

PDF (Published Version) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial. Download (6MB) | Preview

Abstract

This paper reports archaeological investigations at the Howard Creek site, a Late Holocene open-air site in the sub-coastal Moretonregion of southeast Queensland. The site adds to a regional record based largely on rockshelter excavations. Development-ledsalvage investigations included excavation, radiocarbon dating, lithic analysis, and use-wear and residue studies. Six radiocarbondeterminations provide a broad chronological framework for site use during the last approximately 2000 years. The cataloguedassemblage comprises 11,990 artefacts, of which 10,279 from two trenches were included in the lithic analysis. Artefact densitiesreach 2,016 per square metre within one excavation square. Chert constitutes 81.3% of the analysed assemblage and probably deriveslargely from the nearby Wongawallan Jasper Quarry. Cores and debitage indicate stone-working. Use-wear and residue analysisof eight selected artefacts provides evidence for plant processing and animal-tissue or bone processing. The assemblage suggestsrecurrent use of the locality for stone-working and other activities. Post-depositional mixing limits the chronological placementof particular artefacts and activities and the assessment of changes in occupation intensity. Howard Creek contributes furtherevidence for Late Holocene land use and activities beyond the rockshelter record

Item ID:	94595
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1834-4453
Copyright Information:	© 2026 The Author(s). Archaeology in Oceania published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of University of Sydney. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
Research Data:	https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/arco.70035
Date Deposited:	09 Nov 2026 05:35
FoR Codes:	43 HISTORY, HERITAGE AND ARCHAEOLOGY > 4301 Archaeology > 430103 Archaeology of Australia (excl. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) @ 100%
SEO Codes:	28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280113 Expanding knowledge in history, heritage and archaeology @ 100%
	More Statistics