Ian Moffat

Archaeological investigations in the shallow seawater environment with electrical resistivity tomography

This work explores the applicability and effectiveness of electrical resistivity tomography in mapping archaeological relics in the shallow marine environment. The approach consists of a methodology based on numerical simulation models validated with comparison to field data. Numerical modelling includes the testing of different electrode arrays suitable for multi-channel resistivity instruments (dipole–dipole, pole–dipole, and gradient). The electrodes are placed at fixed positions either floating on the sea surface or submerged at the bottom of the sea. Additional tests are made concerning the resolving capabilities of electrical resistivity tomography with various seawater depths and target characteristics (dimensions and burial depth of the targets). Although valid a priori information, in terms of water resistivity and thickness, can be useful for constraining the inversion, it should be used judiciously to prevent erroneous information leading to misleading results. Finally, an application of the method at a field site is presented not only for verifying the theoretical results but also at the same time for proposing techniques to overcome problems that can occur due to the special environment. Numerical and field electrical resistivity tomography results indicated the utility of the method in reconstructing off-shore cultural features, demonstrating at the same time its applicability to be integrated in wider archaeological projects.

Gledswood Shelter 1: Initial Radiocarbon Dates from a Pleistocene Aged Rockshelter Site in Northwest Queensland

In 2002, a research programme was initiated in collaboration with the Woolgar Valley Aboriginal Corporation to investigate the long-term chronology and nature of regional occupation of the northwest savannah corridor, beyond local refugia. Subsequent surveys identified more than 100 sites among the sandstone escarpments in the foothills of the Gregory Ranges (Wallis et al. 2004). However, owing to the specific site formation processes operating locally, few of these have accumulated sedimentary sequences suited to addressing questions of long-term chronology. The recently excavated Gledswood Shelter 1 (hereafter GS1) is an exception to this generalisation and this paper presents the initial results of radiocarbon determinations from this site.

Locating places for repatriated burial: a case study from Ngarrindjeri ruwe, South Australia

In this ingenious co-operative case study, archaeologists and Indigenous peoples use geophysical survey to scan suitable places for the reburial of repatriated human remains. The process is also building a procedure for the low impact and respectful research of early Indigenous burial locations.

Mapping anthropogenic fill with GPR for unmarked grave detection: a case study from a possible location of Mokare’s grave, Albany, Western Australia

Abstract Geophysical techniques are a commonly used, non-invasive method for the location of unmarked graves. Contrary to popular perception, most studies rely not on directly imaging skeletal material but instead on locating the subsurface disturbance created by grave digging. This approach is effective only when sufficient contrast exists between detectable properties (such as structure, mineralogy or porosity) of the grave fill and the surrounding sediment. Resolving these features can be particularly problematic in disturbed areas where other anthropogenic fill is in place, as it is often complex in character and lacks a natural stratigraphy. In many cultural heritage projects, it is often more important to ensure that burials are not disturbed rather than to specifically locate them. Under these circumstances, ground penetrating radar (GPR) can be used to locate modern anthropogenic fill. This may show which areas of the site are younger than the targeted graves and therefore of no archaeological interest. This approach is trialled on a site thought to contain the grave of Mokare, a significant historical figure in the colonial settlement of the Albany area in Western Australia. The delineation of a package of modern fill in the shallow subsurface in the context of the probable history of earthworks on the site demonstrates that Mokare is not buried in the surveyed location. This approach, applied to suitable sites, could contribute to culturally sensitive non-invasive investigation of burial sites in other locations. In many cultural heritage projects, it is often more important to ensure that burials are not disturbed rather than to specifically locate them. Under these circumstances, ground penetrating radar (GPR) can be used to locate modern anthropogenic fill. This may show which areas of the site are younger than the targeted graves and therefore of no archaeological interest. This approach is successfully trialled on a site in Albany, Western Australia. This approach, applied to suitable sites, could contribute to culturally sensitive non-invasive investigation of burial sites in other locations.

Exploring the hiri ceramics trade at a short-lived village site near the Vailala River, Papua New Guinea

Abstract Investigations at the newly discovered, once-coastal but now inland archaeological village site of Keveoki 1 allows us to characterise the nature and antiquity of ancestral hiri trade ceramics around 450-500 cal BP in the recipient Vailala River-Kea Kea villages of the Gulf Province of the southern coast of Papua New Guinea. This paper reports on the decorated ceramics from Keveoki 1, where a drainage channel cut in 2004 revealed a short-lived village site with a rich, stratified ceramic assemblage. It represents a rare account of the ceramic assemblage from a short duration village on a relic beach ridge in southern Papua New Guinea, and contributes to ongoing attempts to refine ceramic sequences in the recipient (western) end of the hiri system of long-distance maritime trade. Because of the presence of a single occupational period of a few decades at most, short duration sites such as Keveoki 1 allow for chronological refinement of ceramic conventions in a way that multilevel sites usually cannot, owing to the lack of stratigraphic mixing between chronologically separate ceramic assemblages in the former.

Trialing geophysical techniques in the identification of open Indigenous sites in Australia: A case study from inland northwest Queensland

The use of geophysical techniques as an aid to archaeological investigations has become common-place, however these methods have only occasionally been applied in Indigenous Australian archaeology. This is despite recognition (and recommendations) since the 1970s that such approaches have the potential to yield positive results in such contexts (e.g. Connah et al. 1976; Stanley 1983; Stanley and Green 1976). Australian archaeologists have perhaps been reluctant to embrace these techniques because of their perceived high cost (both of equipment and specialist staff) and the subtle nature of subsurface Indigenous sites as geophysical targets. Nevertheless, there have been a number of recent applications of these techniques in Australia, particularly in relation to burial and hearth sites. We report the results of a pilot study conducted in northwest Queensland. This study aimed to test the applicability of geophysical methods being routinely employed to locate a variety of open site features (particularly hearths and middens) as part of reconnaissance surveys. While not being entirely successful, this study demonstrated that certain archaeological features can be readily identified using geophysical techniques, though further research and trials should be carried out to refine the uses of these techniques to allow their more widespread applicability.

‘They call ’im Crowie’: an investigation of the Aboriginal significance attributed to a wrecked River Murray barge in South Australia

The Indigenous intangible heritage related to wrecked vessels has been poorly studied and documented. This article provides a counter to dominant maritime archaeology discourses via the investigation of the Aboriginal significance attributed to a wrecked and submerged River Murray barge (Crowie) in South Australia. There are numerous layers of Aboriginal significance that may be attributed to Crowie including the relationship of the community with their ‘underwater country’, Indigenous contributions to the riverboat industry, and the use of Aboriginal terms in vessel-naming practices. Geophysical data from multibeam and sidescan sonar surveys allowed for confirmation of the proposed location of the wreck and through comparison with historical descriptions and photographs provided evidence to substantiate the assignation of the wreck as the Crowie barge.

Archaeology of rock art at Dalakngalarr 1, central-western Arnhem Land

The archaeomorphological study of Nawarla Gabarnmang in Australias Northern Territory challenges us to think in new ways about how Aboriginal people interacted with their surroundings; here a site of everyday engagement was a place of construction that retains material traces of past engagements. At Nawarla Garbarnmang, we show through archaeomorphological research how the changing physical layout of a site can be cross-examined against the impacts of human engagements through time. While the scope and scale of activities involved the anthropogenic removal over tens of thousands of years of rock pillars below the caves roof, other practices came and went over time, the complex sequence of rock art conventions being an apt example. These artistic transformations, much like the era of pillar clearances, are a clear example of changing cultural practices in a part of Australia where some 50,000 years of human occupation can be shown.The Arnhem Land plateau in northern Australia contains a particularly rich rock art assemblage. The area has a small number of large rockshelters with numerous and extensive suites of superimposed motifs (c. 2 per cent of 630 recorded shelters have >200 images). Studies of the rock art of Arnhem Land have primarily been concerned with attempting to understand the age of the art, with particular interest on the Pleistocene to mid-Holocene periods (Chaloupka 1977, 1984, 1985, 1993; Chippindale and Taçon 1993; Haskovec 1992; Lewis 1998; Taçon and Chippindale 1994). Most of these efforts have largely relied on interpretations of styles and their respective patterns of superimposition. Taçon (e.g. 1987, 1989a, 1989b, 1992) has written extensively on X-ray rock art from the northern perimeter of the plateau, and his work on ‘recent’ period art remains the most important study on this subject. The production of X-ray art has also been shown to have been popular during the European-contact period of the past 200 years or so (Chaloupka 1993; May et al. 2010; Wesley 2013). The most detailed study of rock art in the late Holocene period is the extensive radiocarbon dating of beeswax figures by Nelson et al. (2000), most of which fall within the past 500 years (but see Bednarik 2001).This chapter explores [the] incongruity in the distribution of Western-contact motifs contrasting northwestern and southwestern Arnhem Land in relation to the rich corpus of other kinds of rock art on the plateau. We stress from the onset that while images of ‘Western-contact art’ derive from a wide variety of responses to outsider influences, and include imagery that employs conventions akin and often indistinguishable to those of the pre–Western contact period, in this chapter we restrict our discussion to images of introduced objects and demonstrably foreign peoples.

The Upihoi Find: Wrecked Wooden Bevaia (Lagatoi) Hulls of Epemeavo Village, Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea

Abstract On 20 August 2007, Epemeavo and Kea Kea villagers from the eastern end of the Gulf Province of Papua New Guinea reported finding two lagatoi hulls deeply buried in beach sands at Upihoi, near Epemeavo village, parts of a trading vessel associated with the renowned Motu hiri trade of former times. This paper presents results of an emergency investigation of these finds by staff of the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery and Monash University, describing the find, its environmental, cultural and social settings and contexts of discovery, radiocarbon dating, historical assessments, and significance.

An Introduction to Geophysical and Geochemical Methods in Digital Geoarchaeology

Archaeological geophysics is a range of techniques for the minimally invasive, remote investigation of the physical parameters of the near-surface environment. This suite of methods is complementary to archaeological survey or excavation as it can provide information about the stratigraphy of the survey area, locate anthropogenic traces of the past, document their spatial dimensions and—under ideal conditions—explore the physical properties of subsurface materials. Both material culture items such as a building foundations and indirect indications of anthropogenic activity such as subsurface disturbance or evidence of burning are excellent direct targets for geophysical investigations since they can be differentiated on the basis of their material properties from the wider soil context. In addition to directly locating archaeological material, geophysical techniques can make an important contribution to geoarchaeological investigations by elucidating the site stratigraphy and mapping its lateral geometry. In some cases, such as when locating prehistoric material buried offshore or within open Palaeolithic sites, the reconstruction of past landscapes may make a more important contribution to archaeological investigations than the direct geophysical detection of archaeological materials.