White, Carmel
Description
'Plateau and Plain' deals with the results of a
programme of prehistoric research in Arnhem Land,
Northern Territory, in 1964 and 1965.
Chapter I describes the problem as it appeared when
the research began, Earlier work had highlighted
typological problems in the area but after the 1964 field
season the aims of the programme were reorientated in
the light of the field situation. According to local
Aboriginal informants and 1iterary sources, two fairly
distinct cultural groups had...[Show more] 1ived in the area. The
plains people were woodworkers who seldom made or used
stone tools, whereas the people of the hilly plateau
made stone tools. As a result, attempts were made to
see whether this cultural dichotomy was reflected in
the archaeological record.
Having outlined the problem, the general environment
of the research area is discussed briefly in terms of
our current knowledge of the enthography, geology,
climate, fauna and flora.
Chapter II deals with the methods used in the field,
and the procedures employed to analyse the material later
The most detailed part of the discussion concerns the code
used to analyse the large collections of stone implements. Having explained the aims and the methods of the
research, the next five chapters deal with the
description and analysis of material excavated at three
sites on the plain, and two sites in the hilly plateau.
Chapter III concerns the excavations at Padypadiy, a
small cave on the plain. Occupation lasted there for
at least 3,000 years. Food remains include shells,
bones and plant remains and a marked degree of
differential weathering is noted, The implements
include bone, shell, wood and stone tools and analysis
shows that the bone, shell and wooden tools were probably
made on the spot, whereas the stone tools (such as points
and small scrapers) were clearly imported into the
shelter.
The remains in Padypadiy are similar in many respects
to items made and used by the Kakadu people who lived
near Oenpelli in 1912, so that there is some justification
for relating the archaeological remains and the people,
Chapter IV deals with the excavations at Malangangerr,
another shelter on the plain. The stratigraphic sequence
there consists of unstratified sand (dated to about
18-20,000 B.P.), overlain by a well stratified midden
(dated from 6,000 to 3OO B.P.). The dietary remains and
artefacts recovered from the midden, are very similar to
those found at Padypadiy. Only stone tools occur in the
lower sands and these consist largely of' chunky scrapers
and edge ground axes,
Chapter V describes the material excavated at
Nawamoyn, another rock shelter on the plain. The
stratigraphy and radiocarbon dates of this deposit are almost identical with the series found at Malangangerr,
thus overruling some of the earlier doubts about the
antiquity of the deposits in general, and of edge ground
axes in particular. The dietary remains and artefacts in
the midden are very similar to those found at Padypadiy,
so that the absence of stone working on the plains seems
to be a fairly long lived tradition that possibly lasted
for some 7,000 years.
Chapter VI contains a detailed analysis of the stone
industry excavated at Tyimede I, a shelter in the plateau.
It is argued that the earliest stages of the industry
should be dated to about 14.,0QO B.P. The industry
consists mainly of points and small scrapers, which are
similar to the implements excavated at the plains sites,
except for the fact that the Tyimede I tools were
produced at the site.
Chapter VII deals with the material excavated at
Tyimede II, a shelter only about 100 m. away from Tyimede
I. Two stone industries occur here. The earlier one is
characterised by chunky scrapers and edge ground axes
and resembles the early series at Malangangerr and
Nawamoyn. It is dated to 6,000-7,000 B.P. The later
industry is very similar in all respects to the assemblage
from Tyimede I and the early stages are dated to about
4,500 B.P.
Chapter VIII contains a summary of the most important
results of the research. An attempt is made to assess
these findings in the light of previous work in other
parts of the Northern Territory, and in the rest of the country as a whole. In particular, there is an appraisal
of Mulvaney's rationalisation of the changes in stone tool
typology in Australia.
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