Plateau and plain : prehistoric investigations in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory

Abstract

'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 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.