Between 2013 and 2016, Scarp Archaeology developed and implemented an extensive excavation research program across the eastern Hamersley Plateau, an arid and mountainous physiographic region in the Pilbara biogeographical region of Western Australia. More than 100 rock shelters were excavated during the program, resulting in the documentation of 22 rock‐shelter sites with Pleistocene‐age Aboriginal archaeological deposits. This paper presents the radiometric determinations for these Pleistocene rock‐shelter sites, which collectively suggest that the eastern Plateau was occupied by 45000 years ago. The paper further develops a hypothesis that there was a substantial shift in the incidence and intensity of rock‐shelter occupation during the Last Glacial Maximum, c.30000–20000 years ago, where there was a substantial downturn in the use of most rock‐shelter sites, and in some instances rock shelters were abandoned. However, after the Last Glacial Maximum, we posit that a widespread reoccupation of the region soon occurred. Our research also offers an examination of artefact discard through time, illustrating changes in raw material discard and technology and the likely correlations with procurement and subsistence strategies.

中文翻译：

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哈默斯利高原东部更新世聚居地：22 个岩石掩蔽场所的区域研究

2013 年至 2016 年间，斯卡普考古学在哈默斯利高原东部制定并实施了一项广泛的挖掘研究计划，哈默斯利高原是西澳大利亚皮尔巴拉生物地理区域的干旱山区。项目期间挖掘了 100 多个岩石掩体，记录了 22 个带有更新世时代土著考古沉积物的岩石掩体遗址。本文介绍了对这些更新世岩石庇护所遗址的辐射测定结果，它们共同表明东部高原在 45000 年前就已被占领。该论文进一步提出了一个假设，即在大约 30000-20000 年前的末次盛冰期期间，岩石庇护所占据的发生率和强度发生了重大变化，大多数岩石避难场所的使用率大幅下降，在某些情况下，岩石避难所被废弃。然而，在末次冰川盛期之后，我们假设该地区很快就会被广泛重新占领。我们的研究还提供了对随时间推移的人工制品丢弃的检查，说明了原材料丢弃和技术的变化以及与采购和生存策略可能的相关性。