Abstract In recent years, machine learning approaches have been used to classify and extract style from media and have been used to reinforce known chronologies from classical art history. In this work we employ the first ever machine learning analysis of Australian rock art using a data efficient transfer learning approach to identify features suitable for distinguishing styles of rock art. These

(2021). Assembling Archaeology: Teaching, Practice and Research. Australian Archaeology. Ahead of Print.

Abstract This paper details an anthracological pilot study for the Lepu-Kina rockshelter site (AT-7), located on Atauro Island, East Timor and considers the implications of the preliminary results for the archaeology of the region. Archaeological wood charcoal analysis can reveal aspects of fuel selection, human landscape modifications and management of vegetal resources. The difficulties inherent

(2021). Rockshelter Excavations in the East Hamersley Range, Pilbara Region, Western Australia. Australian Archaeology. Ahead of Print.

(2021). Forts and Fortification in Wallacea: Archaeological and Ethnohistoric Investigations. Australian Archaeology. Ahead of Print.

Abstract Archaeologists have long grappled with identifying quartz artefacts in the archaeological record. The particular fracture mechanics of quartz can complicate the distinction between knapped quartz, other types of deliberately broken quartz, and natural occurrences of this mineral. In Australia, the quartz ‘problem’ is compounded on goldfields, where quartz debris from knapping, gold mining

Abstract This article presents the analysis and preliminary contextualisation of a bone point located during the Lower Murray Archaeological Project excavations in South Australia in 2008. The artefact was recovered from a midden and burial site, Murrawong (Glen Lossie), and was situated in a layer dating to 5303–3875 cal BP. The artefact was the only bone point recovered during the project and is

(2021). Dr Space Junk vs The Universe: Archaeology and the Future. Australian Archaeology. Ahead of Print.

(2021). Exploring the Archaeology of the Modern City in Nineteenth-Century Australia. Australian Archaeology. Ahead of Print.

(2021). The Commonwealth Block, Melbourne: A Historical Archaeology. Australian Archaeology. Ahead of Print.

(2021). Our Blue Planet: An Introduction to Maritime and Underwater Archaeology,. Australian Archaeology. Ahead of Print.

Abstract The opening keynote session at the 2019 Australian Archaeological Association (AAA) annual conference on the Gold Coast was designed to allow reflection on how archaeology has developed in the 50 years since John Mulvaney (1969) published his landmark Prehistory of Australia (Clarkson 2019; David and Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation 2019; Hodgetts and Ross 2019; Jacobs 2019;

(2020). Change and decay in all around I see … but shine through the gloom. Australian Archaeology: Vol. 86, No. 3, pp. 295-296.

(2020). We don’t have as much agency as you think. Australian Archaeology: Vol. 86, No. 3, pp. 297-298.

(2020). Disrupting what, whose Country, whose paradise? Australian Archaeology: Vol. 86, No. 3, pp. 299-301.

(2020). Development of discipline creates polarities in practice and views. Australian Archaeology: Vol. 86, No. 3, pp. 302-303.

(2020). Putting the social back into archaeology. Australian Archaeology: Vol. 86, No. 3, pp. 304-305.

(2020). ‘Disrupting paradise’: Changing pedagogy, practice and specialisations into a collaborative venture to ensure Australian archaeology has a future. Australian Archaeology: Vol. 86, No. 3, pp. 306-308.

(2020). A comment on the disruption … Australian Archaeology: Vol. 86, No. 3, pp. 309-310.

(2020). Using communities of practice to build a resilient archaeological discipline in Australia. Australian Archaeology: Vol. 86, No. 3, pp. 311-312.

(2020). Thoughts of a CHM generalist. Australian Archaeology: Vol. 86, No. 3, pp. 313-314.

(2020). Research analytics and the corporatisation of Australian universities: Driving quantity but not quality? Australian Archaeology: Vol. 86, No. 3, pp. 315-317.

(2020). Paradise disrupted? Australian Archaeology: Vol. 86, No. 3, pp. 318-319.

(2020). Response. Australian Archaeology: Vol. 86, No. 3, pp. 320-321.

Abstract In this paper we report on new research at the iconic archaeological site of Cloggs Cave (GunaiKurnai Country), in the southern foothills of SE Australia’s Great Dividing Range. Detailed chronometric dating, combined with high-resolution 3D mapping, geomorphological studies and archaeological excavations, now allow a dense sequence of Late Holocene ash layers and their contents to be correlated

Abstract This paper investigates the nature of mobility and interaction through a study of ceramic production at the Late Lapita site of Amalut, southwest New Britain, Papua New Guinea. This study undertook a physico-chemical analysis of pottery from Amalut and compared results with established ceramic production models for this region. A new model for ceramic production strategies in Late Lapita is

(2020). Debating Lapita: Distribution, Chronology, Society and Subsistence. Australian Archaeology. Ahead of Print.

(2020). Who Came to Tea at the Old Kinchega Homestead? Tablewares, Teawares and Social Interaction at an Australian Outback Pastoral Homestead. Australian Archaeology. Ahead of Print.

Abstract The Yodda is a large flaked stone artefact found across Australia in rare, isolated contexts, subject to almost no archaeological study. Yoddas are rare artefacts, which to date have only been collected as isolated surface finds. In an attempt to move towards an understanding of these enigmatic objects, we present an analysis of Yoddas (n = 27) known to us from Australian collections, and

Abstract Urbanisation is a transformative process that can dramatically reshape land surfaces. Archaeologists working in urban environments are often required to relate the outcomes of this process to the archaeological record. This is particularly true for pre-European Aboriginal cultural heritage, where the enduring presence of pre-contact ground surfaces has important implications for cultural heritage

(2020). Editorial. Australian Archaeology: Vol. 86, No. 3, pp. 207-207.

Abstract The analysis of style is a widespread method for describing classes of rock art and plays a significant role in forming a chronology for Arnhem Land rock art assemblages. A longstanding issue identified in Arnhem Land rock art has been the ill-defined nature of the ‘Large Naturalistic Style’ (LNS) as originally proposed by rock art researcher George Chaloupka. We have re-examined the distribution

Abstract Vast numbers of stone artefact clusters (commonly called artefact scatters) occur on dune surfaces throughout southeastern arid Australia, virtually all of them undated. They were interpreted by researchers in the 1980s and 1990s as being mainly of late Holocene age on the basis of their surface or near-surface locations and the composition of their assemblages, which include backed artefacts

(2020). Archaeological Landscape Evolution: The Mariana Islands in the Asia-Pacific Region. Australian Archaeology. Ahead of Print.

(2020). The Spice Islands in Prehistory: Archaeology in the Northern Moluccas, Indonesia. Australian Archaeology. Ahead of Print.

A compliance-based excavation on Parramatta River (western Sydney) found evidence of a brief visitation by Aboriginal people during the terminal Pleistocene (c.14 ka), from which an exotic raw material–medium-grained porphyroblastic andalusite-cordierite hornfels–was recovered. This raw material is rare in the region, only found in the Megalong Valley situated some 75 km west of the site in Parramatta

In this paper, a previously undescribed rock art style consisting of large human figures and animals with stroke-line infill is introduced. These depictions have been named Maliwawa Figures. They a...

(2020). Crafting Country: Aboriginal Archaeology in the Eastern Chichester Range, North-West Australia. Australian Archaeology: Vol. 86, No. 3, pp. 322-323.

Abstract One of Indigenous Australia’s unique stone tools, the tula adze is traditionally viewed as a hafted woodworking tool of the arid zone. Unlike most stone tools in Australia and around the world, the spread and adoption of the tula adze has been described as rapid and instantaneous. The conditions which underlie this technological change are critically assessed in this study, using risk minimisation

Abstract Shields were not known to have been made or used in western Arnhem Land, northern Australia, since European contact and possibly as a consequence are rarely found in the rock art of the region. However, during a recent survey of rock art sites in the Burrungkuy region of Kakadu two shields, or shield-like implements, were recorded in one shelter. This paper documents these motifs and discusses

Ethnographic records show that people from Orokolo Bay in the Papuan Gulf (Papua New Guinea) made, used, and exchanged artefacts made from bone and teeth during the twentieth century. Archaeologically, these kinds of artefacts are poorly documented, partly because osseous materials tend to decay rapidly in exposed tropical rainforest sites. Where these artefacts have been found in the Papuan Gulf,

(2020). Archaeologies of Island Melanesia: Current Approaches to Landscapes, Exchange and Practice. Australian Archaeology: Vol. 86, No. 3, pp. 323-325.

(2019). Editorial. Australian Archaeology: Vol. 85, No. 3, pp. 221-221.

(2019). List of referees 2019. Australian Archaeology: Vol. 85, No. 3, pp. 308-308.

Abstract When archaeologists Rhys Jones, Jim Allen and others undertook archaeological investigations in the newly proclaimed World Heritage Area in southwest Tasmania following the Franklin River Dam campaign, they were accompanied by a film-maker from the then Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS). A short archaeological report published within the same year gives a linear account of

Abstract In this article I explore affective and emotional responses to the material properties of Aboriginal grindstones by giving two examples, one from Narungga Country on Guuranda/Yorke Peninsula, South Australia and the other from Yandruwandha Yawarrawarrka Country in the Strzelecki Desert. I draw on theoretical ontologies in New Materialism, as well as affect and emotion studies, which place

Abstract This paper presents a preliminary occupation chronology for the Riverland region of South Australia, based on 31 radiocarbon age determinations. This region has represented a significant geographic gap in understanding occupation chronologies for the broader Murray-Darling Basin. The dating forms part of an ongoing research program exploring the long-term engagements of Aboriginal people with

Abstract In 1985, Annie Clarke analysed botanical materials from Anbangbang 1 and Djuwarr 1, Kakadu National Park, western Arnhem Land. The 49 wooden artefacts from Anbangbang 1 and 20 wooden artefacts from the Djuwarr 1 site in Deaf Adder Gorge are now in the collections of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT). This research involves a re-examination of these artefacts in terms

Abstract Ground-stone objects such as stone-headed clubs (gabagab) and axes/adzes held key positions in ethnographically known social networks encompassing Torres Strait and southern central New Guinea. However, the antiquity of ground-stone artefacts in this region is poorly understood given the small number of ground-stone objects found in dated archaeological contexts. We report on the discovery

Abstract Creating an inventory of a rock art site in the field can be time-consuming and expensive, but Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry has the potential to alleviate these issues. Using SfM, rock art sites can be recorded rapidly, with a 3D model created to allow a digital inventory to be compiled. However, the veracity of a digital inventory can be questioned. At the Blue Paintings site

Abstract Nardoo (scientific name Marsilea spp.) is a small freshwater fern, common across semi-arid and arid Australia. While reported as an important starchy food, albeit requiring complex processing in some regions, it is not well known as a food source in the Pilbara of Western Australia. Here we describe plant residues including megaspores, starch grains, cellulose, and fibres on a portable grinding

Abstract This paper introduces primary data on site contents, chronology and stratigraphy for four subsurface middens, which formed through the late Holocene on the Dampier Peninsula. Data from one surface midden collection are also presented. In this monsoonal coastal locality, variations in dune stability and sand flux are critical to archaeological site formation and preservation. Site specific

Abstract Southeastern Australia’s temperate East Gippsland region is a large and diverse landscape that spans from the Bass Strait coast to the Australian Alps. The region includes a number of national parks and reserves jointly managed by Aboriginal Traditional Owners, the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (the ‘Gunaikurnai Corporation’), and Parks Victoria. The Gunaikurnai Corporation

Abstract Last Drinks at the Hibernian (Frederick & Ireland 2016) is a collaborative art work that explores what happens when archaeological materials are reconstituted as art and how the ‘creative turn’ might swivel archaeology’s critical lens back onto its own practices and materialities. This creative engagement explores the history and political economy of Australian archaeology, particularly historical

Abstract During the Holocene, what is now the state of South Australia experienced a shift to a drier climate with more frequent droughts c. 4 ka. The ‘intensification model’ in Australian archaeology proposes that Aboriginal people adopted subsistence strategies that exploited resources with high processing costs, while the ‘risk minimization’ model posits that people adopted more flexible foraging

Abstract Pudjinuk Rockshelter No. 1 is one of two small, adjacent shelters located in the limestone cliffs of the River Murray Gorge, South Australia. While both rockshelters represent a crucial node in the cultural landscape of the region, Pudjinuk Rockshelter No. 1 is significant for its remnant pre-contact rock art and the body of historical inscriptions it contains. Site surveys recorded 188 motifs

Abstract In this article, we present a brief examination of the overall lack of concern with archaeological theory in Australian archaeology and consider the privileging of ‘doing’ archaeology, i.e. conducting fieldwork, collecting data and dates, over developing interpretation and deeper understanding. This article also introduces a small collection of papers that derive from the AusTAG session held

Abstract The nature of Aboriginal peoples’ relationships to stone artefacts has changed since the 1960s in southeast Australia—now recognisably more social, spiritual, and immediate than temporally distant, historical, or technological. Drawing from published accounts and on personal experience, I suggest that this change, while not universal, is directly linked to compliance or developer-funded archaeology

Abstract This paper reports on the recent discovery of a flaked Australian tektite (australite) artefact at Calperum Station in the western central River Murray region, South Australia. Reports of provenanced and well-contextualised australite artefacts in Australia are rare and the find reported here is the first known example on the station and its surrounds. As such, this flaked australite allows

Abstract Aboriginal culturally modified trees are a distinctive feature of the Australian archaeological record, generating insights into Aboriginal interactions with wood and bark, which rarely survive in archaeological contexts. However, they are under-studied, in decline and typically presumed to pre-date the 20th century. Here we investigate the origin of a scar with a stone tool embedded in the