Annette Oertle

<p>Archaeomalacological analysis is generally undertaken on recovered macro-remains to characterize the overall composition of faunal remains in a deposit. Given the susceptibility of shell middens to a variety of taphonomic processes, it is assumed that the prior presence of shell in deposits may therefore occasionally be missed. Deteriorated micro-remains can mix indistinguishably into surrounding sediments and make their analyses and identification difficult, particularly in older deposits and in environments that experience rapid rates of weathering. This paper explores whether microscopic remains of deteriorated molluscs can be distinguished from other microscopic remains at the coastal rock shelter site of Waterfall Bluff in Mpondoland, South Africa. The methodology uses a multi-scalar approach integrating shell mineralogy and microstructure using the taxonomic distinctiveness of these features. The diagnostic features (e.g. morphology, hinges, spires, and apertures) used for identifying macro-remains are absent in micro-remains, therefore unique methods of identification are needed to identify these microscopic mollusc fragments. Through mineralogical analyses and scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging, the nacreous remains of mussel shell were identified from previously unidentified degraded shell remains as well as sediment samples from Waterfall Bluff. These highly degraded remains were located under the dripline in the oldest deposits (LBCS) which are sharply comparable to the more well-preserved macro mollusc evidence in the younger (SRCS) deposits. These methods recovered ‘invisible’ evidence of shellfish remains, which led to additional and clearer evidence of continued coastal foraging from Marine Isotope Stage 3 to the early Holocene (40 ka to 10 ka) on the South African coast.</p>

<p>Archaeomalacological analysis is generally undertaken on recovered macro-remains to characterize the overall composition of faunal remains in a deposit. Given the susceptibility of shell middens to a variety of taphonomic processes, it is assumed that the prior presence of shell in deposits may therefore occasionally be missed. Deteriorated micro-remains can mix indistinguishably into surrounding sediments and make their analyses and identification difficult, particularly in older deposits and in environments that experience rapid rates of weathering. This paper explores whether microscopic remains of deteriorated molluscs can be distinguished from other microscopic remains at the coastal rock shelter site of Waterfall Bluff in Mpondoland, South Africa. The methodology uses a multi-scalar approach integrating shell mineralogy and microstructure using the taxonomic distinctiveness of these features. The diagnostic features (e.g. morphology, hinges, spires, and apertures) used for identifying macro-remains are absent in micro-remains, therefore unique methods of identification are needed to identify these microscopic mollusc fragments. Through mineralogical analyses and scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging, the nacreous remains of mussel shell were identified from previously unidentified degraded shell remains as well as sediment samples from Waterfall Bluff. These highly degraded remains were located under the dripline in the oldest deposits (LBCS) which are sharply comparable to the more well-preserved macro mollusc evidence in the younger (SRCS) deposits. These methods recovered ‘invisible’ evidence of shellfish remains, which led to additional and clearer evidence of continued coastal foraging from Marine Isotope Stage 3 to the early Holocene (40 ka to 10 ka) on the South African coast.</p>

Tropical archaeological shell middens throughout Australasia provide valuable information about subsistence practices, environmental changes, and human occupation. One of the major anthropic processes that can occur in any midden site is burning or heating of the shell, either from cooking or heat-treating shell for working. Thermal influences on marine shell are poorly understood across all disciplines, including archaeology. Burning or heating may not always show any visual signs and rather can only be identified through erroneous results when dating or chemical analyses have been undertaken. Recent studies have begun to explore changes in structural and chemical aspects between varying burning/heating methods and durations, however, these studies only focus on a few shell species from the Mediterranean and fail to factor in overall microstructural differences between shell species. Therefore, to better understand the processes of burning/heating on shell in tropical sites of Australasia an experimental study was undertaken. Six tropical marine shell species with varying microstructures were chosen to undergo three methods of burning/heating. These samples were then examined under Dinolite, SEM as well as under-going XRD analysis. Results show distinct differences between the various microstructures, both visually and chemically.

Denisova Cave, a Pleistocene site in the Altai Mountains of Russian Siberia, has yielded significant fossil and lithic evidence for the Pleistocene in Northern Asia. Abundant animal and human bones have been discovered at the site, however, these tend to be highly fragmented, necessitating new approaches to identifying important hominin and faunal fossils. Here we report the results for 8253 bone fragments using ZooMS. Through the integration of this new ZooMS-based data with the previously published macroscopically-identified fauna we aim to create a holistic picture of the zooarchaeological record of the site. We identify trends associated with climate variability throughout the Middle and Upper Pleistocene as well as patterns explaining the process of bone fragmentation. Where morphological analysis of bones from the site have identified a high proportion of carnivore bones (30.2%), we find that these account for only 7.6% of the ZooMS assemblage, with large mammals between 3 and...

Waterfall Bluff is a rock shelter in eastern Pondoland, South Africa, adjacent to a narrow continental shelf that limited coastline movements across glacial/interglacial cycles. The archaeological deposits are characterized by well-preserved stratigraphy, faunal, and botanical remains alongside abundant stone artifacts and other materials. A comprehensive dating protocol consisting of 5 optically stimulated luminescence ages and 51 accelerator mass spectrometry 14C ages shows that the record of hunter-gatherer occupations at Waterfall Bluff persisted from the late Pleistocene to the Holocene, spanning the last glacial maximum and the transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene. Here, we provide detailed descriptions about the sedimentary sequence, chronology, and characteristics of the archaeological deposits at Waterfall Bluff. Remains of marine mollusks and marine fish also show, for the first time, that coastal foraging was a component of some hunter-gatherer groups’ subsiste...

Archaeological, anthropological, historical, linguistic and genetic studies of Macassans and their activities in northern Australia have focused on the extensive industrial trepang processing site complexes of the Cobourg Peninsula and northeast Arnhem Land. Less attention has been given to sites at the geographical peripheries of Macassan industrial activities. Archaeological studies show that the eastern extremity of Macassan activities extended to the Sir Edward Pellew Group. However, ethnographic and historical accounts show that Macassan presence extended to the South Wellesley Islands, over 200km further east, in the south east Gulf of Carpentaria. Recent archaeological fieldwork reveals new evidence for Macassan activities at the eastern margin. This paper reports preliminary data from five Macassan sites in the South Wellesley Islands.

Studies on Macassan activities in northern Australia have focused on the intensive industrial trepang processing site complexes on the Cobourg Peninsula and in northeast Arnhem Land (Clarke 2000; Macknight 1976; Mitchell 1995). Less attention has focused on sites at the eastern and western geographical peripheries of Macassan contact and how the less intensive and more irregular presence of Macassans in these areas impacted local Aboriginal people. Recent archaeological work in the South Wellesley Islands reveals new evidence of Macassan pottery sherds, tamarind trees and stone lines (Figure 1). A comparative study is undertaken between Macassan sites in the South Wellesley Islands and selected Macassan sites across northern Australia, focusing on elements such as artefacts, features, language, genetics and material culture. These data sets are analysed in terms of the degree of cross-cultural contact between Macassans and Aboriginal people in each region by categorising certain elements as present, observed or shared to show low, medium or high degrees of interaction. Results provide the basis to characterise the degree of cross-cultural interaction between Macassan and Kaiadilt people in the South Wellesley Islands. Historical, archaeological and ethnographic evidence of Macassan activities in the South Wellesley Islands are examined along with studies on Kaiadilt culture, language, genetics and behaviour (Best 2013; Evans 1995; Tindale 1960; Ulm et al. 2010).

Research on the complex societies of island Melanesia have provided valuable insight into past and present cultural practices through modern and archaeological studies. Marine exploitation of resources, such as shellfish, are an integral part of coastal island culture. Previous ethnoarchaeological studies in this region focus on gathering practices and the role of women and children with less of a focus on specific processing and discard practices. In turn, any archaeological inferences based on limited modern behavioural data can be skewed. We need to take the complete story of shellfish subsistence into account when analysing and interpreting the archaeological record. Understanding each step from the systemic to the archaeological context is key in ensuring accurate inferences about the past are made.
This paper will outline ethnoarchaeological fieldwork in the Solomon Islands, undertaken to record traditional shellfish gathering, processing and discard practices. The results from this fieldwork show some similarities in gathering behaviours compared with previous studies in Island Melanesia. However, with the included focus on processing and discard practices we see distinct differences in behaviours compared to previous studies. This highlights the importance of considering all the stages of shellfishing as varying behaviours can impact shell preservation and site formation in distinct ways.

Tropical archaeological shell middens throughout Australasia provide valuable information about subsistence practices, environmental changes, and human occupation. One of the major anthropic processes that can occur in any midden site is burning or heating of the shell, either from cooking or heat-treating shell for working.
Thermal influences on marine shell are poorly understood across all disciplines, including archaeology. Burning or heating may not always show any visual signs and rather can only be identified through erroneous results when dating or chemical analyses have been undertaken. Recent studies have begun to explore changes in structural and chemical aspects between varying burning/heating methods and durations, however, these studies only focus on a few shell species from the Mediterranean and fail to factor in overall microstructural differences between shell species.
Therefore, to better understand the processes of burning/heating on shell in tropical sites of Australasia an experimental study was undertaken. Six tropical marine shell species with varying microstructures were chosen to undergo three methods of burning/heating. These samples were then examined under Dinolite, SEM as well as under-going XRD analysis. Results show distinct differences between the various microstructures, both visually and chemically.

Tropical archaeological shell middens throughout Australasia provide valuable information about subsistence practices, environmental changes, and human occupation. One of the major anthropic processes that can occur in any midden site is burning or heating of the shell, either from cooking or heat-treating shell for working. Thermal influences on marine shell are poorly understood across all disciplines, including archaeology. Burning of shell can affect fragmentation and preservation in an archaeological site (Zuschin 2003), which can significantly affect how we interpret assemblages. Burning or heating may not always show any visual signs and rather can only be identified through erroneous results when dating or chemical analyses have been undertaken (see Koppel et al. 2016). Recent studies have begun to explore changes in structural and chemical aspects between varying burning/heating methods and durations, however, these studies only focus on a few shell species from the Mediterranean and fail to factor in overall microstructural differences between shell species. Therefore, to better understand the processes of burning/heating on shell in tropical sites of Australasia an experimental study was undertaken. A mix of tropical marine shell species with varying microstructures were chosen to undergo three methods of burning/heating. These samples were then examined under Dinolite, SEM as well as under-going XRD analysis. This paper will highlight some preliminary results.

Research on the complex societies of island Melanesia have provided valuable insight to past and present cultural practices through modern and archaeological studies. Marine exploitation of resources, such as shellfish, are an integral part of island culture. Ethnoarchaeological fieldwork in the Solomon Islands was undertaken to record traditional shellfish gathering, processing and discard practices. This paper reports these findings from the Solomon Islands and explores the issues of linking modern behaviour to archaeological material and in turn inferring continuity through time.

Over 100 archaeological sites exhibiting Macassan attributes have been recorded from Cape Leveque in the west to Bentinck Island in the east, spanning a coastline length of over 13,000km. Various interdisciplinary studies have been undertaken on Macassan artefacts and features as well as studies on the impact and influence of Macassans on Aboriginal culture and society. This paper introduces a regional model characterising the intensity of Macassan activities across coastal northern Australia. This model is used to characterise the nature of Macassan activities as well as to explore cross-cultural relationships between Macassans and Aboriginal people in various sub-regions. The dataset underlying this regional model is based on archaeological, anthropological, ethnographical, historical, linguistic and biological studies of Macassan presence in northern Australia. The presence and absence of Macassan attributes were recorded at sites throughout northern Australia with specific attributes categorized as present, observed or shared elements correlating with low, medium and high degrees of intensity and cross-cultural interaction. Results show a core of Macassan intensity at the core sub-regions: the Cobourg Peninsula and Arnhem Land. These sub-regions contain the entire suite of the Macassan elements whereas the quantity and diversity of elements recorded at the other sub-regions decrease towards the peripheries. This model highlights common signatures between the core and peripheral as well as the cross-cultural intensity at different sub-regions.

Studies on Macassan activities in northern Australia have focused on the intensive industrial trepang processing site complexes on the Cobourg Peninsula and in northeast Arnhem Land. Less attention has focused on sites at the eastern and western geographical peripheries of Macassan contact and how the less intensive and more irregular presence of Macassans in these areas impacted local Aboriginal people. In this thesis I investigate the nature of Macassan activities, impacts and cross-cultural exchanges in the South Wellesley Islands, Gulf of Carpentaria, at the eastern extremity of Macassan visitation in northern Australia.
A comparative study is undertaken between Macassan sites in the South Wellesley Islands and selected Macassan sites across northern Australia, focusing on elements such as artefacts, features, language, genetics and material culture. These data sets are analysed in terms of the degree and intensity of cross-cultural contact between Macassans and Aboriginal people in each region. Results provide the basis to characterise the degree of cross-cultural interaction between Macassan and Kaiadilt people in the South Wellesley Islands. Historical, archaeological and ethnographic evidence of Macassan activities in the South Wellesley Islands are examined along with studies on Kaiadilt culture, language, genetics and behaviour. I argue that the patterns of Kaiadilt interaction with outsiders coupled with the infrequency of Macassan presence in the South Wellesley Islands resulted in a low degree of cross-cultural interaction between these two cultures.