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THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

RESEARCH SCHOOL OF PACIFIC STUDIES

DEPARTifENT OF PREHISTORY

ANNUAL REPORT 1974

Professor :

Fellow:

Research Fellows :

Postdoctoral Fellow:

Visitins Fellows :

Research Officers :

Research Assistants :

STAFF

J. Golson, M.A. (Cantab)

Rhys Jones, M.A. (Cantab) Ph.D. (Syd)

'· F.J. Allen, M.A. (Cantab) Ph.D • .(ANU) J.F . O'Connell, Ph.D . (Calif) A.G. Thorne~ M.A. (Syd)

Kathryn Conover, Ph.D. (Colorado) (from February)

Nort!la McArthur, Ph.D. (Lond) (July-Sept)

A. J. Mortlock , Ph . D. (Reading), F.A.I.P. (August-November)

Ryutaro Ohtsuka (University of Tokyo) (July-August)

W.R. Ambrose Jeannette Hope, Ph.D. (Monash) ­P.J. Hughes (from June) R.J. Lampert H.A . Polach (Radiocarbon Lab)

. ' Anthea Carstairs , B.Sc. (Monash)

, Freda Stewart (temporary - from October)

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INTRODUCTION

The Department is concerned with the prehistory of the Indo-Pacific region. Within this vast and complex province, whose prehistory extends from the lifetime of still living peoples back to the Javanese gravel beds of several million years ago, we do, of course , have to specialise. Over the past few years a bifocal pattern has emerged in our department's research efforts. One arm concentrates on Australia, on the ecology of hunters and the technology of the 'stone age'; the other on Melanesia , on the society and economy of gardeners. This division, which might at first hearing, seem to echo the 'savagery' and 'barbarism' of Victorian scholarship, is purely an organisational one, and is not intended to be a statement of an intellectual position. Indeed quite the reverse, for what we are trying to seek are cultural generalities which transcend the particularities of tribe or of millenium.

Modern archaeology, more perhaps than most subjects is an amalgam, or as our enemies would see it, a rag bag of disciplines. Exemplifying this catholicity is the fact that the department consists of people whose traini~g has been in physics, geology, classical archaeology , zoology, social anthropology, dentistry, classics, chemistry, art, demography - and even - prehistory. On the one hand we have played a major role in staffing and supporting the University's radiocarbon laboratory and on the other, have carried out research which once was the preserve of archivists, ethnographers or historical architects. This diversity of background and interest, coupled with the heady impetus of basic discoveries , contributes greatly to the sense of intellectual excitment which most prehistorians and their co-workers in this country are feeling at the moment.

During the year , research was carried out in the following areas; the original human colonisation and the later man­environment relations in south eastern Australia, including Tasmania and Kangaroo Island ; the ecology and camp site geography of modern Aboriginal hunters in the Central Desert and Arnhem Land ; the evolution of horticultural systems in the New Guinea Highlands; the articulation and history of sea-borne trading systems in the coastal mosaic of Melanesia; development of absolute and relative dating methods involving radioactive isotopes, thermoluminescent energy, ion diffusion rates and shell growth rings ; the ecology of Pleistocene faunas, including the problem of the extinction of the 'giant marsupials' ; and the implication of recent human palaeontological discoveries in the region to the broader question of the evolution of modern Homo sapiens.

Within the University, we have forged close links with our sister department of Prehistory and Anthropology in the School of General Studies. Prehistorians from both departments have jointly contributed to a weekly seminar series which we trust will be a permanent institution. Outside the University we have

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played an active role in the field of public education be it via Government agencies , the media of television, radio, exhibitions, newspapers , scientific journals, or direct talks to groups both formal and informal. We feel that the rapid dissemination of accurate results of current research is part of our responsibility' as scholars and citizens, one made more urgent by the slowly awakening awareness of the complexity and vas'•tness of the prehistory of the region in which we all live.

OBITUARY

The year was marred by the death in mid December of Ole Christensen " A Ph.D. scholar working on the prehistory of the Manim Valley , Western Highlands District, Papua New Guinea, Christensen, aged 29 , was killed in a car accident on

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his way to work at the University. He was well advanced on his doctoral research, having completed several field seasons under arduous conditions. The project, analysing economic changes associated with the intensification of horticultural practises, formed one of the crucial flanks of Golson's massive Wahgi campaign. It involved excavation of four major rockshelter sites, analyses of stone tool typology, ethnographic observations of gardening, hunting and technological activities in the Manim and Upper Waghi valleys today , and investigation of palaeo­botanical materials , including pioneering work on charcoal cross-sections. ..

Before his death, Christensen wrote two papers on his New Guinea. work which are in press in Mankind, translated Steensberg's book on New Guinea horticultural practices from his mother tongue Danish to English, left extensive field and laboratory notes, catalogued his finds, and had discussed his work widely with his colleagues. When a man is cut doWn at the threshold of his intellectual maturity, there is perhaps a greater sense of loss than is the case at the end of his natural span, for in addition to mourning a friend, we also regret the unconsummated effort, the wastage of years of learning and of endeavour, the loss of what might have been achieved. Ole's friends and colleagues will ensure that as much as possible of the work that he left behind will be edited and published , so that at least some of his ideas and discoveries will persist.

As a department, we wish to convey our sorrow to Alison Garnett and to Ole 1 s parents in Calgary, Canada.

-:- ,·

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GENERAL

puring Professor Golson's absences in the field in New Guinea 7 Rhys Jones·· acted in his place in January and again from July until the end of the year. Alan Thorne was acting/acting head of the department in October/November when Jones spent a month in Arnhem Land.

During the year, Kathryn Con·over joined the department as Post Doctoral Fellow, Phillip Hughes as Res2arch Officer, David Warren as Laboratory Technician and Freda Stewart as Research Assistant. Jeannette Hope was promoted to a Research Officership and John Head became a Senior Technical Officer. As Visiting

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Fellows we hosted Norma McArthur , Alan Mortlock and Ryutaro Ohtsuka, with a short visit being paid by Lewis Binford. One of our Research Fellows, Jim Allen spent six months as the St John's College Commonwealth Fellow in , Cambridge, England, where in order to qunl.ify for dining- rights and other priviliges he was awarded the MA degree of that university.

Two Ph.D. theses were awarded to students of this department -to Eleanor Crosby for her vcomparative study of Melanesian hafted edge-tools and other percussive cutting implements' and to Josephine Flood ror her 'Moth Hunters'. Dr Crosby left to take up her appointment as Archaeologist at the now damaged Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern . Territory, Da1;YT!n , and we wish her all success in what must be' 'a 'heart breaking job in . restoring the shattered collections of that' city . Dr Flood is now in Dacca, Bangladesh, with her husband l~ho is the Australian High Cot!mlissioner there~ ' She plans to resume her academic career in prehistory at a future date. Alan Thorne completed and submitted his Ph.D. thesis at the University of Sydney ~here it is under examination. Dr McArthur completed and subm~tted her second Ph.D. thesis, and on l~aving her Visiting Fellow~hip at the department, took .:up her appointment as Senior Research Fell~w in the Department of. Pacific and Southeast Asian History in the school. No new Ph.D. scholars were elected to the department , so that at the end of the year we had five scholars pursuing doctoral research •

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' ' The most important corporate activity of the department has been the series bf weekly seminars jointly organised with the Department df Prehistory and Anthropology every Friday of the teaching tern. These together with more informal discussions at the University Stafr Centre a'ftenmrds have served to focus attention on a wide range of current research problems and have attracted regular participation from interstate visitors as well as those fromotherdepartments and institutions in Canberra.

Members of the department made an important contribution to the work of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies during the year. Thorne was elected to the chairmanship of the HUI!la.Il Biology Advisory Committee, and Jones to that of the Prehistory Connnittee. In their capacity as chairmen, they both attended the October meeting of the Council of the Institute, and

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have carried out o ther duties . At the Biennial Confe rence of the Institute he ld in the Research School of Pacific Studies in May/June , Thorne was co-convenor of the human biology programme with Dr R. Kirk of the John Curtin School. Crosby, Golson , Hope, Jones , Ronald Lamp ert, Jim O' Connell and Thorne presented pape rs variously in the Art, Ethno-classification, Hu~Bn Biology and Prehistory symposia.

Allen he lped to organise, and he and Jone s both participated in the conference on Historical Archaeology held in November at Burton Hall under the aegis of the Inte rim Committee of the National Estate (soon t o be the Heritage Commission), Allen was e l ected Chairman of the confe rence, and was asked to develop proposals r e garding the r egistration, and protection of Austra lian sites of historic interest. Hopefully, the department , through the broad span of interests of its members may contribute towards a unification of l e gislation regarding the protection of all important historical sites in Australia, rather than the division into those of Aboriginal and European origin as is the cas e at present.

While in England , Allen also contributed papers to two symposia ) one on the 'Evolution of Social Systems' held at the Institute of Archaeology , London University , and the othe r on 'Hunters, Gathe r e rs and First Farmers beyond Europe' held at the University of Leiceste r. Late in the year , he and Geoffrey Irwin participated in a conference organised by the Department of Archaeology in the University of Sydney on the topic of 'Traditional Potte rs and their Marke ts ' . Lampert and Thorne continued the ir membe rship of the Aboriginal Relics Advisory Committee of the !lational Parks and Wildlife Service of N.S.W. , attending monthly meetings in Sydney , and a five day inspection of Aborigina l prehistoric sites in western N.S.W. Lampert a ls o supervised an archaeological reconnaissance of Euroboda lla Shire be ing carried out under the aegis of C.R . E.S. a t the A.N.U. Hope took part in the May meeting of the Australian Mamr.ial Society, J ones delivered a University Lecture at Monash and gave a seminar at Sydney University, Irwin l e ctured to the Canbe rra College of Advanced Education, Golson and Allen acted in various capacities as · external examiners for the Universities of Papua New Guinea and of New England resp ectively. On the ve ry l ast day of the year, Sandra Bowd~cr delive r ed the inaugural address to the newly formed Tasmanian Archaeological Society in Hobart.

Another form of public education for which archaeology is particularly suited is via the medium of exhibitions. At the beginning of the year the Qua t e rnary Exhibition collated by Crosby was opened in the Na tiona l Library by the Hon. Moss Cass , This exhibition , originally stimulated by the INQUA conference in Christchurch 1973, brought toge the r the work of many departments bo th within and without this university. The therae was the inte r-relationship of climate, landforms , life and man in Greate r Australia during the Quaternary geological period , and specific contributions from present and past members

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of this department came from Harry Allen, Flood, Hope, Jones, Lampert, Winifred Mumford , and Polach. For the forthcoming "Australia '75 11 Festival, preparations are well advanced for the exhibit 'Glimpses of Early Man in Australia', which is to be a prominent part of the exhibition 'The Other Arts - Science, Invention and Technology', to be staged at the Melville Hall at 'the ANU. Departmental members involved in this and other projects at the exhibition include Wallace Ambrose, Hope , Jones , Roger Luebbers, Mortlock, Mumford, O'Connell, Henry Polach and his team. While ne ither exhibitions are hardly in ·the 'Tutenkamen' class, they do exemplify the growing possibilities of presenting the results of Australian prehistoric research, on both man and his environment , in a meaningful and exciting form which could have a major impact on the participating public. It is from such seeds that a great Museum of Southern Man 1 could emerge .

Jones co-edited with Dr L.R. Hiatt of the University of Sydney, their last issue of Mankind in June of the year, r esigning their editorship afte r seven years at the helm. The responsibility for the journal now passes to Dr Peter White , a former student of the department. Lampert edited both the Far Eastern Prehistory Association Newsletter and the Australian Archaeological Association Newsletter. Hope co­edited the Australian Quaternary Newsletter and Golson continued to serve as Advisory Editor of Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania. Although several manuscripts are in an advanced stage of editorial preparation , it has been a matter of regret that no issue of Terra Australis , the departmental monograph series, was produced during the year.

Jones and Thorne took part in a documentary film on early man in Australia made by the British Broadcasting Corporation , under the direction of Tom Hayden . It is hoped that .the film will be completed and shown internationally in 1975.

Essential support to all the departmental activities was . once more given by the Secretarial Staff , Lois White, Lesley ·Beattie and Peggy Cole. Stella Wilkie looked after the archives . Winifred Mumford continued to enhance her· international r eputation as an archaeological illustrator,

; -while Dragi Markovic , in addition to routine processing of field and laboratory photographs, achieved splendid technical standards in his studio work . Quie t , reliable and conscientious research assistance was made in their various capacities by Karl May , Phillip Grimshaw, Michael Wilkie and Freda Stewart.

1 This name and concept was originally proposed by Professor W. Stanner.

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RESEARCH PROGRAMME

Man-land relationships in southeas t Australia

For many years . the department has pursued a systenatic programne of r esearch into prehistoric man-land relationships in south eastern Australia, extending from the time of European contact, back to about 35-40~000 years ago, the earliest known dates for human occupation of this continent. Such antiquity has been gained at the Mungo and related sites in western N.S.W. 9 where initial archaeological work was done by Harry Allen and Jones . Although the archaeological component of this project has now been taken over by Professor Mulvaney and his t eam from the Department of Prehistory and Anthropology in the School of General Studies, the department has continued its collaboration in the radiometric, palaeontological and physical anthropological fields with contributions by Polachj Hope and Thorne.

Major new discoveries have been made at this complex of sites but since they have not yet been fully analysed nor published , they will not be reported here.

Other najor projects initiated several years ago such as Lampert 1 s work on the south coast of N.S.W. and Jones' in Tasmania arc still being pursued . Larape rt analysed his excavated material from Bomaderry Creek , which yielded interesting floral dietary evidence in the form of macrosamia husks . Jones gave further thought to the implications of the Tasmanian evidence to some of the broader issues of Australian prehistory. He helped to r e construct a full sized replica of a Tasmanian bark water craft which was successfully launched into the sea at Rocky Cape, probably the first such launching for a 100 years.

In three newer projects ; striking success was achieved. R. Luebbers ' sAlvagP. excavation at Wyric peat swamp , South Australia yielded an industry consisting of both wooden and stone tools , dated to being just under 10 9 000 years old. The wooden tools , incl~ding several boonerangs, spears and digging st:i.cks arc an unique find , and revolutionise our concepts of the technology of late Pleistocene Australians. The boomerangs in particular are an important indicator of the continuity of Aboriginal t e chnological traditions back to at least this pe riod and indicate that even by then their makers had mastered the aerodynamic properties of air-foil sections. These wooden finds are being conserved in the laboratory by W. Aflbrose using the freeze-drying method which he invented . lu:ibrose , Luebbers and Markovic are making accurate records of the shapes of these fragile objects using photographic techniques utilising narrow slits of light projected onto each surface. The work at Wyrie is but one aspect of Luebbers' broader project involving a reconstruction of coastal settlenent in south east South Australia with r Gfe rence to resource procurement strategies

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through time. As part of this work he is co-operating with John Head in callibrating cl 4 dates obtained frottl I!!arine shells of various species ngainst those from charcoal.

With Bowdler's 18,500 year old date for human occupation of Cave Bay Cave on Hunter Island, Bass Strait, it niay reasonably be stated that the al~ost 200 year old

· problem of how the Tasmanian Aborigines got to their island has finally been solved. They walked across Bass Plain when it was exposed by the glacial low sea levels. Bowdler's project involves analysing the changing econol!lic responses of the prehistoric inhabitants of what is now Hunter Island as it slowly became transformed from being a hill in the Bassian Plain to an island off shore from north west Tasmania.

A similar project is being started on Kangaroo Island , S.A. by Lampert , At the Seton Site, Lampert has isolated a stone industry dated to about 16 ,000 years ago, and which is different to the well known Kartan industry found in surface collections on the island. The implications arc that the Kartan may be very much older than this date , and Lampert hopes to investigate the antiquity and cultural milieau of the enigmatic Kartan in a project starting in 1975. Faunal evidence at the Seton Site showed man to be contemporary with an extinct kangaroo-like animal Sthenu:rus, one of the few convincing demonstnttions of such direct association yet to be gained in Australia.

In the highland country of southern Queensland, John Beaton has begun a regional project involving basic

· archaeological exploration of a vast and remote nrea. He has spent seven months on a field reconnaissance, and after inspecting archaeological sites on the tropical coast of the north-east and the channel country of the south-west, he has focused on the upland ranges of the Great Divide, particularly the .Carnarvon and adjacent ranges. Preliminary excavations

' were carried out on three rockshelters and a large surface collection was made from a fourth. Other sites, e.g. quarry and milling sites were noted. These data will help· to develop a picture of the range of prehistoric hur:ian activities in the

different kinds of habitats provided by the complicated geography of the Great Divide. The first phase of the analysis has begun and the results will help determine the direction and location of further work.

Modern Aboriginal Hunters

Two projects concerning the ecology and geographical knowledge of modern Aboriginal hunters were continued this year. At MacDonnell River Downs , 250 kms north-east of Alice Springs 9 O'Connell spent about 9 months living amongst the Alyawara people . Although they are technically on a cattle station, 3nd draw some of their sustenance from European sources via pensions , wages etc., a substantial part of their diet is still foraged from their country which they

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are occupying in a traditional manner. O'Connell has been studying their diet, their traditional and modern technology, includin~ the rnanuf~cture of stone tools and the location , form and ownership of their camp sites, both contemporary and as remembered from a period before the advent of white m.n to their country some 50 years ago. A special study has been made of kangaroo hunts, involving observer participation, time and motion studies and a comparison of the age /sex profile of the catch against the natural population, as an exemplar of the dynamics of human predation within the Australian biosphere. O'Connell has also begun to investigate the relationship of the totemic geography of the Alyawara to ecological principles as exemplified by the seasonal ryth.~s of their traditional foraging ~ctivities.

Jones returned for a month to live with the Anbara community at the mouth of the Blyth River where he and his co-worker Betty Heehan, Department of Prehistory and Anthropology , spent a year during 1972/73. On their second brief visit, th .y concentrated their attention onto the gathering of shell fish associated with the equinoxal tides and also the general foraging activities during the very end of the dry season which is the period of the year when food is lee.st abundant in that coastal tropical environr.ient. More data w~s obtained on the 'ethnoecology' of the Anbara -that is the way in which they classify the plants, animals , colours , seasons , landforms etc. of their enviroilI'.lent .

McArthur and Ohtsuka elso worked on ecological problems pertaining to hunters during the tenure of their visiting fellowships at the department. McArthur's completed Ph.D. thesis ' Population and prehistory : the late phase on Aneityum ' dealt with a semi-sedentary agricultural population , and in order to place this work into a broader perspective, she read widely the liter;:i.ture dealing with demographic aspects of hunting and gathering soci ties. This work will fonn the background to a broader study of the role of population change in prehistoric connnunities.

Ohtsuka analysed some of his r.v~terial gained during a study of the hunters and gardeners of the Oriomo Plateau , Fly River, Papua carried out over the last year in collaboration with H. Watanabe of Tokyo University. Ohtsuka also translated into English from the original Japanese ~

sorae of his pr~vious work on the ecology of these fascinating people 9 whose economy seems to straddle the Australian and Papuan provinces.

The Roots of hortic1!lture in P3.pua New Guinee

The major project in this field s and by far the largest ever mounted by our departnent is Golson's massive Wahgi Project, investigating ancient drainage systems and other archaeological evidence for horticulture in th~ swamps of the

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Kuk tea plantation, in the Wahgi Valley of the New Guinea Highlands.Here, Golson l ed his team for more than six months during the year , and was joined for various periods by Philip Hughes, Munford, Ambrose, Polach and Mortlock. The 1973 departmental report included details of the scope aims and initial discoveries of this project. During the 1974 field season s hypotheses have been tested as to the reasons for the use and then periodic abandonment of the swamp as an area for horticulture. Also a major effort has been made to find the oldest evidence of human occupation and various economic activities in the area. The contributions of Hughes, Polach and Mortlock were directed towards this latter aim. Obviously, the full implications of the discoveries made at this site will only emerge after analysis and publication of the material in the laboratory and study as well as in the field, but already the Wahgi Swanp ranks as a major site in any global assessment as to the origins and evolution of the economic system we call ¥agriculture'.

The trading networks of coastal and island Melanesia

This also has been a recurrent theme in our department's work over the past five years , with completed doctoral theses by Egloff, Lauer . Specht and Vanderwal, and staff work by J. Allen, Ambrose, Groube, Key and Lampert.

During the first six months of the year, Allen was at Cambridge, England , studying the fi eldnotes and unpublished notes and letters of A.C. Haddon, insofar as they related to Haddon's £thnographic studies of the Papuan coast at the beginning of this century. ,swell, several months were spent doing a thorough survey of Papuan material held in the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Department of Archaeology, Cambridge, of which there are vast and important holdings, both artefactual and photographic. Since returning from England the remainder of the year was spent analysing the excavated material from Motupore Island, Papua which Allen had excavated in 1972 and 1973. A monograph on this site and its inplications towards an understanding of the history of trading systems on the south Papuan coast is in preparation.

Irwin spent the year analysing materials recovered from the Mailu area of south-east coastal Papua during 1972 and 1973. His pottery study has established a relative chronology of the 120 sites which he found. Irwin also carried out a progrannne of materials analysis of the prehistoric pottery and associated clay sources, using optical mineralogical and trace element X-ray fluorescent methods and set up a suite of computer prorrammes. A spatia l study of prehistoric settlement patterns, combined with ethnographic data on the contemporary manufacturing and trading situation has thrown light on the emergence of functional site specialisation , and the identification of prehistoric conmunications systems.

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Anbrose also worked on trace eleoent analyses, collecting saoples of high quality obsidian from all presently known geological sources in the Papua New Guinea area. The object of this was to provide source samples for two purposes.

1 . To enable laboratory deteTI!lination of the hydration rates of various sources and allow the more precise ageing of obsidian artefacts.

2. To provide samples for trace element analysis. This is in connection with a programme, bein~ undertaken in cooperation with the Australian Atomic Energy Commission, for the non-destructive neutron activation analysis of obsidian artefacts in order to determine their sources and distribution as an indication of prehistoric transport or trade.

The opportunity was taken to conduct a brief field survey of islands off the east coast of New Ireland in the conpany of a geological survey party from Rabaul. Traces of pottery and obsidian were present on all the islands visited though no surface indic~tions of substantial or extensive sites were located.

Graeme Ward spent most of the year doing fieldwork in the Banks Group, Northern New Hebrides and Efate Island central New Hebrides. At Mele, on Efate, he excavated a rock shelter containing several burials and pottery decorated in the incised and applied relief tradition. In the Banks Group he continued investigation of the prehistory of the northern part of the New Hebridean archipelago with an intensive survey of a habitation mound complex on Pakea Island followed by excavation of selected mounds. Also an intensive investigation of archaeological sites on other islands in the northern group was aioed at delineation of resource utilisation and da tin; the origin of the monumental architecture of the area.

Measuring time

Several departmental projects were aimed at fundamental research in developing new oethods of absolute and relative dating as well as produci~g routine dates on samples submitted by field workers both within and without this University. The focus of this research is carried out in the University's Radiocarbon Laboratory under the leadership of Polach . A separate statement on the activities of this laboratory, written by Polach is included with this report.

Much of Ambroses~ obsidian work deals with working out methods of dating artefacts made from this material , based on measurements of hydration rim thicknesses as mentioned above.

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Mortlock, who operates the Thermoluminescence Laboratory in the Department of Physics in the School of General Studies spent four months in our department in order to familiarise himself with archaeologists and their work, with a view to establishing new co-operative research projects . Five new studies were initiated, four of them relating to. dating problems with new materials, including marine shells, burnt cherts from coastal South Australia, and quartzite from Hunter Island. One project involved measurements of the surf ace hardness of ancient pottery from Papua New Guinea with a view to establishing a new parameter characterising these artefacts. Mortlock gave a seminar describing the use of thermoluminescence dating and made a visit to the Wahgi field site. The thermoluminescence dating of volcanic ash layers from this site showed general consistency with c14 measurements carried out on other stratigraphic material. The systematic difference between the two sets of dates gave the exciting promise of extending the well-known bristle-cone-pine corrections to c14 years back much further into the past than previously thought possible. This is because thermoluminescence dating is an absolute method, and little affected by cosmic rays.

Conover , undertook an examination of archaeological molluscs (food remains in this instance) to determine if season of collection can be detected. The study is meeting with the expected success, and, in addition, it appears that certain paleoenvironmental data pertaining to the prehistoric littoral can also be extracted from the shell study. The chosen archaeological shell comes from middens near the present coastline in the lower southeast of South Australia. Radiocarbon dates made under another departmental project (Luebbers) place one of the subject shell deposits at ea. 3800 BP~ and others are suggested to be of similar age. The habit~t for the study species, Plebi<iona:x: deltoides~ no longer exists in the research area. Its nearest present location is the northern Coorong . some hundred and fifty kms up the coast toward Adelaide. Goolwa Beach provided a modern comparative sampie of P"lebiod,ona,x from this area. An immediately useful result of the study has been the realisation that it is occasionally possible to determine in the field, without recourse to microscopic examinations whether or not shells in a particular deposit were collected from the same beach at the same time. This. is consistently true with the archaeological Plebidona:x:, and has -been observed in limited samples of the smaller clam Donacilla (=Amphidesma) and in the common limpet Cel"lana , all in archaeological contexts.

Measuring bones

The department 1 s osteology laboratory gave advice concerning the faunal component of many of the sites excavated by departmental raenbers. - Hope spent most of the year working on fauna from Lampert 1 s Seton Site . Kangaroo Island, the

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marsupial bones of which were annlysed by Liz Edmondson for a B.1\. Honours thesis in the Department of Geography , Monash University. Hope carried out field work on fossil marsupial deposits in Kangaroo Island and handled faunal collections in the South Australian Museum and at the National Museum of Victoria. She is engaged in a long term project concerning the biogeography, evolution and mega-faunal extinctions of the late Pleistocene 1\ustralian fauna , including that of New Guinea.

Thorne, having submitted his Ph.D. thesis t o the University of Sydney on his Kow Swamp and Lake Hungo human material, spent the year tidying up odd ends and thinking further about the implications of the Australian hominid material to the broader question of the emergence of modern sapiens nan. He visited new sites in western New South Wales , and continued working with Anthea Carstairs on a bibliography of Australian Aboriginal palaeopathology. The West Point Tasmanian cremated human material, originally excavated in 1965 by Jones, and analysed in 1967 by Thorne, was sent to its final resting place in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery , having been photographed and catalogued by Markovic and Carstairs .

Not quite the a shes but .•..

On a more frivolous note, let us end by recording that in a brilliant return t o fonn, on the cricket field, the Department (aided by some of its friends), r egained the 1\dam Smith trophy from the Economics f aculty of the School of General Studies , and went on to thrash the Deparment of Anthropology of the University of Sydney for the coveted Radcliffe-Brown Memorial Coconut , returning that venerable sphere to its accustomed place of honour in the Departmental Office. Winter sports were less successful , - a failure at darts meant that Economics could truly say that they 11 had the Vice-Chancellor "s Ear".

Rhys Jones Acting Head

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ANU RADIOCARBON DATING LABORATORY

ANNUAL REPORT 1974

H.A. Polach

J.D. Gower

M.J. H~ad

Maureen Powell

Greta Morris

STAFF

Research Officer in Charge of Laboratory

Senior Technical Officer (Electronics)

Senior Technical Officer (Chemistry)

Laboratory Technician/Secretary

Junior Laboratory Technician

All are staff of the Department of Prehistory (R.S.Pac.S.) with the exception of Ms Powell 9 who is on secondment from School Services (R.S.S.S. & Pac.S.).

INTRODUCTION

This year saw the formal establishment of a Radiocarbon Connnittee where the Vice-Chancellor, the Director of Research School of Earth Sciences, the Director of Research School of Pacific Studies and Heads of Departments most closely involved with the Radiocarbon Laboratory are represented. The aim of this Conunittee is to evaluate how the cl 4 Laboratory can best serve the needs of this University as a whole. This policy establishing Ccmmittee which determines future growth and development of the Laboratory is aided in its deliberations by a Radiocarbon Management Committee, with a membership of six drawn from Schools e.nd Departments within this University who have in the past demonstrated the greatest interest in and need for radiocarbon age determinations. Represented are : ANU Radiocarbon Laboratory, Departments of Biogeography and Geomorphology (R. S.Pac.S.), Geography (S.G.S.), Prehistory (R.S.Pac.S.)) Prehistory and Anthropology (S.G.S.) and the Research School of Earth Sciences.

The main functions of the Management Conrrnittee are to evaluate the cl4 dating needs (as generated from all sourc~s) and to coordinate the dating activities of the Laboratory. The Management Connnittce thus establishes dating priorities. recommends staff promotions and consid~rs any other factors which in the opinion of the Management Committee are pertinent to the maintenance of successful and efficient operations. The Management Conunittee refers any of its re~ommendations to the Directors of the Research School of Earth Sciences and the Research School of Pacific Studies for implementation.

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15.

PRODUCTION OF RESULTS

During the year the Laboratory continued to provide c14 dating support for research projects originating within this University and outside institutions such as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies and CSIRO and undertook research activities of its own. Whilst two hundred and fourteen age determinations and ninety two background 'analyses were carried out, the full demand for c14 dating could not ue met and the Department of Biogeography and G~omorphology (R.S.Pac.S.) continued to

· have recourse to commercial laboratories for about half of its dating needs. The distribution of completed P-ge determinations is as follows : -

Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies 12 Biogeography and Geomorphology (R.S.Pac.S.) 46 CSIRO 8 New Guinea Research Unit 3 Prehistory (R.S.Pac.S.) 76 Prehistory & Anthropology (S.G.S.) 17 ANU Radiocarbon Laboratory 49 Research School of Earth Sciences 3

GENERAL PROJECTS

The laboratory is playing 3n important role in a number of research projects. Indeed, there is a continuing and increasing need for laboratory generated research involving impr.ovements in dating techniques, analysis, interpretation and ,reporting of results ; parameters fundamental to the validity of dating such as environmental contamination and selection of applicable dating standards. Equally important is participation on a cooperative basis in research generated by ' other departments and institutions, often involving field work.

Low-level Liquid Scintillation Counting Parameters (H.A. Polach, G.E. Calf*, I. Fraser§, J.D. Gower)

. Commercially available liquid scintillation counting equipment is capable of establishing natural c14 concentrations within t~e age range of ea. 1000 to 25,000 years before present (BP). We have shown that significant improvements are possible if modification to equipment are carried out involving operations at reduced high voltage associated with masking of the photomultiplier tubes, and careful selection of other operating parameters such as gain and % efficiency settings.

* Australian Atomic Energy Commission

§ University of Sydney

16.

Improved glass counting vial design (to reduce background) and sample carbon to benzene (the liquid scintillation counting medium) synthesis together with better purification procedures have in our case led t o increased precision of cl~ activity measurEments within

29/1975

the r 'ange of 100 t o 42,000 BP. The use of "Teflon" (poly-tetra-fluroethylene ) counting vials further reduces the background count significantly. When these vials are used with ari optimised Ii.quid scintillation spectrometer and most pure benzene is counted, the relative factor of merit equals the best gas-proporti0nal c14 detection equipment and procedures. Potentially such application would extend our dating range from " contemporary'· to ea. 50,000 yea rs BP . The precision of age determinations becomes such that limitations are no longer imposed by detection and measurement of r esidual cl 4 activity of the sample, but by other parameters such as sample size, sample chemistry, µost depositional contamination and collection techniques.

Computerisation of Data Handling and Age Reporting (H.A. Polach, M.W. Ray*, Anne Sandilands*)

In 1967 we established our first da ta handling computer programmes . These were basically output data statistical analysis (CSIRO) and age calculations (ANU). Over the years improved and extended versions of these have been written. However, modific3tion and updating of both Computer Centre facilities and an ever increasing demand for cl 4 age determinations necessitated ~ systems analysis. This showed that our first need (both for efficiency and economy) was t o handle all our data analysis at the Atro Computer Centre . Our second immediate need was t o establish a computerised primary data storage and retrieval system togethe r with statistical data analysis, short t erm equipment performance analysis and a preliminary age calculation programme. Thirdly ) there is need t o establish data sorting programmes to enable monitorine of the l ong term equipment stability and reproducibility 3nd based on these, t o produce a final age report . Fourthly, "on-line" data handling should be evaluated.

The first two steps have now been completed. This well documented (but as yet unpublished) progranune has already beeri requested by five radiocnrbon dating laboratories throughout the world. To complete the third and fourth stages of programme development , a prograr.nner has been appointed t o work with us for six months next year.

* R.S.S.S. & R.S.Pac.S. School Services

29/1975

17.

Selection of Modern Reference Standerds (H.A. Polach)

Two prcblens have been recognised. One is t o provide a readily available and reproducible radiocarbon dating standard f or all dating laboratories. The other concerns diverp,encies of c14 activity from this reference standard of modern samples in different environments.

The study correlating the activity of the ANU Sucrose secondary c14 dating standard (introduced in 1972) to that of the NBS Oxalic Acid primary dating standard has almost been completed. International cooperation has been excellent and almost all the laboratories invited by us to participate in this cross checking programme have supplied preliminary or final results. These show that the proposed ANU Sucrose secondary dating standard will have its desired effect in bringing all c1 4 c~ncentrations (ages) reported relative t o the primary standard into line . Indications are that the inter-laboratory variation of ±2%, associated with usage of NBS Oxalic , will_ be .. reduced ·to less than ±0.5%

The problem of assigning absolute c14 ages to any sample, using the radiocarbon datine stan.dard, stems from the now widely recognised varia tions ·~ f c14 concentrations in nature. c14' levels in many environme~ts - notably the ocean - differ from l ocal or global atmospheric means~ necessitating the establishment of l ocal standards f or particular sites and sample· types. Many of the projects.in which we are involved require this fundamental referencing and we continue t o provide this basic research .

The Greater Barrier Reef Geochronol ogy and Geomorphology (D. Rapley*, R.F. McLean§ , H.A. Polach, T. Scoffin°, D.R. Stoddart~. B.G. Thom§) .

Three main dating programmes are related t o the Royal Society Coral Reef Exploration project. Drill cores, surficial ree f gcolo~y and selection of modern reference standards.

Drill Cores : The Pleistocene-Holocene boundary was recognised in the Bewick Island core. Five c14 age det erminations have been completed and no further dating of this core is expected. Three further samples from the Stapleton Island core have yet t o be dated.

* Dept . of Geography, James Cook University , Townsville, Q. § Dept. of Bioseography and Geomorphol ogy, ANU 0 Dept. of Geol ogy , University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland ~ Dept. of Geography, University of Carabridge , England

• ~ j

' 29/1975

18.

Surficial reef geol ogy : The reef islands comprise a complex set of geonorphol ogical units, from which all surficial sanples dated as Hol ocene in age. Our concern is t o establish the c~ronology of rapid changes in island structure, their evolu~ionary pattern and relation t o sea level changes. Results indicate that the sea reached approximately its present level by 6000 years BP .

Modern reference standards: Some seventeen samples of living coral and marine plants were collected t o evaluate c14 concentration variations in this oceanic environment. When completed, this study will allow the proper relationship between the primary (and secondary) radiocarbon dating standards and ree f material t o be established.

Quaternary Sea Level Changes (J . Chappell* , P . J. Cook§, M.J. Head , T. Langford-Smith 0

,

H.A. Polach , B.G. Thom~ s C. von der Barch~.

Conflicting radio~etric data (cl 4 and Th230/u234) froo Quaternari shorelines have been difficult to reconcile. We have denonstrated that sane of the errors are due to indiscrininate saople collection and otner errors are due to post depositional changes (contanination) in the samples.

In corals and shells contamination by infill and by boring during early diagenesis is followed by progressive recrystallisation, with acconpanying sample to environment chemical exchange. Cross-checking of cl4 and Th230/u234 of samples from excellent exposure indicates that c14 dating of corals becomes increasingly unreliable beyond 20,000 years BP, while within the Holocene Period cl 4 chronologies for corals appear more consistent than Th230/u234. Discrepancies between the methods for Recent corals warrant further investigations .

c14 dating of coastal feature by incorporated fossil wood ; peat and other organic matter produces two other sources of error : misassociation of sample and event (largely a field problem) and post-depositional contamination of samples by organic matter of different origin and age (largely a laboratory problem). In .addition to selected field consultations, we continue to chemically and physically fractionate samples where contamination is suspected. This enables us to evaluate the total site history.

* § 0

Deµt . of Geography (S.G . S.) ANU BMR, Canberra

Dept. of Geography , University of Sydney

Dept. of Biogeography and GeoMorphology (R . S.Pa c . S.) ANU ~ School of Earth Sciences , Flinders University , S. A.

\ )

29/1975

19.

VISITOF.S, LECTURES AND FIELDWORK

The DepartTient of Pr~history (R.S.Pac.S.) has sponsored the followinr- short-teTI'.l visitors to the Laboratory. Professor Robert V. Ruhe, Director Water Resources Center and Professor of Geology, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA. Dr Robert Stuckenrath, Director R.C . DatinB Laboratory, S~ithsonian Institution, Washington DC , USA. Professor Minze Stuiver , Department of Geological Sciences, Seattle 9 USA. Professor E.D. Bransone, Jr., M.D., Professor of Medicine and Chief of Metabolic and Endocrine Disease, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, USA . The average tine the ahove visitors spent visiting the Laboratory and on field trips to Lake George, Mt Kosciusko and South Coast R.C. dating sites was one week.

Further, Dr Richard Tenple, Associate Professor, Dept. of Physical Chemistry and Head, Sydney University Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, spent two weeks with us to faniliarize hinself with our benzene synthesis and statistical data and age calculation procedures. Professor William Stephens, Dean of Department of Physics University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA, then Visiting Professor to the Department of Nuclear Physics, ANU, because of his close association with Dr Elizabeth Ralph, Director Radiocarbon Dating at MASCA, Philadelphia, spent over one week on visits to th Laboratory and field.

Mr Ian Fraser, then M.Sc. scholar, Department of Physical Chemistry , Sydney University was co-supervised by H.A. Polach and obtained his Master's degree u?On successful submission of a thesis: 1 Synthesis of Benzene for Radiocarbon Dating'.

Invited lectures were P,iven by H.A. Polach during the year on relevant aspects of radiocarbon dating research to the : Royal Australian Chemical Institute, Brisbane ; Division of Land Research , CSIRO, Canb erra · Dept. of Geology , A1JU, and the joint meeting of the Australian Society of Soil Science and Geological Society, Brisbane.

Fieldwork to select and excavate appropriate samples for radiocarbon dating included :

M.J. Head H.A. Polach

- Roonka Archaeological excavation (AIAS) - Southern Coast geomorphology (Dept. of

Biogeography & Geomorphology, R.S.Pac.S.) ; Coastal humates and dune formations

(CSIRO , Brisbane) ; and the Kuk Archaeological Excavation, New Guinea (Dept. of Prehistory , R.S.Pac.S.).

. ~· \

Allen. Jim 1974

Allen, Jim 1974

29/1975

20.

PUBLICATIONS

'The excav~tion of Archaeologic~l Sites'. . In The Resour'ce Atlas of Papua New Guinea

(ed. EdBar Ford) Jacaranda Press.

'Caving and Archaeology in Papua New Guinea'. Nuigini Caver, Vol.2, No 4, 235-6 (November 1974).

Allen, J., and Littlewood 9 H. 1 'Funerary cave pottery from the Cape Rodney area, Central Papua'. Records of the Papua New Guinea Public ~Jusewn and Art Gallery, 4, 1-20.

1974

Bowdler, S. 1974

'An account of an archaeological reconnaissance of Hunter's Isles, North­west Tasnania, 1973/4'. Records of the Queen Victoria Musewn, Launceston, 54.

Calf, G.E. 2and 1974

Polachs H.A. 'Teflon vials for liquid scintillation counting of carbon-14, samples'.

Fraser, I. 2 • 1974

Golson , J. 1974

In Liquid scintillation counting: Recent developments (eds . P.E. Stanley and B.A. Scoggins), 223-34. New York : Academic Press.

Polach , H.A., Temple, R.B. 2 and Gillespie, R. 2

'Purity of benzene synthesised for liquid scintillation C-14 datin~'· In Liquid scintillation counting. Recent developments (eds. P.E. Stanley and B.A. Scoggins), 173-82 . New York ~ Academic Press.

' Charles Andrew Sharp (1906-1974) ' . The Jour'nal of Pacific History , 9, 131-33.

Hughes, P.J.3, 1973

Sullivan, M.E.l and Lanpcrt, R. J. 'The use of silcrete by Aborigines in southern coastal N.S.W.'. ArchaeolO(Jlj and Physical Anthropology in Oceania , 8 , 220-25.

Hughes, P.J.3 1974

and Sullivan, M.E.l 'The re-deposition of midden material by storm waves'. Journal of the Proceedings of the Rowal Society of N.S.W.

1

2

3

107, 6-10.

Member of the Centre for Resource & Environmental Studies

Not a ~ember of this University

Based on data collected before joining the Department

•

Hope, J. 1

1974

29/1975

21.

'The biogeography of the naillI:lals of the Bass Strait islands'. In Biogeogra:phy and Ecology in Tasmania (ed . W.D. Williams), 321--39. The Hague: W.Junk N.V.

Hope, J. 1 ,

1974 Brown, G. 2 , and Mcintosh, B.S. 2 'Natural History

of the Hogan Group. I . Physical environment and vertebrate f~una'. Papers of the proceedings of the Royal Societ;y of Tasmania, 107 , 65-72.

Irwin, G. 1973

Irwin, G. 1974

Lanpert , R.J. 1973

Lauer~ P .K. 3

1974

O'Connell, J.F. 1974

0 1 Connell , J.F. 1974

0 1 Connell , J . F .1 1974

'Man-land relationships in Melanesia: an investigation of prehistoric settlement in the islands of the Boup,ainville Strait'. Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania, 8, 226-52.

'Review of Pacific Anthropological Records Nos. 6 , 7,8 , 9,14,15 , 16 and 17'. Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania, 9, 85-6.

'Australia before the white man'. In Australia and Britain in the Nineteenth Century. (ed. J.S. Hagan) , 1-27. Hawthorn ~ Longman.

'Pottery traditions in the D'Entrecasteaux Islands of Papua'. Occasional Papers in Anthropology, 3. St Lucia : University of Queensland , xv+267pp.

'Spoons, Knives and Scrapers : the function of Yilugwa in Central Australia 1

• Mankind~ 9, 189-94.

Review of Patterns of Indian Burning in California : Ecology and Ethnohistory, by H. T. Lewis. Journal of California Anthropology, l, 118-20 .

'Perris Reservoir Archaeology: Late Prehistoric Demographic Change in south­eastern California'. Archaeological Report No 14 , State of California , Department of Parks and Recreation. (Ed. with P . Wilkie , T. King and C. Mix) .

1 Based on data collected before joining the Departm.ent 2 .Not a ~ember of this University 3 Based on work done while a member of the Departnent

1

2

Specht, J • 1

Ward, G.2

29/1975

22.

vStone Pestles on Buka Island, Papua New Guinea'. Mankind3 9, 324-8.

'A Paradigm for Sourcing New Zealand Archaeological Obsidians'. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Vol.4 No.ls 47-62

Based on work done while a member of the Department

Based on data collected before joining the Depart~ent