Amy Roberts

Flinders University · Archaeology - College of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences

This paper presents new radiocarbon dates for two Aboriginal archaeological complexes situated on the cliff-lines of the Murray River in South Australia (SA); at Pooginook Flat and Tanamee. These dates represent the first age estimates for archaeological sites within the Upper Gorge section of the Murray River. The dates ranged from ca. 11 cal ka t...

This paper presents new data derived from pollen, starch and radiocarbon samples that were collected from six Aboriginal earth (oven) mounds and middens on the Calperum and Pike floodplains, Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), South Australia (SA). Analyses of these samples were undertaken in order to enhance our understanding about the Holocene lifeways o...

This article describes and contextualises the rock art at the Thurk Petroglyph Site on the Murray River in South Australia using multiple methods. The Thurk Aboriginal engravings comprise at least 524 motifs made up predominantly of geometric line elements as well as a small number of other ‘simple’ geometric motifs, two ‘bird tracks’, one figurati...

This article provides new data and syntheses for the zooarchaeological record of the Lower Murray River Gorge region in South Australia. The contribution of original data from Murrawong, Kangerung and Pomberuk provides rigorous and complementary records for the region. In particular, we supply new and detailed identifications for terrestrial verteb...

Context A rare archaeological example of Aboriginal water management in a Murray River floodplain upstream of Renmark is described and contextualised. Aims Historical accounts, archaeological descriptions and hydrological modelling are used to propose a likely function of the site. Methods The site was documented through archaeological field record...

This paper examines the Aboriginal history of the Ma:ko region (Overland Corner). Our exploration of the region includes a consideration of the archaeological record via fieldwork undertaken with traditional owners, an ethnohistorical investigation of the area’s traditional significance as well as a consideration of the effects of European invasion...

Earth oven cookery involves cooking food in pits using hot heating elements, typically over extended periods of time. This technique has been reported in Holocene and Late Pleistocene contexts in Australia, and is of ongoing importance to many Indigenous peoples today. Despite considerable previous work on earth ovens and related sites, few have ex...

This paper discusses the results of statistical analyses of the domestic ceramic assemblage from the Caleta Vitor Archaeological Complex, northern Chile, a collection that spans 2500 years. Mineralogical analyses were also conducted on a selection of the ceramic sherds using X-ray diffraction (XRD) as well as paste and petrographic analyses. The re...

This paper presents the results of an archaeological investigation into anthropogenic earth (oven) mounds located on the Murray River floodplain at Calperum Station in the Renmark region of South Australia. Six mounds were excavated and their contents examined. Sediment analyses were also conducted to assess magnetic susceptibility, grain size and...

Recent claims based on hydrodynamic modelling within a sequence stratigraphical perspective of incised valley fill sedimentation have argued that the Lower River Murray and its terminal lakes Alexandrina and Albert represented a marine–estuarine lake system, with marine salinities for some 200 km upstream from the Murray Mouth. These claims have en...

Three-dimensional (3D) modelling is becoming a ubiquitous technology for the interpretation of cultural heritage objects. However most 3D models are based on geomatic data such as surveying, laser scanning or photogrammetry and therefore rely on the subject of the study being visible. This chapter presents the case study of Crowie, a submerged and...

This article presents the results of historical research, as well as archaeological and geophysical surveys, in order to explore a number of frontier conflict events at Dead Man’s Flat in South Australia (SA). The historical records reveal the cruelty and complexity of the period and expose the concealments, contradictions, euphemistic language, de...

The Indigenous intangible heritage related to wrecked vessels has been poorly studied and documented. This article provides a counter to dominant maritime archaeology discourses via the investigation of the Aboriginal significance attributed to a wrecked and submerged River Murray barge (Crowie) in South Australia. There are numerous layers of Abor...

This paper identifies the emergence of the pursuit of social justice as a core focus of collaborative archaeologies in Aboriginal Australia. A wide range of case studies are examined, especially in relation to efforts to redress a ‘deep colonisation’ that silences Indigenous histories and fails to engage with Indigenous voices or experiences. This...

Earth mounds are common archaeological features in some regions of Australia, particularly within the Murray-Darling Basin. These features are generally considered to have formed via the repeated use of earth oven cookery methods employed by Aboriginal people during the mid- to late-Holocene. This study assesses the relative effectiveness of key ge...

This paper examines Aboriginal connections to pastoral properties on the western central Murray River, with a focus on Calperum and Chowilla Stations. Station histories are presented, oral histories are explored and archaeological sites and material culture from the period are considered. The range of histories, interactions and “zones of encounter...

In this article we present the results of a morphological analysis of four mostly complete non-returning boomerangs and one shaped wooden fragment recovered in 2017 and 2018 from Cooper Creek near Innamincka in South Australia’s far northeast. This archaeological collection forms one of only six known/published wooden artefact assemblages in the co...

This article describes three freshwater mussel shell artefacts recently documented for the Murray River in South Australia. These finds more than double the known examples of such artefacts from this region. Two of the modified shells are perforated, with the other serrated. The finely serrated item is a rare artefact and we have not located any si...

This article presents the results of historical research, as well as archaeological and geophysical surveys, in order to explore a number of frontier conflict events at Dead Man’s Flat in South Australia (SA). The historical records reveal the cruelty and complexity of the period and expose the concealments, contradictions, euphemistic language, de...

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...

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 lo...

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 surrou...

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...

This paper identifies the emergence of the pursuit of social justice as a core focus of collaborative archaeologies in Aboriginal Australia. A wide range of case studies are examined, especially in relation to efforts to redress a ‘deep colonisation’ that silences Indigenous histories and fails to engage with Indigenous voices or experiences. This...

Earth mounds are common archaeological features in some regions of Australia, particularly within the Murray‐Darling Basin. These features are generally considered to have formed via the repeated use of earth oven cookery methods employed by Aboriginal people during the mid‐ to late‐Holocene. This study assesses the relative effectiveness of key ge...

An evaluation of the geochemical characteristics of 102 storage jar sherds by k0-neutron activation analysis (k0-NAA) from archaeological contexts in Cambodia and reference samples from stoneware production centres in Thailand provides a new perspective on regional and global trade in mainland Southeast Asia. Identification of seven geochemical gro...

Three-dimensional (3D) modelling is becoming a ubiquitous technology for the interpretation of cultural heritage objects. However most 3D models are based on geomatic data such as surveying, laser scanning or photogrammetry and therefore rely on the subject of the study being visible. This chapter presents the case study of Crowie, a submerged and...

This paper provides new palaeogeographical reconstructions of the Spencer Gulf and Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda region of South Australia for the period ca. 20,000–6000 cal. BP. The rich complexity of traditional Aboriginal (Narungga) sea-level narratives is also explored. These narratives, which form a highly significant system of knowledge, are consi...

Three-dimensional (3D) modelling is becoming a ubiquitous technology for the interpretation of cultural heritage objects. However most 3D models are based on geomatic data such as surveying, laser scanning or photogrammetry and therefore rely on the subject of the study being visible. This chapter presents the case study of Crowie, a submerged and...

Following its initial occupation ca. 40,000 years ago, Aboriginal people using Allen’s Cave in South Australia’s arid zone experienced two major climatic changes. From the onset of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) at ca. 30,000 cal. BP, until its peak at ca. 22,000–18,000 cal. BP, aridity in Australia reached its most intense phase during the human o...

This paper presents the results of analyses of rock coatings from Pudjinuk Rockshelter No. 2 in South Australia (SA) using the following methods: 1) Raman microscopy; 2) X-ray powder diffraction; and 3) Scanning electron microscopy coupled with integrated energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The deposits analysed contained a mixture of thenardite,...

This paper provides new data on Indigenous earth (oven) mounds in the Murray Darling Basin (MDB) via an analysis of these features on the Calperum Station floodplain in South Australia’s Riverland region. Our analysis of earth mound dimensions, attributes, placement, elevation and relationships to other mounds and site types reveals the following:...

This paper presents the results of surveys and detailed recordings of surface stone artefacts associated with 13 anthropogenic earth mounds at Calperum Station in South Australia’s Riverland region. The low density assemblages were dominated by small unmodified chert and silcrete flakes produced by knapping strategies aimed at maximising the raw ma...

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been used to investigate ceramic vitrification stages since the 1970s, however its application has been primarily restricted to stoneware and high-fired ceramics. The purpose of this study was to determine whether stages of vitrification could also be identified in prehistoric low-fired archaeological earthenw...

Edited volume - special edition.

This paper presents the findings arising from neutron activation analysis (NAA) of northern Chilean domestic ceramic samples from Caleta Vitor (n = 38) and clay samples (n = 15) from nearby valley, coast and highland contexts. This study presents the first NAA data set of ceramics spanning a temporal period of 1500 years (c.2000 to c.476 bp) from t...

The Indigenous intangible heritage related to wrecked vessels has been poorly studied and documented. This article provides a counter to dominant maritime archaeology discourses via the investigation of the Aboriginal significance attributed to a wrecked and submerged River Murray barge (Crowie) in South Australia. There are numerous layers of Abor...

This article details the discovery of early twentieth-century sailcloth and fishing-net samples pertaining to the lives of Aboriginal peoples on Point Pearce Aboriginal Mission (Burgiyana). Biographies for the samples are explored, from which it is argued that these objects may have many viewpoints assigned to them. The sailcloth and fishing-net sa...

Watch online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2I9aJvwiCI For more information and resources related to this IPinCH-supported project, please visit our website: www.sfu.ca/ipinch. Click here for the full, unedited, version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG9KT... This talk was held during the IPinCH Midterm Conference at Simon Fraser University,...

Many Indigenous groups around the world are struggling to come to terms with the issues an online environment poses to the presentation of the Indigenous past and cultural present. This IPinCH case study aimed to address the issue of a lack of culturally sustainable interpretive content online through a community-based approach to the production of...

A special edition of the Journal of the Anthropological Society of South Australia focusing on material culture studies.

This special edition of the Journal of the Anthropological Society of South Australia focuses on archaeological science projects.

Special edition of the Journal of the Anthropological Society of South Australia focusing on the research legacy of Norman B. Tindale.

Special Edition of the Journal of the Anthropological Society of South Australia focusing on issues in South Australian anthropology and archaeology

A special edition focusing on Aboriginal missions.

This article outlines “first stage” research into Aboriginal fish traps located on Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. The project was undertaken by Flinders University researchers in collaboration with the Indigenous traditional owners of the region—the Narungga people. The research aimed to achieve a range of objectives including obtaining basic da...

This paper presents the results of a multidisciplinary investigation into a dark rock coating at the Ngaut Ngaut heritage complex in South Australia (SA) using geological and botanical examination, Raman microscopy, x-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and infrared analyses. The coating analysed contains a mixture of calcite, quar...

The concept of 'seeing land from the sea' (Cooney 2003: 323) has gained currency since the themed World Archaeology issue, 'Seascapes' (2003), building upon 'maritime cultural landscape' studies by Hunter (1994: 261), Jasinski (1999: 14-18), Parker (1999, 2001) and Westerdahl (1992, 2002). Since this time, however, few case studies have explored th...

This paper reports on a recent exhibition 'Children, Boats and 'Hidden Histories': Crayon drawings by Aboriginal children at Point Pearce Mission (Burgiyana) (South Australia [SA]), 1939'. The exhibit was displayed in the South Australian Maritime Museum (1 Feb–31 July 2014) and was curated by Roberts, Fowler and Sansbury (Fig.1). The exhibition fe...

This research employs the concept of ‘archaeologies of attachment’, with its emphasis on material culture and intangible heritage, and applies it to an Indigenous Australian seascape – an approach rarely or thoroughly combined in maritime studies. The seascape investigated is the Wardang Island (Waraldi/Waradharldhi)/Point Pearce Peninsula (Burgiya...

This paper details the unique pairing of Indigenous and maritime archaeological approaches in the ‘(Re)locating Narrunga Project’. Narrunga was a ketch built by the Narungga Aboriginal community at Point Pearce Mission (Yorke Peninsula, South Australia) at the turn of the twentieth century and later sunk in the 1940s. It is argued that convergences...

On the basis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human remains, this paper provides evidence for the retention of hunter–gatherer economies among coastal inhabitants in northern Chile during the late Holocene – at the same time that inland populations were adopting agricultural economies. Coastal diets from the Caleta Vitor region of...

Combining Indigenous and Maritime Archaeological Approaches: Experiences and Insights from the ‘(Re)locating Narrunga Project’, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia