Community Archaeology: Working Ancient Aboriginal Wetlands in Eastern Australia

Community Archaeology presents the results of an investigation of wetland heritage in eastern Australia, with important contributions to the archaeology of the Tasmanian Midlands and the New England Tablelands. In this first substantial project in these bioregions since 1991, OSL and radiocarbon dating at lagoon sites provided dates going back to 8000 BP, significantly extending previous information. In both regions a range of stone artefact scatters were recorded adjacent to lagoons, suggesting associated ceremonial activities. Across the regions, new OSL dates were obtained for lunette formation. These were unexpectedly diverse, with OSL dates not clustered around the Last Glacial Maximum at 20k. With sediment particle sizes suggesting both wind and water deposition, quite individual local lunette depositional histories not closely related to global climates are indicated.

The book also contributes to the important global field of community engagement and education. Unlike most projects where Aboriginal people are involved in commercial archaeology, this project focussed on research. Community Elders were research team partners during fieldwork and training. Work-integrated -learning, at University and on-country locations, proved very successful as a learning approach for young participants.