Ward, I.A.K. orcid.org/0000-0002-0566-1479, Bateman, M.D. orcid.org/0000-0003-1756-6046, Larcombe, P. et al. (6 more authors) (2022) A pilot study into the geochronological and geomorphic context for the archaeology of Barrow Island, Western Australia. Quaternary International, 638-639. pp. 5-22. ISSN 1040-6182
Abstract
The island sanctuary of Barrow Island on the edge of the inner North-West continental shelf of Australia holds significant environmental as well as Indigenous and colonial cultural value. Insights on past occupation dynamics, particularly in response to Post-Glacial sea-level rise, continue to emerge from analysis of archaeological assemblages. However, there is limited temporal and landscape information from the wider island with which to better contextualise the physical site formation history of these cultural records. We present a new, modelled Post-Glacial sea-level curve for the region and new geochronological and sedimentological data (including rare earth element and quartz microtextural data) from non-archaeological site contexts to help infer changes in the coastal environment. This new data provides new insights on the island's paleogeography and evolution since approximately 80 ka BP in the context of inherited Last Interglacial features and highly dynamic oceanographic processes. Ongoing physical weathering processes have influenced dune building and reworking, such that neither colour nor numeric age are reliable indicators of sediment compositional and textural maturity. The results continue to emphasise how the continued integration of the island's geological, sedimentological and archaeological records help to understand aspects of cultural site formation, as well as expose some of the limiting factors in our understanding of past and present island physical dynamics.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Quaternary International. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Geochronology; Geoarchaeology; Sea-level change; Barrow island; Western Australia |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Geography (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA Fable |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 27 Feb 2024 14:59 |
Last Modified: | 28 Feb 2024 09:55 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.quaint.2022.02.002 |
Related URLs: | |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:209680 |