Archaeological Science

First Australians, Last Megafauna? Modern Approaches to a Prehistoric Puzzle
Investigating the interactions of humans and a range of extinct animals is being undertaken at the Pleistocene archaeological site of Cuddie Springs in central northern NSW. In collaboration with the Aboriginal community in Brewarrina, 1 to 2 field seasons per year are currently being pursued to explore the relationship between cultural material and the fossil remains of megafauna such as Diprotodon and the giant flightless bird, Genyornis newtoni. Analysis of the stone tools and bones aims to quantify the range of animals found here and also the likely subsistence strategies of the Aboriginal people that used this area. In addition to the Cuddie Springs work, a Rare Earth Element study of the bones from the only other site known to contain stone tools and bones of extinction animals – Nombe Rockshelter –is being undertaken to investigate the stratigraphic integrity of the site.

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Collaborators: Dr Melanie Fillios (EMU, University of Sydney), Brewarrina Local Aboriginal Land Council, Dr Clive Trueman, Southampton University, U.K., Mr David Bray (School of Chemistry, University of Sydney), Dr Mary-Jane Mountain (Australian National University).


Functional Investigation of Flaked and Ground Stone Tools and Studies of Ancient Starch
The functional studies have enabled us to identify the range of tasks associated with the last use of these artefacts. Technological, use wear and residue studies have yielded a range of evidence to assess the site function in each of the Cuddie Springs occupation horizons. The analysis of material from Kuk Swamp in New Guinea, has shown that taro starch grains have survived on the surface of flaked artefacts recovered from 10,000 year old occupation horizons. Investigations of the archaeology of the North Queensland rainforests just to the south and southwest of Cairns, has demonstrated that the incised grinding stones common to this area were used for processing toxic starchy nuts. These analyses have been instrumental in developing the investigation of ancients starches as indicators of plant use as well as formulating methodologies for the identification of these microfossils, most of which only survive in small quantities. In conjunction with phytolith analyses the study of plant microfossil is a powerful tool in archaeological studies.

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Collaborators: Dr Richard Cosgrove (La Trobe University), Dr Richard Fullagar (Scarp Consulting
Dr Tim Denham (Monash University), Dr Beth Gott (Monash University), Dr Lisa Kealhofer (Santa Clara University, California), Mr Braddon Lance (Macquarie University).


Taphonomy of Modern and Fossil Bone
There are a range of factors that determine the final composition of a fossil bone assemblage when it is recovered by archaeologists, palaeontologists or other researchers. For the Australian context, little research has been undertaken into open site taphonomy. This project investigates a range of open sites, particularly ephemeral lakes or waterholes in order to determine how and why some bones are preserved and others disappear. A significant amount of research has been undertaken on other continents, with widely different fauna, and this project aims to redress this balance not only to provide investigate modern analogues but also to determine the validity of models developed for places like North America or Africa applied to Australian sites. The study will investigate not only the gross physical changes to bones, but also investigate the ultrastructural changes that are wrought through time.

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Ancient Ivory Identification
This project involves the characterisation and identification of ancient ivories from the archaeological site of Pella in Jordan.

The application of Raman spectroscopy, using NIR excitation, is an established analytical technique in this field. It has been used to evaluate the ivory artefacts collected at the site of Pella (Tabaqat Fahl) in the North Jordan Valley. Pella is one of the richest and most ancient sites in Jordan with occupation spanning back to prehistoric times. The ancient city was a flourishing trade centre and ivory was believed to be imported into Pella from either Egypt or Syria. In the Middle and Late Bronze Age (ca. 1500-1200 BC) ivory was traded suggesting that it was a recognised currency together with lapis lazuli, glass, copper, tin, lead etc. The presence or absence of these types of items is useful when trying to characterise a society in terms of wealth, extent of trade, and political and economic strength in the palace/elite economies. Ivory is seen as a measure of these qualities.

Raman spectroscopy is used to establish: (i) if the artefacts are made of ivory; and (ii) the ivory origin (hippopotamus, Indian or African elephant or other).

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Collaborators: Dr Elizabeth Carter (Vibrational Spectroscopy Facility, School of Chemistry, University of Sydney), Dr Stephen Bourke (Near Eastern Archaeology Foundation, Pella Project, University of Sydney) and Prof. Howell Edwards (Department of Chemical and Forensic Science, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK).


Glass Technology in the Ancient Near East: the First 1000 Years
This project investigates the earliest known glass objects which appear in the ancient Near East from the mid 2nd millennium BCE (Mid-Late Bronze Age) as the products of a developing and complex pyrotechnology. The study concentrates in particular on the evolution of technology from the earliest glass of the Bronze Age through the innovation and continuity seen in the ensuing Iron Age. Samples from the Levant and Mesopotamia (modern Jordan, Israel and Iraq) have been analysed by SEM-EDS, EPMA and solution ICP-MS for elemental composition. These glasses have been characterised by over 50 elements, with results being compared with published data from Egypt, other sites in the Middle East and the Mediterranean, with the aim of identifying the variations in technology and raw materials where possible, and of documenting technological development in this region over 1000 years in a key period in the history of glass-making. The data-base of compositional information produced is the largest of its kind from the earliest times of glass-making. The chemical data is being analysed in conjunction with archaeological information and ancient textual evidence to elucidate the earliest history of glass-making.

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Collaborators: NWG Macintosh Centre for Quaternary Dating at the University of Sydney, ACQUIRE at the University of Queensland, and The British Museum. This project is supervised by Prof. Dan Potts, Archaeology Dept, University of Sydney and Prof. Ian Freestone, Cardiff University, Wales, UK.


Gordion Glass Project
This project, headed by Prof. Janet Duncan Jones (Bucknell University, Pennsylvania) involves a collaboration with the author in the elemental characterisation of an important corpus of ancient and rare glasses from central Turkey. Little glass has been unearthed from this large and significant area in ancient history. The site of Gordion was capital of the Phrygian Empire in the early 1st millennium BCE in central Anatolia. It is the seat of the legendary King Midas, and had contacts with lands to the east and west alike. The Gordion glasses have been sampled on site with the aim of analysing their compositions with EPMA and solution ICP-MS to try to establish the technology and raw materials used. The results will be compared to data from the characterisation of other glasses in the general Mediterranean and Middle Eastern areas, seeking any possible links that would provide us with knowledge of trade and distribution of both technological practices and glass product itself. These glasses are pivotal because they have the potential to rewrite much of what we know about the earliest production of moulded glass vessels– the earliest ancestors of the drinking glass vessels that we use daily. This investigation will be the first of its kind of glass from this region. This research is funded by a Loeb Classical Library Foundation Grant.

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