EARLY HUMAN OCCUPATION OF THE FLINDERS RANGES

byR.

7.

Lampert & ^P.

^7.

Hughes

Summary

The climatic amelioration that followed the

last

glacial maximum (17-15 000 yBP) prompted more widespread human occupation of the Australian arid zone. Whereas the better watered Flinders

Ranges were a focus of human activity as early as 15 000 yBP, ^the shores of Lake Frome became

popular during generally moister conditions of 9.5-4 000 y BP, and the widespread occupation of the Strzelecki Desert, with

its

highly epheremal surface water, took place mainly within the

last

five

thousand years. Technological change accompanied these movements. The Kartan industry, dating

to

15 000 yBP,

is

present

at

early

sites

in the Ranges, while small tools characterise the widespread recent

sites.

Lying temporarily between these

is

an industry of core

tools,

shaped differently from

those of the Kartan, found on the early Holocene Lake Frome

sites,

On the evidence of

this

and

earlier investigations, the Kartan has an upland distribution, ranging from

hills

of Kangaroo Island

to

the desert highlands of the north.

RJ. I.AMI'fcRTA

P.J.

HUGHP.S

LAMPL.RT,

RJ.

& HUGHES,

RJ. 1986. E«rlv

human

nCCUflalT^Ti ol the lliudcts Ranges, toffi

S .w.

Mum. 22: 114-168,

Theclimalicameliorationthat followed IhclaM glacial

mammum

(17-15 (*W ^>'UP)prompted more widespread

human

occupation of the Australian arid /one. Whcrca* 'lie bci ^{r i}-u ^I Hinders Rangeswereafocusol'

human

activity asearlyas 1? 000

>BK

^ihcshovesol lakeTronte became popular (luring generally moisrer conditions of £5-4 000 yBP, and (he WJlfa|)fc&<l occupation ofIheStr/elecki Deserl, wild ih highlyfphememl -tnta^o water, took placemain!, wiihin the ^{last five} thousand years, technological change accompanied these movements. I In-

Kartan industry, dating to 15 000 yUP. is present at early sites inthe Ranges, while-small Lu characterise the widespread recent^sites, Lying temporally between these isJO imhiMrv ^0\

tools, shaped differently from those ol the kartan, found on the early Iloloecnc I

ak

borne

sites.

On

theevidenceof thisand earlierinvestigations, the

Karum

has an upland distribution.

ranging from the hills of Kangaroo Island to The desert highlands of the ^north.

R.J, l.amperl, Australian

Museum,

ft-N CollegeStreet, Sydney,

New

South Wales 2000 and P^I Hughes, University o\' Papua

New

Guinea. P0 ^{fVn 320, Port Moresby.} Papua New Guinea.

Manuscript received 23 December ^1987.

Our

research

on

^early Aboriginal occupation of theFlindersRanges, and adjoiningareasofthearid ZOlieOfsouth-eastern Australia,beganon Lemperaie

Kangaroo Maud,

.several hundred kilometres to the south

(Lampert

1981). There, attempts to dale the Karian industry, present only

on

surfacesites,

had

met with limited success.

The

presence ol rhis industry also

on

parts of the

mainland

close to

Kangaroo

^{Island, together} with evidence for the separation ol the island fromthe

mainland

by post glacial sea rise

some

9 500

yBP

(years Before Present), suggested a late Pleistocene age for the industry. This view received support from the absenceof largecore tools, which are the hallmark of the Kartan, from a

number

of.sites

on

the island with ages ranging between II

000 and

4 300 yBP, These sites have securely stratified occupation horizons containing acceptably large samplesofan industry characterised by small adzes

and

scrapers

made on

stone fluk-v

Lampert

concluded from his

Kangaroo

Island research ^Ihat the Kartan

was

a regional variant of the core lool

and

scraper iradition, the earliest Australian stone-working iradition yet recognised, that it dated back to the late Pleistocene; that it

preceded an industry of smaller tools,

made on

(lakesratherthan cores, thissuccession being part of a trend towards smaller tool types throughout Australia;and that thelater industry wasessentially pari ol Ihc mainland small tool tradition despite theabsence from

Kangaroo

(standol later

and more

ehataetcristie tool forms

(Lampert

1981). Olher

more

tentativehypotheses wereraised, notably

one

concerningthe differences betweenthe Kartan

and

more

widespread examples Of thC QQ*K tOOl Wild scraper tradition

Whereas

laigC cote tools pit

dominate

ⁱⁿ theKartan. such ^{tools arc}smaller

and

fewer in other industries ol the nmJitioti, the

mm

^-

more common

tool beingu

Hake

scraper, However, large core tools predornmale in

somt

early Mies |(|

South

East Asia, lands from which Australia must have received its early

human

population.

The

similarityofthese tools tothose of the Kartan h

been noted eatIter (Tindale 1937;

McCarthy

1940, 1941, 1943), all

hough

laterresearch(Matthews 1966)

showed

that tins relationship

was

not

pamcuhoK

close. This evidence raised the possibjlhv that the Karian

was

different from other industries of the Australian core toot

and

scraper LTadifion because

it

had

retained tool forms earlier in origin If ^'hi-, is the case,

some

Kartan sites should have aces ⁱⁿ excess ol 30

000

yeais.

To

address such questions, there was cVarlv a

need lolocale theKartan in stratifiedcOnW&ta ^(ha

would

allow its .ige

and

culiuraj u*.s'jvialiom tO

K

determined

more

accurately. "Thediscovery ol -lu

ablesiteson

Kangjmo

Island arid nearby penitmilav ofthe

mainland seemed

unhkelygiven the nwrnbci oflengthy reconnaissances thai

hud

already fallal in thisattempt. Attentionwas turnedinthe _ffiivIc

Ranges where Cooper

U94?.i had reported fnc di*

eovery of Kartan tools.

The

^northern sector of the

Rao med

iht

more

^promisingbecause, lying,

whlun iU and

/one,

it was Subject to a cycle ofdepositor, ami n that could cover archaeological materials

and

pose

them

again lo allow discovery.

140 RJ.

LAMM

iKt

&

VI.

FUJOHE8

Inthe event* investigationsthereilluminated not only the

problem

Cl£ the Kartan bui also general questionsabout theantiquity

and

natureof

human

occupation in the arid

zone

of south-eastern Australia (cf.

Gould

1971,

Bowdler

1976,

Norton

1981, Ro^s 1981).

THt setting

Present

environment Lan4forms

Structurally, byfar thelarger part ofthe Flinders Ranges{seeFig.. J)hasdeveloped from sedimentary rocks ^laid

down

between

500 and

1

000

million years

ago These

^{rocks were} compressed, buckled

and

fraCtUredi Iheywereuplifted slowly anderoded.

In lire arid northern Ranges, where vegetation is sparse, the intricate folding

and

faulting,

and

the effects of erosion, can be best appreciated.

The

landforms here are spectacular, the

Ranges

as a

whole

risingabruptly fromthe surroundingplains,

and

^containing deep gorges, jagged ridges

and

enclosed synclinal basins or 'pounds', the best

known

of which is

Wilpepa Pound Predominant among

rock typesisquarUltewhichgrades out into sandstone

and

siltstone.

Limestone

is fairly ex- tensive,

some

igneous rocks ate present inthe

Mt

fainter region,

and

thereare a few smalloutcrops or silcretc.

To

the north, the

Ranges become more subdued and

eventually terminatein the

dune

fields

and

stony plains of the Str^eleeki Deseit.

Sandy

plains

some

30

km

in width separate the northern

Ranges from Lake Frome

totheeast

and

Lake ^Torreristo thewest Theselakesarehugesaline playas that rarely contain water.

Streams

flowing from the

Ranges soon

peter*out, reaching thelakes only rarely,

Under

this regime, the streams

drop

theirbedload of sediments withinashortdistance, causing ^alluvial fans to

form on

the piedmont.

Climate

and

vegetation

The

northern

Ranges

receive an annual rainlall slightly less than 300

mm

which decreases

from

southtonorth, the northern limits fallingbelow the 250

mm

^{isohyet. Theseaverage} figures aredeceptive because

of

considerable variation ⁱⁿ rainfall from yearto year, Rainfall is

50%

greater in the

Ranges

than

on

thesurroundingplains which receiveonly 200

mm,

afigure thatdiminishesto a

mere

J25

mm

in the heart of the StrzelccM Desert

and

at l^ke Frome.

As

well as having a highei rainfall, the

Ranges

have deep shady

chasms

with a rocky substrate that allows theretentionofsurface water in pools.

The

plains, bycontrast, have only highly ephe- meral streams

and

^{salt pans, plus} a ^{few widely}

spacedartesianspringswith water that isnot always drinkable.

The

northern

Ranges

are thusa reason- ably well-watered strip within an arid region.

VegetationcommunitiesintheRangesvarymain-

ly Inaccordancewith soil typeswhichin turn reflect thekindsofparent rock

and

weathering processes to which they havebeet! subjected. SoiJsrange from skeletal soils,

found

mainly at higher latitudes, through red

brown

soils

and

podsOls, to the deep alluvialsoilsfoundin valley bottoms (Kuehel 1980;

69).

Shrubland dominated

by various species of Acacia, Cassia

and Eremophita

^is

common,

panic ularly

on

thestonysoils ofupperhill slopes. Native pine{Callitnseolumctlans)

and

sheoak (Casuartnu

stricta) are

found on

lower slopes

and

Hats.

Calcareous podsols developed on a sandy baseare colonised mainly by mallee(Eucalyptus$pp.) with Spinifex{Triodiairrituns)occurring

on more

mobile sands,

Wants

of the family Chenopodiaceae, including salt

bush

{Atriplex spp.)

and

blue bush

(Maireana

spp.l are found

on

stony flats

and

hill slopes, notably at the northern

end

ofthe

Ranges and on

^the Lake

Frome

plain. Valley

bottoms and

stream courses support the lofty river red

gum

{Eucalyptuscamatdulensis)_% specimensofwhich In the better watered gorges reach an

enormous

size.

Past events Bej'ore

45 000 yBP

Evidence

from

(his early period is sparse, but thcrmo-lumineseence (Tl ) dales for the onset of

dune

building in the northern Strzelecki Desert at least 250 000

yBP

(Gardner et ai ^1987). indicate thai desert conditions were in place well bcfoic

human

occupation of the continent. In the

WiUandra

Lakes, jusroutside the

prcsem

arid/one, well-developed soils below lake

bed

deposits give

evidence

for

dry conditions from

120

000-45 000 yBP

(Bowler

& ^Wasson

^1984).

40 000-25 000 yBP

Significantly wetter conditionsthroughout sou- thern Australia are

shown

by a varietyofevidence.

Lakes filled in the

WiUandra

system

and

in south- easternSouth Australia(Bowler 1971). Rivers

of

the Murray-Darling system were

up

to lour times their

Pic-em width (Pels 1964, Bowler etaL 1976),

Lake

Eyre covered three times its present area

and was up

to 17

m ^deep

^{{IWidale 1980:} 30).

Lake Frome

experienced a high waicr phase minimally dated by

C-14

^ro 36

800

± ) 700

yBP from

Coxiella shells in abeach ridge, while a

dune

thought tobeassociated with rising kike levelshas 3

TL

date of 48 000 £ ^K

WO vBP

(Gardner et aL

19H7I.

Duringthismoist phase, high ratesofrunoff

and

erosion in ;he

Ranges produced

the

immense

Dalhousie

Simpson Dcsen

Cooper Basin

FIGURE

I. Places mentioned in text.

143 R.,1.

LAMPRM &

^P-l-

HUGHES

alluvial fansthai

form

thepediments pihillslopes

and

exiend

outward

across valley bottoms, t ol levtively, these sedimentsare

known

asthe

Pooraka

I01.nation (Williams 1973).

They

are

up

to 10

m

hfttefc

where

out through by

Hookina

Creek, just

north

of Hawker

township.

Radiocarbon

dates indicate that ^this formation

had begun

tobuild

up

before }S

000 yBP and was

completed by 30 000 yBP, alter which the absence of sedimentation allowed a soil profile,

known

as the Wilkatana Palaeosol, to develop

on

^{its .surface.} Bones of Pleistocene fauna, including

Dipmfodan,

have been recovered from deep sediments of this formation along

Hookina

Creek.