Australian Archaeology

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Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au

Full Citation Details:

Lampert, R.J. 1976. Dempsey's Lake Palaeontological and

Archaeological Site. 'Australian Archaeology', no.5, 12-14.

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DEMPSEY'S LAKE PALAEONTOLOGICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

Dempsey's Lake i s a small lake same 6 km northwest of t h e c e n t r e of P o r t Augusta township, South A u s t r a l i a . The s i t e was brought t o my a t t e n t i o n by Mr D. W i l l i a m s (School of B i o l o g i c a l Sciences, F l i n d e r s University) who, in a s s o c i a t i o n with

D r R. Wells, is i n v e s t i g a t i n g i t s p a l a e o n t o l c g i c a l and

s t r a t i g r a p h i c aspects. Apparently, it is t h e s i t e a t which both Kartan t o o l s and Diprotodon bones were found l y i n g i n c l o s e proximity by Cooper (1959)

,

leading him t o s u g g e s t t h a t t h e

t o o l s and bones may have been a s s o c i a t e d . I m e t Mr W i l l i a m s a t Dempseyls Lake i n May 1976, and s p e n t a day and a h a l f examining the s i t e .

The s i t e is on an eroded red sand dune running i n a s t r a i g h t l i n e from northwest t o s o u t h e a s t , b o r d e r i n g p a r t of t h e southwest shore of t h e l a k e , b u t extending beyond it t o t h e s o u t h e a s t . T h i s configuration suggests t h e dune must be p a r t o f t h e l i n e a r dune f i e l d formed by P l e i s t o c e n e winds blowing from west-northwest and n o t a l u n e t t e o r o t h e r s h o r e l i n e f e a t u r e of t h e l a k e

(cf. Bowler 1975)

.

Modern winds from t h e southwest have s i n c e s t r i p p e d o f f up t o 3 m of upper sand l e v e l s o v e r p a r t o f t h e dune, exposing a f i r m calcareous horizon, on t h e s u r f a c e of which l i e bone fragments and many stone a r t e f a c t s .

Despite the profusion of a r t e f a c t s , n o t one was found embedded in the calcareous horizon, n o r w a s a s i n g l e a r t e f a c t found encrusted with c a l c a r e n i t e . The s i t u a t i o n may t h u s b e c o n t r a s t e d with t h a t a t Lake Mungo, where J o n e s and Allen

(Bowler e t a t . 1970) infer t h a t most s u r f a c e t o o l s a r e a s s o c i a t e d with t h e calcareous Upper Mungo Unit, from a few s t o n e t o o l s a c t u a l l y embedded i n it and a much l a r g e r number l y i n g on t h e s u r f a c e b u t coated with c a l c a r e n i t e . A t Dempsey's Lake, a l l t h e s t o n e a r t e f a c t s , a s well as some of the bones, appear t o be a l a g d e p o s i t , once embedded in o v e r l y i n g s t r a t a t h a t have s i n c e been blown away. Other evidence t o s u p p o r t t h i s view may be

seen i n l e s s eroded p a r t s of t h e dune where a r t e f a c t s l i e exposed only about one metre from t h e s u r f a c e i n s m a l l wind d e f l a t e d hollows, and w e l l above t h e calcareous horizon. Also, w i t h i n t h e major blowout i t s e l f , a s i n g l e remaining p i l l a r of the

overlying d e p o s i t contained a stone f l a k e i n situ 1.5 m above the calcareous l e v e l . Of t h r e e charcoal c o n c e n t r a t i o n s i n t h e

c a l c a r e n i t e , two appear t o be b u r n t t r e e stumps while the t h i r d is not obviously a hearth. I t is thus extremely doubtful t h a t men occupied t h e s i t e during t h e formation of t h i s horizon.

The only remains of l a r g e e x t i n c t marsupials found s t r a t i f i e d by ~r W i l l i a m s were i n t h e calcareous horizon. There i s thus no evidence f o r t h e a s s o c i a t i o n of t h e s e fauna w i t h man a t Dempsey's Lake.

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Culture

and

Chronology

Although t h e s t o n e i n d u s t r y was n o t examined s y s t e m a t i c a l l y , a l a r g e enough sample was s u f f i c i e n t l y w e l l exposed t o a s s e s s i t s major c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . The s t e e p edge s c r a p e r , made on a l a r g e , t h i c k f l a k e , appeared t o b e t h e most conwon implement. Others a r e f l a t t i s h f l a k e s c r a p e r s and some heavy c o r e s c r a p e r s of horsehoof t y p e . I saw none o f t h e s m a l l t o o l s such a s t u l a s and p i r r i s which a r e o f t e n found i n abundance on l a t e s i t e s i n t h e r e g i o n , n o r d i d I n o t i c e any of t h e kind of waste s t o n e with which such t o o l s a r e u s u a l l y a s s o c i a t e d . I t h u s b e l i e v e t h i s i n d u s t r y i s an e a r l y o n e , of t h e c o r e t o o l and s c r a p e r t r a d i t i o n . However, t h e emphasis upon medium s i z e d f l a k e t o o l s , r a t h e r than heavy c o r e t o o l s means t h a t i t i s c l e a r l y n o t Kartan a s Cooper had i m p l i e d (1959)

,

even though t h e s i t e i s l o c a t e d n o t f a r n o r t h o f a n a r e a i n which Kartan s i t e s a r e numerous (Lampert 1976)

.

With t h e t o o l t y p e s mentioned, and b e i n g made on a g r e y i s h

s i l c r e t e , t h e i n d u s t r y l o o k s remarkably s i m i l a r t o t h a t from Lake Mungo. However i t d i f f e r s from t h e Mungo i n d u s t r y i n having t h e t o o l s l a r g e m u l t i d i r e c t i o n a l c o r e s and more waste f l a k e s ,

i n d i c a t i n g t h a t men a t Dempsey's Lake knapped s t o n e on t h e s p o t (cf. Bowler e t a t . 1970) presumably from the s i l c r e t e t h a t o u t c r o p s a l o n g the o p p o s i t e bank, l e s s than 2 k m away.

Because t h e s t r a t i g r a p h i c o r i g i n of the t o o l s i s w i t h i n t h e upper l e v e l s o f a l i n e a r dune, it seems l i k e l y t h a t t h e y were d e p o s i t e d t h e r e d u r i n g t h e most r e c e n t phase of dune b u i l d i n g a c t i v i t y , between 17,000 and 15,000 y e a r s ago (Bowler 1975)

.

Such an age is c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e t y p o l o g i c a l c h a r a c t e r of t h e i n d u s t r y .

References

Bowler, J.M.

Bowler, J.M.,

Cooper, H.M.

1975 D e g l a c i a l e v e n t s i n Southern A u s t r a l i a : t h e i r a g e , n a t u r e and p a l a e o c l i m t i c s i g n i f i c a n c e .

Quuternary Studiee: Bulletin 13 o f the Royal S o c i e t y o f Nm Zealand: 75-82

R. J o n e s , H. A l l e n and A.G. Thorne 1970 P l e i s t o c e n e human remains from A u s t r a l i a : a l i v i n g s i t e and a human cremation from Lake Mungo, Western New South wales. Wor Zd ArchaeoZogy 2 : 39-60

1959 Large s t o n e implements from H a l l e t Cove, South A u s t r a l i a . Transactions of the ^RoyalSociety o f South Australia 82:55-60

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Lampert, R. J. 1976 Variation in Australia ^{' 8}PZeistocene Stone Industries. Read a t t h e I X t h Congress of t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l Union of P r e h i s t o r i c and Proto- h i s t o r i c Sciences, Nice (mimeagraphed)

R . J . Lampert

Department of P r e h i s t o r y

Research School of P a c i f i c S t u d i e s A u s t r a l i a n National University

AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY ON PORT JACKSON, SYDNEY

In

troduc

ti on

During the period April t o December 1975, t h e Anthropological Society of New South Wales conducted an a r c h a e o l o g i c a l survey around Bantry Bay on t h e northern s i d e of P o r t Jackson, Sydney.

The a r e a surveyed, formerly known a s Magazine Reserve, was

c o n t r o l l e d by the Federal Government u n t i l 1974. The r e s e r v e , now under t h e control of Davidson Park T r u s t , had been c l o s e d t o public access f o r 60 years while it was used a s a naval e x p l o s i v e s depot. The Society believed t h a t t h i s c l o s u r e t o p u b l i c use would have a s s i s t e d t h e preservation of Aboriginal r e l i c s i n t h e a r e a , and f e l t t h a t an archaeological survey should be undertaken i n 1975 t o determine t h e nature and e x t e n t of such r e l i c s b e f o r e they suffered damage by exposure t o p u b l i c use.

The

Area

The area survey, approximately 2 km2 a t t h e head of Bantry Bay, includes s e v e r a l steep-sided v a l l e y s and many g u l l i e s covered with dense n a t u r a l vegetation, though such introduced p l a n t s as lantana and bamboo are beginning t o r e p l a c e t h e

indigenous f l o r a i n some sections. There a r e many exposures of sandstone appearing a s l o w c l i f f s with overhangs a t t h e i r base o r as f l a t surfaces. Several creeks run down t h e v a l l e y s and g u l l i e s i n t o Bantry Bay, where the rock platform and mudflats a r e covered a t high t i d e . This i n t e r t i d a l zone c a r r i e s a small range of molluscs which a r e l i k e l y t o have provided a u s e f u l protein e l e ~ n t i n t h e Aboriginal d i e t .