Australian Archaeology

(1)

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

Full Citation Details:

Ross, A. & Specht, J. 1976. An Archaeological Survey on Port

Jackson, Sydney. 'Australian Archaeology', no.5, 14-17.

(2)

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 .

(3)

The

Survey

Prior t o the survey, the only archaeological s i t e s known from the Bantry Bay area were four s e r i e s of rock engravings reported by W.D. Campbell (1899: Pls. 8:2, 8:2, 8:9, 9 : l ) .

The survey was directed towards

-

(a) r e l o c a t i n g and rerecording Campbell's a r t s i t e s ; (b) the examination of rock surfaces for other a r t sites;

( C ) the examination, and t e s t i n g , of rock s h e l t e r s which

may have deposits r e s u l t i n g from Aboriginal occupation.

Apart from our f a i l u r e t o relocate one of Campbell's s i t e s (P1. 8 : 9 ) , a l l three objectives were realised. Campbell's s i t e s were recorded with t e x t a colour on c l e a r polythene sheeting. These sheets are currently housed with Department of Anthropology, University of Sydney.

In addition t o Campbell's a r t s i t e s , two s e t s of paintings were located, each sheltered beneath a rock

overhang. One i s a series of charcoal l i n e s , while the other c o n s i s t s of red hand s t e n c i l s , three ' f o o t ' s t e n c i l s and one

' h a t c h e t ' s t e n c i l . These s i t e s were recorded photographically by P. G i l l i l a n d and the negatives are now in the Society's f i l e s .

To t e s t whether the three rock s h e l t e r s contained

archaeological deposits a t t r i b u t a b l e t o Aboriginal a c t i v i t i e s , small t e s t trenches were excavated i n each. I n Ban B 1

(Bantry Bay s h e l t e r number 1) very l i t t l e was found other than a few s h e l l s on the surface, which may have .been brought by Europeans (V.J. Attenbrw, pers. c m . ) . Ban B S produced a quantity of i d e n t i f i a b l e s h e l l , and some evidence of post contact use in the form of n a i l s . Ban B 3 was the r i c h e s t s i t e , revealing charcoal, mollusc refuse and a few stone a r t e f a c t s . None of the deposits as excavated exceeds about 50 cm depth.

The molluscan remains s h w a predominance of species l o c a l l y available on the mudflats and rock platforms a t the head of Bantry Bay: two types of oyster, mud oyster (Ostrea angasi) and rock oyster (Crassostrea comner&a~is) and the Sydney cockle (Anadam t q e z i a ) are most frequent, with small q u a n t i t i e s of gastropods, some of which may have been eaten

(cf. Bowdler

,

1971)

.

Vertebrates were not represented. The economic d a t a is broadly p a r a l l e l t o the picture described by Bowdler (1971) f o r the B a l l ' s Head s i t e also located in Port Jackson.

(4)

Stone a r t e f a c t s were r a r e and were made on quartz l o c a l l y available as small round pebbles i n the sandstone and, l e s s frequently, on quartzite and a grey chert. The a r t e f a c t s a r e of undifferentiated forms, mostly i r r e g u l a r flakes and do not include the formal types described by Bawdler (1971) f o r Ball ' S

Head.

One

cl4

date has been obtained f o r a sample of oyster s h e l l s weighing 12.2 g from s i t e Ban B3, t e s t trench A , s p i t

( 4 B ) , from a depth of 20-30 cms below ground surface. The determined age is as follaws (R. Gillespie, University of Sydney) :

SUA

-

⁵⁹³ ^:⁴⁵²⁰²¹⁰⁰^BP

D r Gillespie reports that about 15% of surface carbonate was removed with HC1 acid from the s h e l l s before processing. The sample was counted f o r 1440 minutes, Dr Gillespie advises t h a t the r e a l age should be 450

+

35 years l e s s than the reported BP age because of the f o s s i l

cl4

reservoir e f f e c t

(Gillespie and Polach 1976). The values f o r & l 3 ( 0

+

^2%)^and

A (-430

+

^10%)^are^assumed. ^{The age}is calculated using the Libby h a l f - l i f e value of 5568 years with a 0.95 NBS Oxalic Acid reference standard.

Sample SUA-S93 is the f b s t

cl4

date f o r an archaeological s i t e i n the Port Jackson region. The determined age is older than expected, though is not unreasonable i n the l i g h t of dates f o r other coastal sites t o the south of Sydney (e.g.

Curracurrang: Megaw 1974:35). The apparent absence of formal stone a r t e f a c t types from the three Bantry Bay s i t e s , when considered with the general paucity of stone a r t e f a c t s and high density of molluscan remains, m y be due t o a nwber of

factors. RDss (1976) has shown t h a t the Sydney Aborigines used very l i t t l e stone i n their a r t e f a c t assemblage because of an absence i n the l o c a l i t y of s u i t a b l e stone material. The large amount of s h e l l present is probably due t o the f a c t t h a t rock shelter s i t e s in the Sydney area seem t o have been u t i l i z e d on a casual basis. Worgan (1788) provides a description of how these s i t e s were being used by the Sydney Aborigines when Europeans f i r s t settled:

When they have caught enough f i s h and s h e l l f i s h for a Meal, and f e e l hungry, the Men c a l l the W o m e n on shore, and haul up the Canoes f o r them. They then gather up a few dry s t i c k s , l i g h t a Fire under a shelving rock

.,.

(1788: 13)

A detailed report of the survey has been prepared f o r the National Parks and Wildlife Service of N - S .W, The f i e l d notes, a r t e f a c t s and s h e l l remains have been deposited i n The Australian Museum, Sydney.

(5)

Acknowledgements

We wish t o thank D r R. G i l l e s p i e f o r providing the

cl4

determination, M r G. Champion, the Davidson Park Trust and i t s employees, t h e Royal Volunteer Coastal P a t r o l , and the many Society members and students from the University of Sydney who p a r t i c i p a t e d in the sunrey.

Postscri p t

We have d e l i b e r a t e l y r e f r a i n e d from providing d e t a i l e d d e s c r i p t i o n s of the v a r i o u s s i t e s and t h e i r l o c a t i o n s , and from providing a s i t e l o c a t i o n map. Most archaeological s i t e s within the metropolitan area of Sydney have been damaged o r t o t a l l y destroyed by commercial and r e s i d e n t i a l a c t i v i t i e s , including a c t s of d e l i b e r a t e vandalism. W e hope t h a t by n o t providing d e t a i l e d information on the

l o c a t i o n of t h e above s i t e s they may be spared s i m i l a r d e s t r u c t i o n . Those wishing t o obtain more s p e c i f i c location d e t a i l s should seek them through the National Parks and W i l d l i f e Service of N.S .W.

References

Bowdler, S. 1971 B a l l ' s Head: the excavation of a Port Jackson rock s h e l t e r . Records of the A u s t r a Z i a n Musewn 28:17-28

Campbell, W.D. 1899 Aboriginal rock engravings a t Port Jackson. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of New South Wales, Ethnology 1

G i l l e s p i e R. and H. Polach 1976 The s u i t a b i t i t y of marine s h e l l s for radiocarbon d a t i n g i n Australian Alehistory. Paper read a t 9th I n t e r n a t i o n a l Radiocarbon Conference, Los Angeles

(mimeographed)

Megaw, J.V.S. 1974 The r e c e n t archaeology of the south Sydney d i s t r i c t . I n Megaw, J.V.S. (ed.) , Recent A r c h a e o b g y of t h e Sydney District.

Canberra: Australian I n s t i t u t e of Aboriginal S t u d i e s

Ross, A. 1976 Unpub. BA t h e s i s , Department of Anthropology, University of Sydney

Worgan, G.B. 1788 Letters a d JoumaZ

. . . . .

^MPL:Ms^B

1463 ( t y p e s c r i p t )