Abstract
This paper outlines a radiocarbon chronology for a selection of coastal and island archaeological sites on Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda, South Australia. The case study areas are located on Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana and Wardang Island/Waraldi. Eighteen new radiocarbon dates (primarily from marine shell) are presented for four mainland and three island sites. The dates for island and peninsula sites span ca. 8000 cal BP to the late Holocene (including the Modern Period), with a possible hiatus in occupation/visitation for the period ca. 7600–4200 cal BP. The oldest dates in the chronology pre-date the islandization of Wardang Island/Waraldi while the potential hiatus spans the period of marine transgression in this area including a high-stand. The period ca. 4400–4000 cal BP represents a minimum date for Narungga access and use of islands in their Sea Country. A later possible occupation/visitation gap (or period of lower intensity occupation) from ca. 3000 to 1600 cal BP may relate to more frequent ENSO drying events in southeast Australia. Three samples relate to the Modern Period (post-AD 1950) and reflect the ongoing connections that Narungga people maintain with their Sea Country.
Introduction
Coastal archaeology and island occupation/visitation studies have received significant attention from archaeologists globally—human adaptation to environmental variability has been a common theme (see Radde et al. Citation2024). The nature and timing of coastal and island occupation/visitation has similarly been a significant research topic in Australian Aboriginal archaeology (e.g., Barker Citation1991, Citation2004; Bowdler Citation1995; Draper Citation1991; McDonald et al. Citation2023; McNiven et al. Citation2014; McNiven and Ulm Citation2015; Morrison, O’Leary, and McDonald Citation2023; Moss et al. Citation2015; Rosendahl et al. Citation2015; Rowland, Wright, and Baker Citation2015; Sim and Wallis Citation2008; Veth et al. Citation2007).
Debates in Australia have centered on a number of key themes including island occupation/visitation patterning, access and changes to marine resources, the nature and timing of offshore island voyaging, coastal/marine specializations, the influence of climate (e.g., El Niño–Southern Oscillation [ENSO] activity), intensification, as well as other cultural considerations (e.g., McNiven et al. Citation2014; McNiven and Ulm Citation2015; Morrison, O’Leary, and McDonald Citation2023; Rowland et al. Citation2024). However, research efforts relating to coastal and island archaeology around the Australian continent have been variable. For example, in South Australia (SA) beyond primary research conducted on Kangaroo Island/Karta Pintingga in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s (e.g., Draper Citation1991, Citation2015; Lampert Citation1981), little is known about the timing of Aboriginal occupation/visitation on other islands. Further, due to its large size Kangaroo Island/Karta Pintingga was one of only a few Australian islands that continued to be occupied after the termination of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) when sea-level rise severed it from the mainland and “isolated” the Aboriginal people who lived there (but who then “abandoned” the island in the late Holocene) (see summaries in Draper Citation2015, 233–4; Morrison, O’Leary, and McDonald Citation2023; Sim Citation1994)—as such, it does not provide a useful cognate for the many other smaller islands along the SA coast. This research seeks to contribute to our understanding of this important and transformative period of islandization in Aboriginal history.
This paper details the results of a collaborative research project undertaken with Narungga Nation Aboriginal Corporation (NNAC) and Point Pearce Aboriginal Corporation (PPAC) which aimed to produce the first occupation chronology for a selection of coastal and island sites on Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda, South Australia.Footnote1 The case study areas are located on Point Pearce Peninsula/BurgiyanaFootnote2 and Wardang Island/Waraldi (Figure 1). This research builds on a number of collaborative research projects that have been undertaken with the Narungga and Point Pearce communities which have also focused on Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana and Wardang Island/Waraldi (e.g., Fowler et al. Citation2014, Citation2015; Fowler, Roberts, and Rigney Citation2019; Mollenmans Citation2014; Roberts, Fowler, and Sansbury Citation2014; Roberts et al. Citation2013, Citation2016, Citation2020).
Figure 1. Map showing location of Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda, South Australia, and the Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana and Wardang Island/Waraldi case study areas.
Cultural setting
The Narungga people are the Aboriginal Traditional Owners of Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda. Ethnohistorical observations indicate that the recent Narungga economy was largely focused on coastal and marine resources, including the use of islands. Their coastal/marine economy included a range of technologies such as spear fishing, net fishing, stone fish traps, shell fishing, and more (e.g., Fowler in Curr Citation1886, 143; Griffiths Citation1988; Hill and Hill Citation1975; Mollenmans Citation2014, Citation2024; Mountford Citation1936, Citation1952; Roberts et al. Citation2016; Tindale Citation1936; Wood and Westell Citation1998; Wood, Westell, and Roberts Citation2003). Narungga people have maintained significant knowledge about their Sea Country and continue to use a range of fishing methods (see Roberts et al. Citation2020). However, the importance of Sea Country to Narungga people extends well beyond the sustenance it provides—it is an environment that is also replete with meaning through place names, histories, and spiritual force (after McNiven Citation2004; Roberts et al. Citation2023).
As outlined in detail in Roberts et al. (Citation2020) Narungga ancestral narratives are vast and describe macro, meso, and micro level stories about the creation of Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda, including marine transgression in Spencer Gulf, the creation of islands, and specific features in the inter-tidal zone on Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana, just to name a few. Narungga knowledges also outline important histories specifically relating to Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana and Wardang Island/Waraldi such as the skills required for wading and swimming to Wardang Island/Waraldi (ca. 4 km crossing), information about island resources, as well as the significance of the area around the Point Pearce township (formerly an Aboriginal Mission Station) (e.g., Black Citation1920, 88; Fowler et al. Citation2014, Citation2015, 306; Graham and Graham Citation1987, 53; Hill and Hill Citation1975, 38; Roberts et al. Citation2013, 81–2; 2020; Wood and Westell Citation1998, 18–9) (see later sections for additional discussion relating to Narungga knowledges).
Environmental setting
Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda is distinctive in form and environment. The physical geography is defined by geological processes that pre-date the last glacial maximum (LGM) (FGCSA Citation1997; Zang, Cowley, and Fairclough Citation2006). The submerged paleo-valleys beneath gulf waters and uplifted lands that today comprise Eyre Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda, and Fleurieu Peninsula as well as the Mount Lofty Ranges and Kangaroo Island/Karta Pintingga are a product of geological faulting initiated during the Cenozoic resulting in the subsidence of gulfs and uplift of peninsulas and ranges (FGCSA Citation1997; Zang, Cowley, and Fairclough Citation2006). Kangaroo Island/Karta Pintingga was formed as an extension of the Mount Lofty Ranges from which it is now separated by Backstairs Passage, which was cut by glacial erosion during the Early Permian (299–290 million years ago (mya)) (Bourman, Murray-Wallace, and Harvey Citation2016, 355). Tectonic processes, glaciation, volcanic activity, and episodes of marine transgression prior to the LGM have also influenced the contemporary Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda coastline (Bourman, Murray-Wallace, and Harvey Citation2016; FGCSA Citation1997; Zang, Cowley, and Fairclough Citation2006).
The geological history of the region is preserved in the visible surface geology (GSSA Citation2019). While the broad framework of the Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda is defined by the geological history outlined above, the more detailed location of the coastline is also influenced by the action of geomorphological processes that took place as marine transgression progressed and since sea levels stabilized ca. 6000 years ago (Bourman, Murray-Wallace, and Harvey Citation2016; see modeling in Roberts et al. Citation2020). These processes include wind action, wave action, tidal action, erosion, and sedimentation taking place along the coastal margin (Davidson-Arnott Citation2010). Coastal erosion has also exposed the basement rocks that underlie the peninsula (Zang, Cowley, and Fairclough Citation2006).
In relief, Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda is low-lying with a maximum elevation of 229 m. Inland from the coast, much of the surface of mainland Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda is covered by a thin soil layer of tertiary and quaternary sediments overlying sedimentary limestone lain down during prior periods of marine transgression when the whole of the region was covered by shallow seas (Bourman, Murray-Wallace, and Harvey Citation2016; FGCSA Citation1997). Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda does not have permanent creeks or rivers, but water is available from other sources, including shallow wells in dunes near the coast, rock holes in limestone, water bearing mallee roots, and ephemeral creeks (Kenny Citation1973; Mountford Citation1936).
The region encompassing Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda was landlocked at the time of the LGM when the region had a climate similar to arid zone (desert like) conditions (Bourman, Murray-Wallace, and Harvey Citation2016, 200; Hughes, Sullivan, and Hiscock Citation2017; Williams et al. Citation2013). Remnant longitudinal desert dunes formed of light brown to red soils from the time of the LGM are still evident at Tiparra Bay between Cape Elizabeth and Warburto Point on Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda (Jessup Citation1967; Van Deur Citation1983). Van Deur (Citation1983) investigated these relic desert dunes from the LGM on the Utera Plain, Eyre Peninsula, across Spencer Gulf from Tiparra Bay. These dunes have a northwest–southeast directionality and continue across the formerly exposed gulf floors (Jessup Citation1967; Van Deur Citation1983). Van Deur (Citation1983) identified that an absence of vegetation to stabilize soils during a period of increased aridity provided the conditions for predominantly northwesterly sediment carrying winds to form these dunes.
Following the LGM, climate conditions improved with higher rainfall leading to increased vegetation growth which acted to stabilize the dunes leading to their preservation in the landscape. However, climate conditions during the Holocene in Australia were also variable (see later sections). Typical of the southern coastal areas of SA and influenced by the surrounding bodies of water, Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda today has a Mediterranean climate with some areas bordering a semi-arid climate, with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winter seasons (Corbett Citation1973; FGCSA Citation1997; Zang, Cowley, and Fairclough Citation2006).
Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana and Wardang Island/Waraldi were selected as case study areas due to their cultural significance (see above) and because they provide a microcosm of the range of environments and coastal landforms that are found on the wider Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda. Indeed, the case study areas incorporate a range of landforms and geological formations that reflect the history of climate change and sea-level rise. Landforms include evidence for the last inter-glacial shoreline ca. 120 thousand years ago (kya); Pleistocene seif dunes (reflecting arid zone conditions at the time of the LGM when the region was landlocked); an early to middle Holocene sea-level high-stand; and middle Holocene coastal dunes (which developed following sea-level stabilization) (Bourman, Murray-Wallace, and Harvey Citation2016; Corbett Citation1973; FGCSA Citation1997; Shepherd et al. Citation2014; Wynne Citation1980; Zang, Cowley, and Fairclough Citation2006).
Archaeological setting
Although a number of important large-scale surveys have been conducted to explore the pre-European invasion (in SA this is pre-1836 AD) archaeological record of Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda (e.g., Wood and Westell Citation1998; Wood, Westell, and Roberts Citation2003), chronological investigations for the region have been lacking. To date only two verifiable late Holocene radiocarbon dates are available (both <1000 years old) (see Wood in Roberts et al. Citation2020, 309). Other dates ranging from 8000 to 200 BP have been reported by the South Australian Museum (Citation2003); however, no laboratory codes or details have been published for these Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda sites. Although, as summarized in Roberts et al. (Citation2020), Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda is buttressed by Pleistocene dates to the north and south (e.g., Warratyi Rockshelter at ca. 49 ka (Hamm et al. Citation2016); and Kangaroo Island at ca. 19 ka, when it was still connected to the mainland (Draper Citation2015; Hope et al. Citation1977; Lampert Citation1981; McDowell et al. Citation2015)). Tobler et al. (Citation2017) have also suggested, based on DNA research (mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) from historical Aboriginal Australian hair samples), that the region encompassing Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda was settled 40,000 years ago and was the meeting point of easterly and westerly coastal migrations. As noted above, Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda was a landlocked plateau during this period overlooking paleo-valleys that are the present-day Spencer Gulf, Gulf St Vincent, and Investigator Strait. These former paleo-valleys, including any archaeology they may contain, are of course now submerged resulting in a likely “incomplete picture” of the past (after Ditchfield et al. Citation2022).
Prior to this research, archaeological sites had been recorded on the mainland and on Wardang Island/Waraldi, the majority of which have been coastal (e.g., Wood and Westell Citation1998; Wood, Westell, and Roberts Citation2003). Roberts et al. (Citation2020, 310), however, noted that the “ratio of coastal sites to inland sites may, at least in part, reflect survey strategies as the majority of inland Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda is privately owned farmland and has not been assessed.” The sites surveyed on Wardang Island/Waraldi for this research all had evidence for coastal resource use with the dominant faunal remains at all locations being shellfish. In addition to shellfish, penguin bone (Eudyptula minor) was recorded at a number of sites which accords with ethnohistorical records (see Roberts et al. Citation2020). Other faunal remains have also been documented for the island (see below).
Methods
To explore the nature and timing of coastal and island occupation/visitation on Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana and Wardang Island/Waraldi a number of methods were employed. These included: archaeological fieldwork (survey and site sampling), radiocarbon dating, and marine transgression modeling.
Archaeological fieldwork
Archaeological fieldwork was carried out at Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana in 2016, 2017, and 2023, and on Wardang Island/Waraldi in 2023. Previously recorded sites were located (e.g., Wood and Westell Citation1998; Wood, Westell, and Roberts Citation2003) and a range of environments (inland, coastal, and island) were targeted for additional survey. Sites were mapped using a Garmin GPSmap 62 GPS, surface artifacts and other archaeological features were recorded, and faunal (and other) material suitable for radiocarbon dating were identified (eroding from the surface and naturally sectioned deposits). The suitability of samples was evaluated according to the following criteria: (1) anthropogenic origin of faunal material was unambiguous (i.e., marine shell was found in association with artifacts and/or hearth/oven material, the site was comprised solely or predominantly of economically preferred species, shells were solely or predominantly of edible size (i.e., a nil or very low proportion of juveniles), marine shells were in sites that were located in elevated/inland areas) (see Attenbrow (Citation1992, 20) and Sherwood et al. (Citation2016) for other relevant criteria that were considered); and (2) in situ or embedded samples (e.g., marine shell) were preferenced over eroded loose surface material. Radiocarbon samples, including marine shell, eggshell, and charcoal from earth oven/mound sediments, were collected using a clean trowel. A proforma sample collection sheet was utilized to ensure all relevant details were consistently recorded (e.g., soil and landscape contexts) (after Westell et al. Citation2020). Samples were placed in alfoil packets and stored in plastic zip-lock bags.
Radiocarbon dating
Samples underwent AMS radiocarbon dating at the University of Waikato Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory in New Zealand. All samples were cleaned and marine shells were washed in an ultrasonic bath. Samples were washed using HCl and NaOH (as appropriate), rinsed, and dried. Marine shell samples were also tested for recrystallization. Unrounded Conventional Radiocarbon Ages (CRAs) were calibrated using OxCal 4.4.4 (Bronk Ramsey Citation2021) employing the SHCal20 atmospheric calibration curve for terrestrial samples (e.g., charcoal and eggshell) (Hogg et al. Citation2020), data from Heaton et al. (Citation2020) were used to account for the local marine reservoir effect for marine shell samples (a ΔR of −146 ± 42 was assigned to the latter), and the SHZ1_2 bomb curve extension was employed for young samples (Reimer and Reimer Citation2024). Calibrated ages are reported at 95.4% probability.
Dye (Citation1994) investigated potential variation in sample ages for herbivorous marine shell species collected from environments with limestone substrate due to uptake by the organism of “old” carbon from the environment (see also research by Anderson, Higham, and Wallace Citation2001; Petchey et al. Citation2012). Old carbon may be absorbed either into the organism’s carbonate indirectly by the consumption of algae that consumed limestone, or alternatively by the mollusks directly ingesting limestone as they feed (Dye Citation1994). Dye’s (Citation1994) research on the Hawaiian Islands, for example, identified average apparent increases in age of up to 620 years. As a result, it is possible that there may be some additional error margins associated with the sample dates collected in our fieldwork due to the presence of limestone substrate in the case study area. However, it should be noted that while the area is underlain by limestone substrate, the adjacent waters that would have been the habitat for the living shell are predominately rocky reefs formed from the basement bedrock outcrops of Wallaroo Group, Aagot Member, and Arthurton Granite geological formations (GSSA Citation2019). As such, we would argue that the uncertainty associated with marine shell dates in this study should be considered marginal until additional research is undertaken.
Marine transgression modelling
Fieldwork data collected during the research were mapped in GIS. GPS data were downloaded using DNRGPS software. The DNRGPS software was also used to convert the GPS data to ARCGIS format. Maps were generated using GIS software (QGIS, GRASS GIS, ARCGIS/ARCMAP version 10.4.1). Distance and area measurements included in this research were calculated using the ARCMAP version 10.4.1 measurement tool.
Marine transgression, as it impacted this region, was modeled by combining the existing literature for sea-level rise in this region (primarily Lewis et al. Citation2013; also see Belperio, Harvey, and Bourman Citation2002; Lambeck and Chappell Citation2001; Lambeck and Nakada Citation1990) with bathymetric data for the waters surrounding Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda.
Bathymetric and topographic data (digital elevation model) for Australia were sourced from the 2009 Bathymetric Grid of Australia published by Geoscience Australia (Whiteway Citation2009). This dataset produced by Geoscience Australia and the National Oceans Office provides a 9 arc second (0.0025° or ∼250 m at the equator) bathymetric grid for Australian waters (Whiteway Citation2009, 1). In addition, 1 m LiDAR data published by the Department of Environment and Waters were available for the Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda coastal margin.
Hydrological tools (algorithms) available in GIS and other software when applied to terrain relief layers (DEMs) provide the opportunity to model water flow and accumulation as well as identify depressions/basins where water may have pooled within a landscape. Soil survey data and hydrological modeling data are available as GIS layers for the case study area and broader region (indeed coverage is available for the whole of the Australian continent) (e.g., Hall, Maschmedt, and Billing Citation2009). Such data sources, in conjunction with interpretive methods as proposed by Miller (Citation2006) for soils and hydrology, provided the opportunity to reconstruct the landscape history of the case study area.
These datasets were imported into GIS software (QGIS, Grass, ArcGIS) to create DEM models and maps for the case study area as well as at the regional and continental scale (where relevant to this research). The bathymetric and topographic information sources were used to form a baseline (contemporary) 3D model of the case study area. The 3D model in conjunction with data for sea-level rise provided the opportunity to model marine transgression in this region. This model shows how Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana and Wardang Island/Waraldi developed over time (see later sections and Roberts et al. (Citation2020) for modeling for the broader Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda).
Results
Four mainland and three island sites were chosen for sampling based on the selection criteria outlined above (Figure 2). The calibrated age determinations span the period from 8040 to 7720 cal BP (Wk-56687) to the late Holocene (including the Modern Period (post-AD 1950)). Table 1 and Figure 3 provide a summary of the age estimates for both Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana and Wardang Island/Waraldi.
Figure 2. Map showing sampled locations and sea-level history (see above sections for modeling data).
Figure 3. Calibrated radiocarbon ages for Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana (black font) and Wardang Island/Waraldi (red font). Sample dates from youngest (left) to oldest (right). Dates shown represent the median ages cal BP.
Table 1. AMS radiocarbon age determinations for archaeological samples from Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana and Wardang island/Waraldi.
Burgiyana 4
This site is located on the west coast of Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana (Figure 2). Stone artifacts and faunal material are embedded in and exposed on top of a compacted red soil layer in a deflated zone within a Holocene coastal dune field (Gantheaume Sand Member) (GSSA Citation2019). The dune field at this location extends 400 m inland from the present shoreline rising to 15 m above present sea level (APSL) and adjoins scrubland to the east. Cultural material included quartz and chert retouched flakes, silcrete grinding stones, and hearthstones. Faunal material were primarily rocky coast and sandy beach shell species, including Katelysia spp. (cockle), L. undulata, Austrocochlea spp., and Cellana tramoserica (common limpet). The deflated zone has been used by vehicles and there are multiple tracks that traverse the site. Small pockets of remnant vegetation remain. An Austrocochlea sp. sample (embedded in the surface layer) collected from this site was dated to the Modern Period (Wk-56693) providing evidence for recent use and significance for a site which may have greater antiquity (Table 1).
Burgiyana 5
Burgiyana 5 contains an earth oven/mound, hearths, artifacts, and shell remains which are exposed on/near a Holocene gypseous clay surface 3 m APSL (Figure 2). The site is located 800 m inland from the nearest coastline to the west. A stranded beach ridge and exposed quartz gravels fringe the eastern side of the site and are adjacent to samphire marsh swampland. Lithic material includes quartz flakes. A bottle glass flake was also recorded. Faunal remains recorded included N. atramentosa, Katelysia spp., and L. undulata. A surface-level embedded N. atramentosa was retrieved from the gypseous clay feature and returned an age of 3340–2960 cal BP (Wk-56695) (Table 1).
Burgiyana 6
Burgiyana 6 is located on the west coast of Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana (Figures 2 and 4). The site is 7–8 m APSL and consists of an extensive scatter of stone artifacts and shell remains exposed on top of a low coastal ridge. The ridge overlooks a coastal beach with inter-tidal rock outcrops of Wallaroo Group, Aagot Member, and Arthurton Granite geological formations (GSSA Citation2019). Two vehicle tracks have bisected the site which have contributed to site disturbance and caused exposure of some of the cultural material. The latter included quartz and chert cores and retouched flakes as well as hearthstones and limestone substrate demonstrating evidence of burning. Faunal remains included C. spengleri, L. undulata, and N. atramentosa. Cultural material was exposed on the surface as well as embedded in the topsoil layer indicating that there is some depth to the assemblage. Five marine shell samples were collected for radiocarbon dating from this site. Calibrated ages for the site range from >7,400 years cal BP to the Modern Period (Table 1).
Figure 4. Left to right: Burgiyana 6 (Elder Rex Angie and Lester-Irabinna Rigney pictured) and Burgiyana 7 (Lester-Irabinna Rigney pictured).
Burgiyana 7
Burgiyana 7 is a large earth oven/mound site comprising a thick layer of ashy sand/sediment covering an area 35 × 14 m. This site is located on Island Point adjacent to Dead Man’s Island/Mungari (Figures 2 and 4). The ridge top where the earth oven/mound is situated is ca. 5 m APSL. The earth oven/mound (possibly used for fiber processing/fish net manufacture (see Tindale Citation1936)) has undergone significant erosion. The thickness of the ashy layer was evident due to this erosion and wombat (Lasiorhinus latifrons) burrowing. The site has also been subject to disturbance from vehicle traffic as it is situated alongside a track. A sample of charcoal from the ashy sediment provided a radiocarbon age of 1360–1280 cal BP (Wk-56676). A sample of Haliotis sp. was collected from an exposed section of the earth oven/mound (ca. 10 cm below the surface) which provided a radiocarbon age of 960–670 cal BP (Wk-56675) (Table 1).
Waraldi 1
Waraldi 1 comprises an exposure of shell and stone artifacts and is 400 m inland from the island’s west coast (Figures 2 and 5). The site includes a lithic assemblage comprised entirely of quartz. Faunal remains included D. orbita, N. atramentosa, and L. undulata. Four shell samples were collected from the surface layer with the ages spanning from >7700 cal BP to the recent period (Table 1).
Figure 5. Left to right: Waraldi 1 and Waraldi 6 (Adrian Mollenmans pictured).
Waraldi 3
Waraldi 3 is located at the southwestern end of the island overlooking a large bay (Hungry Bay) and is 6 m APSL (Figures 2 and 5). Stone artifacts at the site included quartz flakes and flaked pieces as well as quartzite manuports. Faunal remains included N. atramentosa, C. spengleri, C. tramoserica, L. undulata, and Haliotis spp. Three marine shell samples were collected from the surface for radiocarbon dating with ages ranging from >4000 years cal BP to the Modern Period (Table 1).
Waraldi 6
Waraldi 6 is also located on the western side of the island and is ca. 7 m APSL (Figures 2 and 5). The site comprises a series of exposures along the edge of a low coastal cliff-line over an area approximately 80 × 15 m. The faunal assemblage is dominated by penguin bone (Eudyptula minor), Haliotis spp., and L. torquata. The lithic assemblage is characterized by small flakes manufactured from quartz. One marine shell sample (embedded in the surface layer) and one eggshell sample (from the surface) were collected for radiocarbon dating. Age estimates provide evidence of island use in the time preceding the European invasion of Australia as well as potentially up to the recent period (Table 1).
Marine transgression models
As noted above, Roberts et al. (Citation2020, 314) have provided sea-level modeling for the broader Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda for the period ca. 20,000 cal BP to the present. For context this broad modeling is reproduced in Figure 6. Below we have concentrated our modeling for the case study areas: Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana and Wardang Island/Waraldi (see also Figure 2). Given the radiocarbon age estimates outlined above we focus on the Holocene sea-level history sequence in Spencer Gulf.
Figure 6. Reproduced from Roberts et al. (Citation2020, 314). Marine transgression and the creation of Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda. Maps were generated in ARCGIS/ARCMAP version 10.4.1 utilizing bathymetric data sourced from the 2009 Bathymetric Grid of Australia published by Geoscience Australia (Whiteway Citation2009). Elevation and bathymetric data were colorized to differentiate land and sea based on former sea levels after Lewis et al. (Citation2013).
Table 2 charts the sea-level history for the case study area. Wardang Island/Waraldi and its adjacent islands were connected to the mainland until sea levels were 5 m below present and the land link was breached (ca. 8506–7436 cal years BP) (Roberts et al. Citation2020). Sea levels reached their present height approximately 7712–6288 cal BP followed by a 3–4 m high-stand in this region ca. 6000 BP with a subsequent relative fall in sea level to current heights because of hydro-isostasy (Belperio, Harvey, and Bourman Citation2002, 153; Burne Citation1982; Lewis et al. Citation2013, 129). Figures 7–12 chart the sea-level changes detailed above in conjunction with the radiocarbon ages obtained in this study.
Figure 7. Sea-level rise −5 m (green contour line) to 0 m from c. 8000 to 7000 cal BP. Map was created in GIS using 1 m resolution Lidar survey data.
Figure 8. Sea level 6000 cal BP +3 m APSL. Western Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana separated from the mainland. Map was created in GIS using 1 m resolution Lidar survey data.
Figure 9. Sample dates 6000–4000 cal BP. Sea-level fall +3 m to +2 m. Map was created in GIS using 1 m resolution Lidar survey data.
Figure 10. Sample dates 4000–3000 cal BP. Sea-level fall +2 m to +1 m. Map was created in GIS using 1 m resolution Lidar survey data.
Figure 11. Sample dates 2000–1000 cal BP. Sea-levels are up to +0.5 m higher than present. Map was created in GIS using 1 m resolution Lidar survey data.
Figure 12. Sample dates 1000 cal BP–present. Sea-level fall to present levels. Map was created in GIS using 1 m resolution Lidar survey data.
Table 2. Holocene sea-level history in Spencer Gulf.
Discussion and conclusions
The research provides the first chronology for a selection of coastal and island archaeological sites on Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda, SA, with a focus on Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana and Wardang Island/Waraldi. Radiocarbon dates obtained for this research reveal shellfish resource use spanning ca. 8000 years following the formation of the Spencer Gulf as a result of post-glacial marine transgression during the Holocene (Figure 6), but commencing prior to the islandization of Wardang Island/Waraldi (Figures 7–12). Indeed, the earliest dates obtained for Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana and Wardang Island/Waraldi are 7790–7470 and 8040–7720 cal BP, respectively.
However, our radiocarbon dating program found no evidence for occupation in this specific region during the last stages of marine transgression, which included a significant high-stand effect (Table 2; Figures 7–12). The lack of sites for the period ca. 7700–4200 cal BP for both mainland and island sites suggests that there may have been a retreat from this specific coastal area (particularly given accessing the tip of Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana was likely inhibited during the high-stand and fresh water resources would also have been impacted through salt water inundation of traditional wells (see Mollenmans Citation2024)). Such a lacuna is broadly consistent with many Aboriginal occupation patterns on other Australian islands (see McNiven et al. Citation2014; Sim and Wallis Citation2008), although variations exist (see Morrison, O’Leary, and McDonald Citation2023). More intensive sampling, excavation, and radiocarbon dating would assist to refine this hypothesis and chronology.
The period ca. 4400–4000 cal BP, therefore, represents a minimum date for Narungga access and use of islands in their Sea Country (Table 1 and Figure 3). This access signifies a new development in Narungga culture and lifeways, although such a change may have also happened in previous periods as islands were formed and then inundated (see Figure 6, and general discussion in Morrison, O’Leary, and McDonald (Citation2023)). This date range is also consistent with many other island colonization phases (see Lambrides et al. Citation2020, 45), although again exceptions have been noted and may be dependent on the timing of local island formation (e.g., Barker Citation2004; Morrison, O’Leary, and McDonald Citation2023; Rowland et al. Citation2024).
The process of wading and swimming over ca. 4 km of water to visit Wardang Island/Waraldi is recorded in numerous oral histories, with various routes recorded (see summaries in Fowler et al. Citation2014, Citation2015). However, regardless of the route taken, it is clear that such crossings required skill and knowledge. The following version recorded by the botanist John McConnell Black (Citation1920, 88) from Narungga knowledge holders highlights the dangers involved:
When crossing to Wardang Island the blacks [sic] would wade out to [Mungari] and swam the rest of the distance. Mrs. Newchurch’s grandfather and grandmother told her that while the swimmers were in the water the old men sat along the shore and sang an incantation to keep the sharks away. No one was allowed to move until the party landed on the island. When ready to return they made a signal across the water and the singing began again. The object of these visits was to get fish and penguin’s eggs.
Motivations for accessing islands can be varied (see Gaughwin and Fullagar Citation1995; McNiven Citation2000), and in addition to fish and penguin eggs, a range of other species are recorded in relation to Wardang Island/Waraldi in the ethnohistorical and archaeological record such as small marsupials (e.g., Isodon spp.), sea birds, and a range of shellfish (see Wood, Westell, and Roberts Citation2003). However, as noted in the introduction, the importance of Sea Country to Narungga people extends well beyond the sustenance it provides—it is an environment that is also replete with meaning through place names, histories, and spiritual force (after McNiven Citation2004; Roberts et al. Citation2023)—and Wardang Island/Waraldi is no exception. For example, numerous ancestral narratives explain the creation of Wardang Island/Waraldi (as well as adjacent smaller islands) (e.g., Aboriginal Studies Curriculum Committee n.d.; Edwardes Citation1934; Gillen c.1894–Citation1898; Graham and Graham Citation1987; Heinrich Citation1972, 47; Ostapchuk Citation1969, 74; Roberts et al. Citation2020; Smith Citation1930, 341–2; Sutton Citation1888, 18; Tauondi College n.d.; Tindale Citation1936, 58–9). In one account, a gigantic ancestral being is responsible for the creation of the Wardang Island/Waraldi and the “invasion of the sea” by delivering a huge blow to the earth:
The force of the blow caused several fragments of land to fly into the gulf, to form the Wauraltee [Waraldi] Islands; while the great depression caused by it was invaded by the sea to form Port Victoria Bay and Point Pearce. (Edwardes Citation1934)
The Narungga toponym Dhadni waldu nhindjana meaning “where the sea rushes in” is an old name for the tip of Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana and may also relate to this tradition (NAPA Citation2006, 28; Roberts et al. Citation2020). Such local level sea-level stories are part of a much larger tradition of sea-level narratives (as referred to in the introduction)—such as the creation of Spencer Gulf by the ancestral kangaroo-man (see Mountford and Roberts Citation1969; Roberts et al. Citation2020; Smith Citation1930):
In those days, the kangaroo was a man who grieved over the unnecessary fighting. Thinking over the situation he finally decided that if an opening could be made in the southern isthmus, which in those days blocked the sea from entering the valley, the conflict [between birds and other animals] would be ended by the flooding of the lagoons. Now the kangaroo-man possessed the thigh bone of a mythical ancestor … So he pointed the bone at the isthmus, which slowly split open. The sea poured through the opening, flooding the entire valley, so that the birds and animals were forced to live together in peace. (Mountford and Roberts Citation1969, 18)
Roberts et al. (Citation2020) considered the relationship (and timing) of these Narungga cultural narratives (through a dialogical approach) to the archaeological and geomorphological record in more detail (see also Nunn Citation2018; Nunn and Reid Citation2016). As such, further discussion on this topic is not included here. In the era following European invasion, Narungga access to Wardang Island/Waraldi also related to farming activities associated with Point Pearce Mission Station (Fowler et al. Citation2014). The island also provided community members with a respite from the strictures of the mission as well as opportunities to continue cultural activities such as fishing (Fowler et al. Citation2014) (see also McNiven Citation2000 for a discussion about islands as “retreats”).
A later potential occupation/visitation gap from ca. 3000 to 1600 cal BP may relate to more frequent ENSO drying events that occurred in southeast Australia at this time (e.g., Dharmarathna et al. Citation2021; Ho, Kiem, and Verdon‐Kidd Citation2015, 2) (Table 1 and Figure 3). Bourke et al. (Citation2007, 93) have argued that “ENSO-related climate oscillations must have had significant impacts on human populations, primarily affecting the resource base.” Whether this gap reflects a lack of visitation or a lower intensity of coastal and island use in this region could be determined by additional research. These occupation patterns are also broadly consistent with many Aboriginal chronologies observed for the majority of Australia’s islands (e.g., McNiven et al. Citation2014; Sim and Wallis Citation2008)—although we note that exceptions exist (e.g., Lizard Island; see Lambrides et al. Citation2020).
After ca. 1600 cal BP, an “intensification” (and/or general increase in archaeological visibility) of occupation and lifeways around Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana and visitation to Wardang Island/Waraldi may be observed in the chronologies up until the Modern Period, which correlates with climate amelioration as a result of La Niña conditions (Williams et al. Citation2015). Again this pattern replicates those observed in other Australian regions (e.g., Lambrides et al. Citation2020, 45; McNiven et al. Citation2014; Rowland et al. Citation2024; Sim and Wallis Citation2008). Also of note in relation to this group of later radiocarbon age estimates are the samples that dated specifically to, or have ranges within, the Modern Period, and which related to both Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana and Wardang Island/Waraldi. This finding affirms the ongoing Narungga connections to the case study regions and also ties into the period following European invasion (see Fowler et al. Citation2014, Citation2015; Fowler, Roberts, and Rigney Citation2019; Roberts et al. Citation2013; Roberts, Fowler, and Sansbury Citation2014). The location of such sites on the mainland and Wardang Island/Waraldi (e.g., Hungry Bay) are carefully remembered, revered, loved, and revisited by Narungga people today (Lester-Irabinna Rigney pers. obs).
It is also notable that the island use patterns are mostly mirrored on Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana over the periods discussed in this paper. This correlation illustrates the long-term use of Wardang Island/Waraldi in conjunction with the mainland, demonstrating the broad usage of Sea Country by Narungga people in the late Holocene.
The results obtained in this study are important as they extend the range of coastal and archaeological research to encompass a new geographic zone thereby incorporating a largely undocumented and distinctive environmental region of southern Australia. However, our work has also highlighted areas for future consideration, including a more detailed analysis of the old carbon effect in marine shell for Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda together with an expanded research program of site sampling and radiocarbon dating. In addition, we would recommend that excavations also be conducted to obtain a finer-grained level of detail about the coastal/marine economy and regional chronology as well as the scale (and seasonality) of island use over time.
Throughout the history of environmental change and cultural innovation on Yorke Peninsula/Guuranda, we again reiterate that Point Pearce Peninsula/Burgiyana and Wardang Island/Waraldi were and remain more than just places Narungga people occupied and visited—they form part of a seascape imbued with the creative actions of ancestral beings, spiritual energy, the material remains left behind by the “Old People” over deep time, histories of European invasion, colonization, missionization, ongoing connection, and much more (see McNiven Citation2004, 330). This significance is evocatively encapsulated by the late knowledgeable Narungga man, Tim Hughes, when he affirmed that the region is “a most sacred part of our land, that part is the most important … the biggest part, and most special … that’s what makes us grow up … that’s older than everything, all the lands and islands” (in Elphick 1966–Citation1968).
Acknowledgements
Special thanks are due to the Narungga Nation Aboriginal Corporation and the Point Pearce Peninsula Aboriginal Corporation, and the community members and rangers who participated in this project. Flinders University Archaeology technical staff are acknowledged for assistance organizing field trips. We also thank Robert Jones for his contribution to fieldwork. Vivienne Wood and Craig Westell are due special thanks for their generosity in sharing data from prior archaeological investigations. Thanks are also due to University of Waikato Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory. We thank the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation (AAR) for assistance with permit applications. We also acknowledge the useful suggestions of three reviewers and the journal editors. This research was approved by the Flinders University Social and Behavioural Ethics Committee (approval number 7150).
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Funding
This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship.
Notes
1 Narungga toponyms have been used in this paper in conjunction with European/Europeanized place names following the orthography outlined in NAPA (2006). This approach has been at the request of Narungga people who wish to privilege their language in research outputs.
2 Burgiyana is used here as a general toponym for Point Pearce Peninsula, however it is noted that the term is also used to denote the township/mission station and that its original usage referred to a more specific location on the peninsula (see NAPA 2006).
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This article was originally published by Taylor & Francis Online on December 9, 2024