A nardoo processing grinding stone from a rockshelter in the Pilbara, Western Australia

Abstract

Nardoo (scientific name Marsilea spp.) is a small freshwater fern, common across semi-arid and arid Australia. While reported as an important starchy food, albeit requiring complex processing in some regions, it is not well known as a food source in the Pilbara of Western Australia. Here we describe plant residues including megaspores, starch grains, cellulose, and fibres on a portable grinding stone from the surface of a rockshelter in the West Angelas region of the Central Pilbara. These residues display physical characteristics that strongly suggest they derive from nardoo. Given these findings, we encourage researchers to consider nardoo processing and consumption in future ethnobotanical and archaeological studies in the Pilbara.

Abbreviations LW: Lynley Wallis; BS: Birgitta Stephenson; PSR: Picro Sirius Red; BIF: banded ironstone formation

Keywords:

• Pilbara
• grinding stones
• residue analysis
• nardoo; Western Australia; plant use; arid zone

Acknowledgements

BS and LW thank the Yinhawangka representatives who assisted with the fieldwork: Kalwin Dann, Kelsey Condon, Letitia Tommy, Allissa Limerick, Jimmy Cox, Rhonda Parker, Lara Parker and Dillon Galby, and Yinhawangka Aboriginal Corporation CEO Grant Bussell for assistance with obtaining the approval to submit the paper for publication. The authors also thank Trent Hamersley, Annabelle Davis, Bob Tait, and Paul Butcher of Rio Tinto Iron Ore, and Ian Ryan and Gavin Jackson of Gavin Jackson Cultural Resource Management for their support and assistance with fieldwork, and obtaining permissions for this research to be published. The authors thank Alice Gorman, Flinders University, Judith Field, University of New South Wales, and two anonymous referees for their constructive comments on an early version of this paper, and Judith Field for providing the image of reference nardoo starch grains. Oliver Brown and Joe Dortch are thanked for information provided about their work with Rio Tinto Iron Ore in the study area. LW thanks Ruby Saltmere and Shirley Macnamara of the Indjalandi-Didhanu people of Camooweal, Queensland, for sharing their traditional knowledge about nardoo with her during an earlier ethnobotanical project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).