Initial results and observations on a radiocarbon dating program in the Riverland region of South Australia

Abstract

This paper presents a preliminary occupation chronology for the Riverland region of South Australia, based on 31 radiocarbon age determinations. This region has represented a significant geographic gap in understanding occupation chronologies for the broader Murray-Darling Basin. The dating forms part of an ongoing research program exploring the long-term engagements of Aboriginal people with the habitat mosaics of the central River Murray corridor. Dating targets were selected on the basis of their landscape context. Results relate occupation evidence to an evolving riverine landscape through the period extending from approximately 29 ka to the late Holocene. These results include the first pre-Last Glacial Maximum ages returned on the River Murray in South Australia and extend the known Aboriginal occupation of the Riverland by approximately 22,000 years.

Keywords:

• Aboriginal occupation
• Murray-Darling Basin
• radiocarbon dating
• riverine palaeoenvironments
• Riverland

Acknowledgements

This paper is based on PhD research being conducted by Craig Westell in collaboration with the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (RMMAC) and approved by Flinders University’s Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee (Project Number: 6618). The authors sincerely thank all of the RMMAC members who participated in the fieldwork for this project and the Directors who have supported this work. The authors also thank the staff at Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Department of State Development, Government of South Australia, for their assistance with permits. The authors thank the Australian Landscape Trust for their ongoing support of this project.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests for this article.

Additional information

Funding

Funding has been provided by the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resource Management Board through the Australian Government and the Natural Resources Management levies and Australian Research Council Linkage Project [LP170100479]. The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Australian Government for the ¹⁴C dating at the Centre for Accelerator Science at ANSTO through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) [Access Grant AP11268]. Additional funding was provided by the Australian Archaeological Association Student Research Grant Scheme and a contribution from Vivienne Wood Heritage Consultant Pty Ltd.