Analysis and contextualisation of a Holocene bone point from Murrawong (Glen Lossie), Lower Murray River Gorge, South Australia

Abstract

This article presents the analysis and preliminary contextualisation of a bone point located during the Lower Murray Archaeological Project excavations in South Australia in 2008. The artefact was recovered from a midden and burial site, Murrawong (Glen Lossie), and was situated in a layer dating to 5303–3875 cal BP. The artefact was the only bone point recovered during the project and is interpreted as an implement likely to have been used for piercing soft materials or possibly as a projectile point. Its chronology and morphology are generally consistent with previous finds in this region. The analysis presented here contributes to our understanding of bone technology in the Lower Murray River Gorge, highlighting areas where more research is required.

Keywords:

• Osseous points
• Holocene
• Murrawong (Glen Lossie)
• Murray River
• Ngarrindjeri

Acknowledgements

We thank Chantal Wight for the provision of technical assistance.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 Murrawong was formerly referred to as Glen Lossie but at the request of Ngarrindjeri Elders we have privileged the location’s traditional name in this paper. The primary Murrawong site discussed in this paper was formerly referred to as the Glen Lossie Midden and Burial Site (GLMBS).

2 Previously published unrounded Conventional Radiocarbon Ages (CRAs) were calibrated using the OxCal 4.3 program (Bronk Ramsey 2009) and applied the SHCal13 atmospheric curve (Hogg et al. 2013). Calibrated age-ranges at 95.4% probability are reported.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by the Ngarrindjeri Aboriginal Corporation. This research was conducted with the support of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage [project number CE170100015]. This project was approved by the Flinders University Social and Behavioural Research Ethics Committee [number 8406].