East and west: burial practices along the Murray River

There are distinct formal differences between the Upper Murray (Riverine Plain) and the Murray Valley to the west of the Plain in the form and placement of Aboriginal burial sites. While some of these differences have been recognised by previous researchers, they have been interpreted as evidence simply of gradual variation in burial along the Murray Valley. On the basis of new data plus existing records, it is argued that these differences are more extensive than previously thought and include site location and size, as well as body treatment. The changes occur at the junction of the Riverine Plain and the mallee of the western Murray valley so that in the west there is an homogeneous pattern of burial while in the Upper Murray burial is highly variable between sites but consistent within each of these sites. It is suggested that this pattern of burial in the Upper Murray reflects both the distribution of people across the landscape and the size of local burying groups.