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Sediment mixing at Nonda Rock: investigations of stratigraphic integrity at an early archaeological site in northern Australia and implications for the human colonisation of the continent
Author(s) -
David Bruno,
Roberts Richard G.,
Magee John,
Mialanes Jerome,
Turney Chris,
Bird Michael,
White Chris,
Fifield L. Keith,
Tibby John
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of quaternary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.142
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-1417
pISSN - 0267-8179
DOI - 10.1002/jqs.1136
Subject(s) - radiocarbon dating , geology , archaeology , rock shelter , sediment , excavation , optically stimulated luminescence , period (music) , colonisation , thermoluminescence dating , optical dating , sequence (biology) , holocene , archaeological record , paleontology , quartz , geography , colonization , physics , biology , acoustics , genetics
Archaeological excavations in sediments dating to between 60 000 and 40 000 years ago are rare in Australia. Yet this is precisely the period in which most archaeologists consider that Aboriginal people arrived on the continent. In the few cases where such early sites have been investigated, questions have invariably been raised as to the reliability of stratigraphic associations between cultural items and the surrounding sediments. This paper describes a method for examining sediment mixing in a stratigraphic sequence using the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signals from individual sand‐sized grains of quartz. We apply this method to the archaeological site of Nonda Rock (north Queensland), in combination with radiocarbon dating of charcoal fragments, to construct chronologies for human occupation and for the preceding, culturally sterile, deposits. Our age estimates have implications for the timing of first human arrival in Australia. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.