Stone, Sources and Social Networks: Tracing Movement and Exchange Across Dharawal Country ...

170 Pages·2015·8.41 MB·English

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Stone, Sources and Social Networks
Tracing Movement and Exchange Across Dharawal
Country, Southeastern Australia.

Karen Stokes
2015
University of Sydney
Cover: Condons Creek. (1848). Lithograph
published in 1848 based on sketches by Captain
R. Westmacott. (Note: Location is listed as East
Corrimal Beach with note that location could be
Shellharbour). (Reproduced with permission
from the collections of the Wollongong City
Library and the Illawarra Historical Society. Ref:
P01/P01603).
Karen Stokes
Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the degree of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in
Archaeology
University of Sydney
© 2015

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Certificate of Authorship of Thesis
Except as specially indicated in citation, quotations and the bibliography, I certify that
I am the sole author of the thesis submitted today entitled—
Stone, Sources and Social Networks: Tracing Movement and Exchange Across
Dharawal Country, Southeastern Australia.
in terms of the Statement of Requirements for a Thesis issued by the University
Higher Degrees Committee.
Signature of Author

Date _______________

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Abstract
Historical evidence suggests that at the time of European settlement in the NSW
Illawarra region, Dharawal groups, who came together for ceremonies, had an
established regional network with movement of people, and items, via pathways
linking the highlands west of the Illawarra escarpment and the coastal plain. The
degree to which the established network described in European accounts reflects pre-
colonial patterns or activity affected by early colonial settlement is unclear, however.
This thesis examines this topic by comparing archaeological and historical evidence.

Ground edged hatchets, and raw material for their manufacture, are known to have
moved within Aboriginal social networks and several sites in the Dharawal region
have been identified as likely sources of stone for hatchets and other tools. Non-
destructive archaeological provenancing of 148 ground edged hatchets from coastal
plain and inland findspots in and adjacent to the Dharawal study area provides an
opportunity to characterise pre-colonial patterns of raw material use, and movement
of artefacts from source to find-spot. Matches to sources within Dharawal country, as
well as beyond the region, trace the local and inter-regional social network within
which these artefacts and/or raw materials moved. This provenancing research is a
component of a broader, Australian Research Council funded, study of Aboriginal
exchange systems and social networks in Southeastern Australia 2012-14: Axes,
Exchange, Social Change: New Perspectives on Australian Hunter Gatherers
(DP12010393), directed by Peter Grave (University of New England) and Val
Attenbrow (Australian Museum).

Spatial reconstruction of Early European observations of movement and gathering of
Aboriginal people across, and into and out of Dharawal country between 1788 and
1850, allows archaeological and historical social network patterns to be directly
compared. Results suggest significant correlation between the two, as well as
consistency in the historical pattern over time. This evidence suggests pathways
linking Dharawal groups socially and economically, in place prior to the arrival of
Europeans, continued to be used throughout the first fifty years of European
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colonisation. These results that support and enhance previous research findings in the
region.

Evidence that this cultural pattern may have remained stable through a period of
known social upheaval suggests that the network of pathways interconnecting
Dharawal groups, pathways aligned with the distinctive physiography of country, may
have also been stable through earlier times of change. If so, this may also shed light
on the nature, and function, of this network in the culturally, socially and
environmentally dynamic, deeper past.

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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgement and thanks go, first and foremost, to my Honours supervisors Martin Gibbs

(formerly University of Sydney, now University of New England), Val Attenbrow (Australian
Museum) and Pat Faulkner (University of Sydney). As my teacher and then supervisor Martin
provided encouragement, unwavering support and insightful guidance through a long
journey. I’m grateful not only for the time and effort Martin invested in teaching and
mentoring me, but for having had the opportunity to be his student.

The opportunity to work under the supervision of Val Attenbrow at the Australian Museum
and have access to her guidance and practical assistance has been inspirational, both
academically and personally. Val’s wisdom, knowledge and enthusiasm for archaeological
research are well known. It is her generosity and gift for mentoring that I wish to
acknowledge and thank Val for, foremost, here. Completion of this project owes much to her
support and confidence in its success.

Pat’s offer to step in as supervisor following Martin’s departure, deserves thanks in its own
right – not, I imagine, an easy task. Pat’s expertise and substantial contribution in guiding
this thesis to completion is greatly appreciated.

Thank you to the Australian Museum, and volunteers and staff who assisted with this project.
Tessa Corkill, a font of wisdom, generously shared her time, knowledge and expertise. Thank
you to Rebecca Bryant for her many contributions, and to Marika Lowe, who assisted with
pXRF analysis. A special note of thanks to Hugh Watt, who’s assistance with pXRF analysis
and artefact recording, management of artefact photography and editing was a major
contribution. Thank you also to Australian Museum geologists Ross Pogson and Lin
Sutherland, and to staff Robin Torrence and Alison Dejanovic for advice and assistance.

Thank you to the University of Sydney and staff, in particular Roland Fletcher and Lesley
Beaumont. A note of thanks also to members of archaeological and aboriginal communities
that provided advice, discussion, recommendations, reference material, access to reports and
publications and general support and guidance – Caryll Sefton, Gwenda Happ, Paul Irish,
Steve Paxton, Robert Lester and others.

Thank you to Wollongong Library for permission to publish images and generosity in
providing a high-resolution copy of the cover artwork. Thanks in particular to Marisa and
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Lisa for arranging access to reports and images. Thank you also to the National Library of
Australia for permitting images and maps from their collection to be included.

The ground-edged hatchet provenancing component of this research was funded by
Australian Research Council Discovery Grant DP120103993. Thank you to Axes ARC project
directors Peter Grave (University of New England) and, again, Val Attenbrow (Australian
Museum), for the opportunity to be a part of this project and for training, assistance and
support provided. Bruce Kaiser, Chief Scientist, Bruker ASX, assisted with various aspects of
this project.

Acknowledgement is due also to all those whose previous research laid groundwork for this
study. Michael Organ’s compilations of historical accounts relating to Aboriginal people in
the Illawarra and Shoalhaven made this research design feasible. The work of Paul Irish and
co-authors, Michael Bennett and Caryll Sefton in the study area and the publication Wesson
(2005 were also central. No reference to laying of groundwork for this research topic can be
made without also pausing to acknowledge, respectfully and with some awe, the work of
Isabel McBryde. There are many others – for the sake of brevity, acknowledgement in citation
will need to suffice.

On a personal note, thank you to my children Jay, Cassy and Zac for patient, self-sufficient
loveliness, and other forms of loveliness, throughout this project. Thank you to Euan, for too
many things to start mentioning here. Thanks also to extended family with too many people to
start mentioning here either.

Finally, and importantly, the author acknowledges and pays respect to the traditional owners
of country and custodians of knowledge referred to in this thesis – an acknowledgement
extended not only to the Dharawal groups of the study area, but to all those whose
connections to, and links with the Dharawal are examined herein.

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Table of Contents

Abstract iv
Acknowledgements vi
Table of Contents viii
List of Figures xii
List of Tables xviii

CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH AIMS 1
Introduction 1
Case Study – Dharawal Country 5
Research Aims 6
Research Questions 7
Dissertation Structure 9

CHAPTER 2 - THEORY AND RESEARCH DESIGN 10
Key Concepts and Definitions 10
Exchange – Background and Definition 13
Interpreting Exchange in the Archaeological Record 14
Framework 1 - Ground-edged Hatchet Provenancing Framework 15
Framework 2 – Historical Accounts Analysis 16
Movement and Exchange in Dharawal Country – Model for Interpretation 18

CHAPTER 3 – DHARAWAL COUNTRY 20
Study Area 20
Physiographic Overview 21
The Illawarra Escarpment 21
The Shoalhaven River 22
Plateau 23
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