First Nations pre‐LGM ochre processing in Parramatta, NSW, Australia
ABSTRACT Previous archaeological evidence and published analysis has suggested that ochre was first used in the Sydney Basin around 9000 years ago, and that the Parramatta region may not have been occupied by First Nations peoples before ∼14 ka. We present new evidence which firmly places both event...
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crwiley:10.1002/arco.5313 2024-06-02T08:06:42+00:00 First Nations pre‐LGM ochre processing in Parramatta, NSW, Australia Owen, Timothy Munt, Simon Player, Sam Toms, Phillip Wood, Jamie 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/arco.5313 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/arco.5313 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Archaeology in Oceania volume 59, issue 1, page 125-137 ISSN 0728-4896 1834-4453 journal-article 2024 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/arco.5313 2024-05-03T11:07:21Z ABSTRACT Previous archaeological evidence and published analysis has suggested that ochre was first used in the Sydney Basin around 9000 years ago, and that the Parramatta region may not have been occupied by First Nations peoples before ∼14 ka. We present new evidence which firmly places both events before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Multiple ochre fragments, two with microscopically visible evidence of anthropogenic grinding, were recovered from the George Street Gatehouse site within the Parramatta Sand Body (PSB) at Parramatta. The ground ochre was associated with a pit feature buried within the PSB and dated by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) between ∼35 and 30 ka. This find is the earliest evidence for ochre processing in the Sydney Basin by some 25000 years. A previous model for the region had proposed that occupation prior to and during the LGM was focussed on the Hawkesbury‐Nepean River corridor as a refugium, with only equivocal evidence of occupation prior to ∼14 ka at Parramatta (Williams et al., 2021). We propose that the Parramatta River could also have acted as a refugium for people moving through and occupying the now‐drowned Pleistocene coastal zone; and that those people used ochre in their symbolic expressions. Article in Journal/Newspaper First Nations Wiley Online Library Ochre ENVELOPE(166.550,166.550,-78.233,-78.233) Archaeology in Oceania |
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Wiley Online Library |
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English |
description |
ABSTRACT Previous archaeological evidence and published analysis has suggested that ochre was first used in the Sydney Basin around 9000 years ago, and that the Parramatta region may not have been occupied by First Nations peoples before ∼14 ka. We present new evidence which firmly places both events before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Multiple ochre fragments, two with microscopically visible evidence of anthropogenic grinding, were recovered from the George Street Gatehouse site within the Parramatta Sand Body (PSB) at Parramatta. The ground ochre was associated with a pit feature buried within the PSB and dated by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) between ∼35 and 30 ka. This find is the earliest evidence for ochre processing in the Sydney Basin by some 25000 years. A previous model for the region had proposed that occupation prior to and during the LGM was focussed on the Hawkesbury‐Nepean River corridor as a refugium, with only equivocal evidence of occupation prior to ∼14 ka at Parramatta (Williams et al., 2021). We propose that the Parramatta River could also have acted as a refugium for people moving through and occupying the now‐drowned Pleistocene coastal zone; and that those people used ochre in their symbolic expressions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Owen, Timothy Munt, Simon Player, Sam Toms, Phillip Wood, Jamie |
spellingShingle |
Owen, Timothy Munt, Simon Player, Sam Toms, Phillip Wood, Jamie First Nations pre‐LGM ochre processing in Parramatta, NSW, Australia |
author_facet |
Owen, Timothy Munt, Simon Player, Sam Toms, Phillip Wood, Jamie |
author_sort |
Owen, Timothy |
title |
First Nations pre‐LGM ochre processing in Parramatta, NSW, Australia |
title_short |
First Nations pre‐LGM ochre processing in Parramatta, NSW, Australia |
title_full |
First Nations pre‐LGM ochre processing in Parramatta, NSW, Australia |
title_fullStr |
First Nations pre‐LGM ochre processing in Parramatta, NSW, Australia |
title_full_unstemmed |
First Nations pre‐LGM ochre processing in Parramatta, NSW, Australia |
title_sort |
first nations pre‐lgm ochre processing in parramatta, nsw, australia |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/arco.5313 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/arco.5313 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(166.550,166.550,-78.233,-78.233) |
geographic |
Ochre |
geographic_facet |
Ochre |
genre |
First Nations |
genre_facet |
First Nations |
op_source |
Archaeology in Oceania volume 59, issue 1, page 125-137 ISSN 0728-4896 1834-4453 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/arco.5313 |
container_title |
Archaeology in Oceania |
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1800751652035100672 |