Mind the gap: recent results of a survey for Aboriginal archaeological sites in the Weld Range, Murchison region, Western Australia

Vicky Winton, Viviene Brown & Richard Everett Cameron
Figure 1
Figure 1. Map of the Weld Range showing the locations of Aboriginal archaeological sites in the Project Area.
Click to enlarge.

The global financial crisis of 2009 appears to have had little effect on the rate of mineral exploration in Western Australia. After four decades of extensive mineral resource exploitation in the Pilbara, the adjacent Murchison region is now under increased pressure of development. While heritage surveys are mandated by law as part of the development approvals process and numerous consultation reports are generated, archaeological research in the Murchison region has been limited. Recent systematic surveys undertaken by Eureka Archaeological Research and Consulting (Eureka), University of Western Australia (UWA) and Wajarri Aboriginal Traditional Owner Representatives within Sinosteel Midwest Corporation Limited's Weld Range Project in the Murchison have highlighted a significant increase in the evidence for past Aboriginal occupation of the region than has been previously recorded. There is currently a unique opportunity to investigate the archaeology of the Weld Range and wider Murchison region as mining interests in the area continue to escalate.

The Murchison mid-west region sits between Australia's Mediterranean south-west and arid north-west areas (Figure 1) in which long term Aboriginal occupation has been demonstrated by Pleistocene dates and for which regional archaeological syntheses have been developed (Hallam 1975; Brown 1987; Dortch 2002). In the inland Pilbara, immediately north of the Murchison, occupation has been dated to at least 35 000 years BP (i.e. Smith et al. 1997; Morse 2009: 5; Slack et al. 2009). On the nearby Gascoyne coast occupation has been dated to 32 000 BP at Mandu Mandu Creek rockshelter (Morse 1999) and 35 000 and 34 000 years BP at Jansz and C99 rockshelters respectively (Przywolnik 2005). To the south, Pleistocene dates of 38 000 BP have been obtained for occupation layers at Upper Swan (Pearce & Barbetti 1981) and as early as 41 000 BP at Devil's Lair (Dortch 1984; Chris et al. 2001). These dates suggest that occupation dating back to the Pleistocene is also probable for the Murchison, although no Pleistocene dates have as yet been recorded.

Unfortunately, nearly all of the information from archaeological consultancy undertaken in the Murchison over the past few decades remains unpublished and there is little in the way of regional context for work undertaken. In 1983 the Franco-Australian expedition under the auspices of the Western Australian Museum and the University of Bordeaux recovered Holocene human occupation dates during investigations at Walga Rock and Billibilong Springs (Bordes et al. 1983). More recent investigations include recording and evaluation of rock art sites and associated archaeological material in the Cue region (Webb 1996; Gunn & Webb 2000, 2002, 2003). In addition to this, there have been a number of investigations of the extensive Wilgie Mia ochre mine located within the Weld Range (Davidson 1952; Clarke 1976; Crawford 1980). Red ochre sourced from this quarry was traded over long distances — into the Western Desert and perhaps as far as Western Queensland (Woodward 1914). These studies clearly demonstrate a good archaeological record for the Holocene Aboriginal occupation of the Murchison region, and an apparent abundance of rock art sites.

Since 2007 Eureka has been engaged to undertake extensive archaeological survey work in the Weld Range by the Wajarri Traditional Owners of this country as part of Sinosteel Midwest Corporation Limited's Weld Range Iron Ore Project. Located 50km north-east of Cue, the Weld Range is a series of Banded Ironstone Formation hills and ridges. The range extends for some 60km north-east–south-west and is approximately 3km wide. While rainfall in the area is low and water courses are seasonal, permanent and semi-permanent waterholes have been identified throughout the Range. The Wajarri maintain strong links with their country and recognise a wide range of traditional bush foods and medicinal plants throughout the landscape. Archaeological survey has now been conducted across a range of landscape types including rocky ridges, hill slopes, open flats, gullies and breakaways (Figure 2).

Figure 2
Figure 2. Weld Range Environment, north-west view from the Range across typical Acacia spp. woodland (hand tape extended to 1m for scale).
Click to enlarge.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Weld Range Survey, working shot December 2009 (left to right: William Egan, Brendan Hamlett).
Click to enlarge.

Prior to the survey work described here, the Western Australia Department of Indigenous Affairs (DIA n.d.) Register of Aboriginal Sites listed only 62 sites within 20km of the Weld Range. Fifty-five per cent of these were described as painting sites. Systematic survey work undertaken by Eureka and Wajarri Traditional Owners since November 2007 has now inspected 60km2 and has recorded 173 new sites (Figure 3). The proportions of site type listed on the DIA register of Aboriginal sites prior to the recent Eureka surveys are compared with those recorded as a result of the Eureka surveys in Figure 4. The recent Eureka survey results indicate a much more varied archaeological landscape from that described on the DIA's Site Register for the Weld Range. The sites recorded by Eureka are dominated by artefact scatters (45 per cent) and quarries (38 per cent), contrasting markedly with the predominance of painting sites on the Weld Range site inventory prior to the survey. In fact, the recent Eureka survey data includes less than five per cent rock art sites (Figure 5).

Figure 4
Figure 4. Comparison of known archaeological sites in the Weld Range prior to 2007 (labelled DIA Weld Range Sites) and Eureka's Weld Range survey results (labelled Eureka Weld Range Sites).
Click to enlarge.
Figure 5
Figure 5. An example of a Weld Range rock art site. A landscape context shot (Ansell Egan) with inset showing detail of a hand stencil (IFRAO scale is 100mm). Click to enlarge.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Chert artefacts on the ground surface at a quarry site (IFRAO scale is 100mm). Click to enlarge.

More detailed recording is currently underway at a number of the sites identified since 2007. From this work it is clear that whilst some sites clearly represent palimpsests of occupation events at 'persistent places' (Barton et al. 1995) others appear to have been occupied only once and comprise fine-grained evidence such as the material remains of individual knapping events. The high proportion of artefact scatters and quarry sites (Figure 6) indicates intensive exploitation of material resources and habitats within the Range during the Holocene. It also highlights the probable importance of the Weld Range in regional context as a source of raw material for the manufacture of stone tools in addition to the known importance of ochre sources, most notably Wilgie Mia. It should be noted that no survey has been undertaken by Eureka within the Wilgie Mia Aboriginal Reserve and that this area is subject to government protection under the Western Australia State Aboriginal Affairs Planning Act 1972 and a National Heritage listing nomination (Figure 1).

We conclude from this work that, like the adjacent Pilbara region, the Murchison presents an exceptional archaeological resource including a rich diversity and high density of sites with strong archaeological integrity. The Weld Range survey results highlight the importance of mining activity in initiating and funding basic documentation of heritage sites in archaeologically little known but resource rich parts of Western Australia. It is important that opportunities to document these sites and further investigate the archaeology of the Weld Range and wider Murchison region are not disregarded in the race to develop mineral projects.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Wajarri Traditional Owners of the Weld Range, in particular Mr Colin Hamlett, for his knowledge, support and inspiration to make more of the consultancy work. Thanks to Wadjarri Consulting Services Pty Ltd and Sinosteel Midwest Corporation Ltd for support and approval to publish. Dr Kate Morse read and made useful comments on drafts of this paper for which we are very grateful. Thanks to our other fellow Eurekans: Annie Carson, Jim Stedman, Daniel Harris, Wendy Reynen, Jess Reynolds, Sam Thomas, Ariella Rea-Cunningham, Sean Winter and Sarah Burke.

References

  • BARTON, R.N.E, P.J. BERRIDGE, M.J.C. WALKER & R.E. BEVINS. 1995. Persistent places in the Mesolithic landscape: an example from the Black Mountain uplands of south Wales. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 61: 81–116.
  • BROWN, S. 1987. Towards a history of the Hamersley Plateau north-west Australia (Occasional Papers in Prehistory 6). Canberra: Department of Prehistory Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University.
  • BORDES, F., C.E. DORTCH, C. THIBAULT, J-P. RAAYNAL & P. BINDON. 1983. Walga Rock and Billabong Spring: two archaeological sequences from the Murchison Basin, Western Australia. Australian Archaeology 17: 1–26.
  • CHRIS.S., M. TURNEY, M.I. BIRD, L.K. FIFIELD, R.G. ROBERTS, M. SMITH, C.E. DORTCH, R. GRÜN, E. LAWSON, L.K. AYLIFFE, G.H. MILLER, J. DORTCH & R.G. CRESSWELL. 2001. Early human occupation at Devil's Lair, Southwestern Australia 50 000 years ago. Quaternary Research 55: 3–13.
  • CLARKE, J. 1976. Two Aboriginal rock art pigments from Western Australia: their properties, use and durability. Studies in Conservation 21: 134–42.
  • CRAWFORD, I.M. 1980. Aboriginal studies at the Western Australian Museum, in R.M. Berndt & C.H. Berndt (ed.) Aborigines of the West: 461–77. Perth: University of Western Australia Press.
  • DAVIDSON, D.S. 1952. Notes on the pictographs and petroglyphs of Western Australia and a discussion of their affinities with appearances elsewhere on the continent. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 96(1): 76–117.
  • DEPARTMENT OF INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS. n.d. Aboriginal Heritage Inquiry System. Available at: http://www.dia.wa.gov.au/AHIS/default.aspx (accessed 11 March 2010)
  • DORTCH, C. 1984. Devil's Lair: a study in prehistory. Perth: Western Australian Museum.
  • - 2002. Modelling past Aboriginal hunter-gatherer socio-economic and territorial organisation in Western Australia's lower south-west. Archaeology in Oceania 37(1): 1–21.
  • GUNN, R.G. & R.E. WEBB. 2000. Rock-art of the Cue Region, Western Australia. Report prepared for the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra & Thoo Thoo Warinha Aboriginal Corporation, Cue.
  • - 2002. Art and archaeology of part of the Wutha native title claim, East of Cue, Western Australia. Report prepared for the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra, The Wutha Native Title Claimants & Thoo Thoo Warinha Aboriginal Corporation, Cue.
  • - 2003. Art and archaeology on Coodardy, Austin Downs and Noondie pastoral leases, West of Cue, Western Australia. Report prepared for the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra & Thoo Thoo Warinha Aboriginal Corporation, Cue.
  • HALLAM, S.J. 1975. Fire and hearth: a study of Aboriginal usage and European usurpation in south-western Australia. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.
  • MORSE, K. 1999. Coastwatch: Pleistocene resource use on the Cape Range Peninsula, in J. Hall & I. McNiven (ed.) Australian coastal archaeology (Research Papers in Archaeology and Natural History 31): 73–78. Canberra: Australian National University.
  • - 2009. Introduction: emerging from the abyss — archaeology in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Archaeology in Oceania 44 (Supplement 1): 1–5.
  • PEARCE, R.H. & M. BARBETTI. 1981. A 38 000 year old archaeological site at Upper Swan, Western Australia. Archaeology in Oceania 16: 173–78.
  • PRZYWOLNIK, K. 2005. Long-term transitions in hunter-gatherers of coastal north-western Australia, in P. Veth, M. Smith & P. Hiscock (ed.) Desert peoples: archaeological perspectives: 177–205. Malden (MA); Oxford: Blackwell.
  • SLACK, M., M. FILLIOS & R. FULLAGER. 2009. Aboriginal settlement during the LGM in Brockman, Pilbara Region, Western Australia. Archaeology in Oceania 44 (Supplement 1): 32–9.
  • WEBB, R.E. 1996. The problem of verifying isolated radiocarbon dates: more can be less confusing. Australian Archaeology 42: 19–24.
  • WOODWARD, H.P. 1914. The Weld Range lease. Bulletin of the Geological Survey of Western Australia 57: 70–89.

Author


*Author for correspondence
  • Vicky Winton*
    Eureka Archaeological Research and Consulting, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009 Western Australia (Email: vicky.winton@uwa.edu.au; tel: +61 8 6488 3846, +61 8 6488 3947)
  • Viviene Brown
    Eureka Archaeological Research and Consulting, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Western Australia (Email: viviene.brown@uwa.edu.au; tel: +61 8 6488 3846, +61 8 6488 3947)
  • Richard Everett Cameron
    Eureka Archaeological Research and Consulting, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Western Australia (Email: richard.cameron@uwa.edu.au; tel: +61 8 6488 3846, +61 8 6488 3947)