Papers by Kane Ditchfield
by Sean Ulm, Tiina Manne, Kane Ditchfield, Fiona Hook, Alan Hogg, Vladimir Levchenko, Jane Skippington, Chae Byrne, David Zeanah, Szilvia Bajkan, and C. Placzek Archaeological deposits from Boodie Cave on Barrow Island, northwest Australia, reveal some of th... more Archaeological deposits from Boodie Cave on Barrow Island, northwest Australia, reveal some of the oldest evidence for Aboriginal occupation of Australia, as well as illustrating the early use of marine resources by modern peoples outside of Africa. Barrow Island is a large (202km2) limestone continental island located on the North-West Shelf of Australia, optimally located to sample past use of both the Pleistocene coastline and extensive arid coastal plains. An interdisciplinary team forming the Barrow Island Archaeology Project (BIAP) has addressed questions focusing on the antiquity of occupation of coastal deserts by hunter-gatherers; the use and distribution of marine resources from the coast to the interior; and the productivity of the marine zone with changing sea levels. Boodie Cave is the largest of 20 stratified deposits identified on Barrow Island with 20m3 of cultural deposits excavated between 2013 and 2015. In this first major synthesis we focus on the dating and sedimentology of Boodie Cave to establish the framework for ongoing analysis of cultural materials. We present new data on these cultural assemblages – including charcoal, faunal remains and lithics – integrated with micromorphology, sedimentary history and dating by four independent laboratories. First occupation occurs between 51.1 and 46.2ka, overlapping with the earliest dates for occupation of Australia. Marine resources are incorporated into dietary assemblages by 42.5ka and continue to be transported to the cave through all periods of occupation, despite fluctuating sea levels and dramatic extensions of the coastal plain. The changing quantities of marine fauna through time reflect the varying distance of the cave from the contemporaneous shoreline. The dietary breadth of both arid zone terrestrial fauna and marine species increases after the Last Glacial Maximum and significantly so by the mid-Holocene. The cave is abandoned by 6.8ka when the island becomes increasingly distant from the mainland coast.
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Understanding discontinuities in the Australian archaeological record currently represents a majo... more Understanding discontinuities in the Australian archaeological record currently represents a major challenge for researchers especially where different interpretive frameworks are used to explain the same phenomena. The widespread Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) absence of dated archaeological evidence in desert lowlands is often interpreted as a lack of human occupation. While this scenario may be true in many cases, we believe this inference requires critical re-appraisal. Using case studies from the coastal Carnarvon bioregion, located in a maritime desert of NW Australia, we argue that discontinuities and occupational lacunae may be the result of a variety of different geomorphic and human behavioural processes where the absence of people may be only part of the equation. We argue that, by reconceptualising discontinuities with an explicit multi-scalar focus on depositional regimes and landscape patterns, richer explanations about human occupational patterning at both the local and regional levels can be generated.
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This paper specifically examines the influence of raw material size on stone artefact assemblage ... more This paper specifically examines the influence of raw material size on stone artefact assemblage formation in conjunction with two behavioural assemblage formation processes: reduction intensity and artefact transport. The aim is to establish whether raw material size can influence the way in which reduction intensity and artefact transport form a stone artefact assemblage and, should a significant influence be established, whether this has any bearing on human behavioural reconstructions. This is first investigated in an experimental setting followed by an archaeological setting using a quartzite and chert assemblage from Bone Cave in southwestern Tasmania. Reduction intensity and artefact transport are respectively measured using the scar density index, flake to core ratio, non-cortical to cortical flake ratio and cortex ratio while tool blank sizes are also reconstructed. The combined experimental and archaeological analyses find that raw material size variation is capable of exerting a substantial influence on stone artefact assemblage formation. This particularly with reference to the nature of change in stone artefact assemblages: both reduction intensity and artefact transport will alter assemblage composition at faster rates when nodule sizes are smaller. This can have significant implications for intra-and inter-site reconstructions of past human behaviour.
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This paper experimentally demonstrates the ability of a set of indices to distinguish between dif... more This paper experimentally demonstrates the ability of a set of indices to distinguish between different stone artefact transport patterns represented in debitage assemblages. Stone artefacts were transported extensively in the past and this is an important component of technological organisation. However, most stone artefacts occur as part of debitage assemblages. From these assemblages, where mostly non-transported artefacts remain, it can be challenging to identify what artefacts, if any, were transported in anticipation of future use. A series of indices; the cortex ratio, volume ratio, flake to core ratio, non-cortical to cortical flake ratio and flake/core diminution tests are presented to meet this challenge. These are tested on an experimental assemblage where three different transport scenarios are simulated. Results suggest that the indices are sensitive to artefact transport and are capable of empirically distinguishing between the three transport scenarios, even when raw material form varies. The results also indicate that artefact transport is capable of exerting a significant influence on stone artefact assemblage formation.
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Australian Archaeology, Dec 2014
This paper reports on the first season of work on the Barrow Island Archaeology Project. It conte... more This paper reports on the first season of work on the Barrow Island Archaeology Project. It contextualises new findings within a review of what is now known of the archaeology of the Carnarvon bioregion. A reliance on coastal resources for over 42,000 years is indicated from excavations and open sites from Cape Range, the Montebello Islands, the Onslow coastline and Barrow Island. The continuous use of marine resources, blended with largely arid zone terrestrial assemblages, from 17,000 cal. BP until the modern era, attests to a deep chronology for hybrid maritime desert societies in the Australian northwest.
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Journal of Archaeological Science, Oct 2014
This paper presents a new method, based on the calculation of a Cortex Ratio, capable of contribu... more This paper presents a new method, based on the calculation of a Cortex Ratio, capable of contributing towards measures of stone artefact transport in Polynesia. A set of ratios can be calculated by comparing the observed amount of cortical surface area and volume in an assemblage with what is expected should all the products of reduction remain. Because raw material shape and size is controlled for using geometric equations, an estimate for the number of preforms produced from an assemblage also is possible. The method is experimentally demonstrated and applied to an archaeological early stage adze manufacturing assemblage from Moturakau Rockshelter, Aitutaki Island in the southern Cook Islands. Application of the method, in combination with geochemical and chronological analyses, shows that the number of preforms produced and transported, as well as the frequency of their transport, changed over time but the geographic scale of distribution remained the same, essentially local to Aitutaki.
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Conference Presentations by Kane Ditchfield
Studying patterns of human interaction in tropical Polynesia represents a major research agenda i... more Studying patterns of human interaction in tropical Polynesia represents a major research agenda in Polynesian archaeology. This is often reconstructed by using stone artefacts (especially adzes), not only because of their excellent preservation, but also because they were transported extensively. Recently, geochemical analyses have begun to investigate and establish the scale of Polynesian stone artefact transport by providing estimates for the distance and direction of movement from quarry locations. However, by combining geochemical research with chronological (e.g. occupation models using calibration software) and technological analyses (e.g. reduction intensity indices), while also providing estimates for the number of transported stone artefacts, it is possible to produce a much more holistic approach. To demonstrate this, these research focuses are combined using recent analyses from the Southern Cook Islands. This has implications for reconstructing patterns of interaction, transport and manufacture overtime in tropical Polynesia.
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Numerous sources of variability contribute towards the formation of stone artefact assemblages. T... more Numerous sources of variability contribute towards the formation of stone artefact assemblages. These include raw material shape, size, form and quality as well as natural formation processes and human behavioural processes. Accounting for the role of these in assemblage formation during analysis is a challenge but certainly important for establishing what assemblage patterns are attributable to behavioural processes and which are not. This paper will focus on the effect that raw material form (shape and size) and artefact transport has on assemblage formation. It is shown that, as both raw material form and artefact transport effects vary, the results produced from typical measures used on stone artefact assemblages (e.g. average size measures, cortex proportions, flake:core ratios) will also vary. This has important implications for the interpretation of stone artefact assemblages. Both experimental and archaeological assemblages are used to track these formative effects while the importance of the findings are discussed with relevance to the Southern Deserts.
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In Australia, as elsewhere, coastal Pleistocene sites are relatively rare. As a consequence Pleis... more In Australia, as elsewhere, coastal Pleistocene sites are relatively rare. As a consequence Pleistocene human-environmental interactions in maritime environments are poorly understood. The relative importance of maritime resources on proximal coastal plains during fluctuating sea levels is even less well described – though models for coastal productivity during the last 50,000 years are being proffered. Barrow Island, located in north-western Australia, retains a coastal archaeological landscape (a veritable ‘time capsule’ dating to pre-7,000 BP) consisting of both open and stratified contexts which may date back to pre-40,000 BP. One stratified context, Boodie Cave (J08-001), preserves a deeply stratified sequence which includes multiple phases of both stone artefact and molluscan assemblages. These assemblages provide a unique opportunity to investigate patterns relating to human-environmental interactions during the Pleistocene. This paper will outline proposed research strategies for analysing both the molluscan and stone artefact assemblages. Some preliminary results will be presented.
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In archaeology, reconstructing patterns in human behaviour across a landscape, and tracking its c... more In archaeology, reconstructing patterns in human behaviour across a landscape, and tracking its changes over-time, represents a major research goal. However, it is often impossible to entirely sample an archaeological landscape and so certain ‘sites’ must be sampled where the aim is to generate a representative sample. The question is; to what extent can local scale site specific variability be extrapolated from ‘telephone box’ samples to reconstruct regional scale patterns of human behaviour? This paper explores this question by assessing two stone artefact samples from two Pleistocene cave sites, Bone Cave and Kutikina, in south-western Tasmania. Although the caves are separated by 50km, were intermittently occupied during the same period of time and located in the same region with similar environmental contexts, analyses show both contrasting and complimentary patterns. Some components of variability may reflect regional scale patterns while, it is argued, that other components reflect more localised patterns and their change over-time.
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We apply a methodology developed by Dibble and colleagues (2005) to two Pleistocene stone artefac... more We apply a methodology developed by Dibble and colleagues (2005) to two Pleistocene stone artefact assemblages from Bone Cave and Mackintosh 90/1 in south-western Tasmania, Australia. This method, the cortex ratio, quantifies artefact transport as a proxy for human movement by comparing the expected cortical surface area and volume that should be present in an assemblage if all the products of reduction remain with that which is actually observed in the assemblage. This is based on large samples from each assemblage. The results indicate that both cortex and artefact volume are under-represented at Bone Cave and Mackintosh 90/1 compared to what is expected should everything remain. This suggests that cortex covered nodules were transported to both cave sites, reduced and large cortical flakes were removed for use elsewhere at the end of each occupation. The continued repetition of this process structured long-term assemblage formation where both cave assemblages reflect anticipated activities which took place away from the caves. Because this pattern was created by the human movement of artefacts over time, it suggests that human mobility was an important pattern in Pleistocene south-western Tasmania.
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Human mobility is an important behavioural process for creating variability in the archaeological... more Human mobility is an important behavioural process for creating variability in the archaeological record and stone artefacts are one avenue through which mobility is often investigated. However, stone artefact proxies used to measure mobility are sometimes restricted to focusing on small portions of assemblages (e.g. non-local raw material or retouched tools). These rarely measure the actual movement of people in terms of frequency, distance and direction. In south-western Pleistocene Tasmania, faunal studies demonstrate important systems of human movement but stone artefact proxies for mobility are mostly based on non-local raw material and/or retouched tools. To overcome these restrictions a methodology developed by Dibble and colleagues (2005) is applied to a Pleistocene stone artefact assemblage from Bone Cave in south-western Tasmania. This method quantifies artefact transport as a proxy for human movement. The results suggest that cortex and volume are under-represented and indicates that large cortical flakes were removed. Along with skeletal elements from Bennett’s wallaby and other prey species, stone was transported to Bone Cave in the form of cortical nodules (often from local sources) where, at the end of each occupation, cortical flakes made of local raw material were removed. As such, the stone artefact assemblages at Bone Cave are more reflective of activities that took place away from caves rather than those that took place at them. This indicates that human mobility was an important pattern in Pleistocene south-western Tasmania.
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In the Pacific, tracing human movement is an important component of research relating to prehisto... more In the Pacific, tracing human movement is an important component of research relating to prehistoric voyaging and interaction, as well as trade and exchange. Among other methods, stone adze analyses represent one approach for inferring patterns of human movement throughout the Pacific. Both technological and geochemical sourcing studies significantly contribute towards understanding these patterns by demonstrating that adzes were moved away from quarries to locations both within and between Pacific islands. These studies offer good indications of the distance and direction of human movements but, because many of these adzes occur archaeologically in a highly used or maintained state, much less is known about the frequency with which these adzes were manufactured and moved away from quarries and smaller source areas. The manufacture of preforms at quarry locations and their subsequent removal also created debitage assemblages which remained behind. These assemblages offer the opportunity to quantify what was removed from quarries and smaller sources, as well as measure the magnitude and frequency of preform removal. Thus, an investigation of prehistoric movement in relation to the transport of adze preforms is possible. This is quantifiable based upon the proportional under- or over-representation of both the observed cortical surface area and volume when compared to what is expected in an assemblage, as supported through experimental analyses. This study investigates the applicability of this method to an adze manufacturing assemblage from a rockshelter site associated with a basalt source on Moturakau Islet in Aitutaki, southern Cook Islands. The application of this method demonstrates that the demand for adzes placed upon Moturakau was low and likely related primarily to localised environmental concerns. However, the effects of movement on the basalt assemblage at Moturakau were still comparatively high.
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11° International Symposium on Knappable Materials by Kane Ditchfield
We have been working on the Sessions proposals received and we are happy to announce that there a... more We have been working on the Sessions proposals received and we are happy to announce that there are 11 sessions which cover a wide range of topics. We believe this Symposium will give place to very interesting and fruitful discussions. Hence, we invite you to send your abstracts.
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Books and Special Issues by Kane Ditchfield
In this Quaternary International special issue, we include a series of research articles that wer... more In this Quaternary International special issue, we include a series of research articles that were originally presented in two sessions of the conference: ‘Advances in Archaeological Methods: Developments and Applications to the Southern Deserts’ and ‘Desert Archaeology’. The former specifically called for papers focused on the application of new techniques or methods of analysis with implications for research in the southern deserts, while the latter included a much wider range of papers on artefact analysis, taphonomy, and archaeological records across desert regions.
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Papers by Kane Ditchfield
Conference Presentations by Kane Ditchfield
11° International Symposium on Knappable Materials by Kane Ditchfield
Books and Special Issues by Kane Ditchfield