The archaeology of native wells: Aboriginal Wells on Sweers Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria of northern Australia
Book chapter
Gale, Stephen and Carden, Yale. (2005). The archaeology of native wells: Aboriginal Wells on Sweers Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria of northern Australia. In Gulf of Carpentaria Scientific Study Report pp. 181 - 200 Royal Geographical Society of Queensland.
Authors | Gale, Stephen and Carden, Yale |
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Abstract | The Aboriginal Wells on Sweers Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria of northern Australia are generally regarded as native wells, features excavated and used by Aborigines. Adjacent to each well lies a low, flat mound, composed of the spoil removed from the depressions. A core through one of these mounds and into the underlying sediments revealed an increase in phosphorus content between 0.40 and 0.28 m. This is a marker of the dramatic changes in environmental chemistry resulting from European pastoralism, which began on the island some time between 1861 and 1880. This unit must have formed after the middle of the nineteenth century. It represents the soils and sediments developed on the early contact land surface. The overlying unit, found between 0.28 and 0.08 m, consists of material excavated from the adjacent pit. It is composed of a mixture of the early contact soils and sediments and the basal deposits. The upper 0.08 m of the sequence represents the modern soil, developed on the spoil from the depressions. This must post-date the excavation of the wells. |
Page range | 181 - 200 |
Year | 2005 |
Book title | Gulf of Carpentaria Scientific Study Report |
Publisher | Royal Geographical Society of Queensland |
Place of publication | Australia |
ISBN | 9780949286123 |
Research Group | School of Arts |
Publisher's version | File Access Level Controlled |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8q037/the-archaeology-of-native-wells-aboriginal-wells-on-sweers-island-in-the-gulf-of-carpentaria-of-northern-australia
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