Ref ID:	31723
Ref Type:	Journal Article
Authors:	Allen, Harry
Title:	The time of the mangroves: changes in the mid-Holocene estuarine environments and subsistence in Australia and Southeast Asia
Date:	1996
Source:	Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association
Notes:	Proceedings of the 15th Congress of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association Chiang Mai, Thailand 5 to 12 January 1994
Abstract:	Between 8000 and 6000 years ago sea levels rose to their present height flooding the coastal river valleys of Northern Australia and initiating a "big swamp" phase. Since then sediments from rivers swollen by monsoon rains have infilled many of these valleys to the extent that today they show freshwater environments with only a narrow band of mangroves and the downstream tidal sections of the rivers which flow through them. The effects of these environmental changes on Aboriginal settlement and subsistence patterns is shown in the archaeological record of the South and East Alligator River valleys and the Magela Plains. There is a recent (2000-200 BP) increase in the number of settlement sites located on the plains near freshwater swamps, rich sources of plant and animal food. The association of settlement sites, artifacts and environmental changes allows the testing of a number of propositions regarding Aboriginal population growth and/or intensification of economic or social organisation in western Arnhem Land. The paper concludes with a discussion of areas elsewhere in Southeast Asia with evidence for a similar sequence of environmental changes and how these might affect their prehistoric record.
Date Created:	10/19/2003
Volume:	15
Page Start:	193
Page End:	205