Ref ID:	31764
Ref Type:	Journal Article
Authors:	Bourke, Trish
Title:	Shell mounds and stone axes: prehistoric resource procurement strategies at Hope Inlet, northern Australia
Date:	2002
Source:	Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association
Notes:	Proceedings of the 16th Congress of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, Melaka, Malaysia, 1 to 7 July 1998.
Abstract:	Recent investigations at Hope Inlet, near Darwin, have revealed this small section of the coast to be rich in large mounded middens, comparable in both type and distribution within the landscape to the Anadara mound sites descrbided elsewhere in northern Australia and other parts of the Indo-Pacific region. The evidence for concentrated exploitation of the mollusc Anadara granosa during the late Holocene indicates significant differences in the past local environment with that of the present. Also found in association with these shell mounds, are earth mounds and stone artefact scatters containing large stone artefacts such as edge-ground axes, pestles and portable mortars. The archaeological and ethnographic evidence suggests that the mound sites are the remains of semi-sedentary seasonal settlements, perhaps involving large ceremonial gatherings. Variability in site type at Hope Inlet may be a reflection of the diverse range of strategies employed in the procurement of prehistoric resources within a changing late Holocene landscape.
Date Created:	10/19/2003
Volume:	22
Page Start:	35
Page End:	44