Subsistence Regimes

Aboriginal economic life patterns along the Murray River system have been discussed by several authors. Lawrence

(1969), using historic accounts, environmental and archaeological evidence, discussed the habitats and

economies over the majority of the Murray/Darling drainage basin but stopped short at the South Australian border.

Smith (1977; 1982) and Paton (1983) adopted a more regional methodology and, using archaeological evidence, analysed Aboriginal economies for the Lower Murray regions. Even though there are substantial archaeological deposits remaining along the river between the areas examined by these researchers (in particular the Riverland region), there have been few further archaeological examinations to complement theirs.

It is not the aim of this thesis to provide a comprehensive investigation of the Riverland's

archaeological deposits. The aim of the archaeological

survey was to assess the degree of exploitation of the river valley and mallee environments within the Riverland. The results have then been discussed with reference to several previous archaeological and ethnographic investigations of resource and environmental exploitation from the Lower Murray regions.

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Table 2.1 and Figure 2.2 display the extent of

archaeological sites within the river valley and Table 2.2 and Figure 2.3 show the results of the surveys carried out above the valley and in the mallee.

Table 2.1 Archaeological sites located between Overland Corner and Katarapko Isand, Riverland, South Australia

(After G. Woolmer n.d.). Site Complex Local Name

No. Occupation Sites A1 Banrock Ck. A2 Good Times A3 Red Sandhills Loch Luna A4 'Joe Taylors' A5 Drogemuller Island A6 North Lake A7 Tuit's Ridge A8 Roger's Point A9 Point Bend A1 0 West Lake

A11 Pelican Point

Archaeological Components/Remarks

Shell, stone adzes, hammers millstones, burials. Major living area.

Chert flakes, millstones, handaxes, 2-3 burials. Major living area.

Numerous flakes, worn adzes burnt clay hearths, shell burials. Major living area. Several types of stone

implements, burials. Major living area.

Large deposits of ash and shell, numerous stone implements. Major meeting place. Cultivated.

Shell, hammerstones, adzes, hearths.

Shell middens, hearths, millstones, core tools, adzes. Well used area. Cultivated.

Shell, hearths, burials, Cultivated.

Hearths, adzes, hammers, millstones, burials.

Several types of stone implements, shell,

microliths. Major living area.

Millstones, hammers, adzes, pirri point(?), hearths, shell, burials. Major living area.

Table 2.1 (Cont.) A1 2 Setterburg Point A1 3 Loveday Point A1 4 Dunk Sand­ hill A1 5 Spectacle Lakes A16 Blackfelow's Creek B2,B3 Macintosh Canal B4 Trussel Lagoon B5 Nockburra B6 McFarlane's Rise B8,B9 Spectacle Lakes B1 1 Hotel B7,D1 Doug Bannear, Snooks B1 5 Bowie Point B1 6 Greenwood B1 7 Loch Luna Swamp E5 Drogemuller's Reach

Major Burial Grounds

C1 Nitschke Sandpit C3 East Lake Knoll C4 Moorook Swamp C1 2 Spectacle Lakes C13,C8 Overland Corner K1 Katarapko Is.

Occupation sites near lake shore, burials. Major living area.

Several types of stone implements.

Several types of stone implements (large mill­ stone approx 30Kg found). Shell, hearths, stone flakes.

Shell, worked flakes, hearths.

Shell, worked flakes, hearths.

Microliths. Long occupation.

Large midden, hearths, millstone, adzes, flakes, scarred trees (canoe). Major living area.

Millstones uncovered when ploughed. Under cultivation Hearths, stone flakes in erosion depressions. Glass chippings, glass pirri point.

Millstones, adzes, pirri points.

Oven mound, shell, stone flakes. Partly destroyed. Glass flake, stone flakes. Series of hearths, shell & stone flake deposits

bordering ephemeral swamp. Shell midden

Graves in white sand.

Hundreds removed from sand­ pit. Destroyed.

Small burial ground.

Density unknown. Destroyed. Concentrated burials.

Largest known in district. Destroyed.

Burials in red sand dune. Highly eroded. Density unknown.

Deep burials below hotel (1859) & red sand.

High density of exposed burials (>25). Discrete hearth complex.

31 Table 2.1 (Cont.) K2 Katarapko Is. Quarries G1 Overland Corner G2 Sugarloaf Hill Rockshelters H1 Warne's Cave H2 Black Oak Creek (?) Pleistocene Sites F1 Napper's F2 Cane Grass F3 Old Redoubt

Two erosion deprssions in sand dune. Eroded burials. Discrete hearth & shell remains.

Ochre

Chert outcrops. Worked extensively.

In fossilferous cliffs. Test excavtion 1961 (SAM). Small shelter in fern

cliffs. Deep deposits suspected.

At the site of old Accomo­ dation House. Ancient chopping implements. Numerous chopping

implements.

Many crude chopping implements.

Table 2.2 Details of selected transects conducted

within the mallee environment of the Riverland in South Australia.

Transect Dis t . from Area Cultural Remains

River (Km)

Valley (M)

M1 0.5 110x400 mussel shell,

Morgan Rd. hearths, chert

flakes M2 Spectacle Lakes Rd. 0-3.3 5x3300 3 chert flakes M3 W. of Gerard 1 .5 6x8 nil M4 W. of Gerard 1 . 0 6x10 nil M5 0.8 15x100 2 Fossil oyster

N. of Devlins shell flakes

FIGURE 2.2

Archaeological sites located on the western reach of the Great Pyap Bend, Riverland, South Australia.

See Table 2.1 for a key and a brief description of these sites. The sites located within the river valley fall into five broad categories: open-air occupation sites, major burial grounds, quarries, rockshelters and suspected Pleistocene sites. The density of sites in the north western section of the map is most likely due to archaeological preservation and visibility rather than reflecting a denser cluster of sites in a section of the wetlands preferred by the Aborigines.

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