Carpenters Gap 1: A 47,000 year old record of indigenous adaption and innovation

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Maloney, Tim
O'Connor, Sue
Wood, Rachel
Aplin, Ken
Balme, Jane
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2018
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Abstract

Here we present the first detailed analysis of the archaeological finds from Carpenters Gap 1 rockshelter, one of the oldest radiocarbon dated sites in Australia and one of the few sites in the Sahul region to preserve both plant and animal remains down to the lowest Pleistocene aged deposits. Occupation at the site began between 51,000 and 45,000 cal BP and continued into the Last Glacial Maximum, and throughout the Holocene. While CG1 has featured in several studies, the full complement of 100 radiocarbon dates is presented here for the first time in stratigraphic context, and a Bayesian model is used to evaluate the age sequence. We present analyses of the stone artefact and faunal assemblages from Square A2, the oldest and deepest square excavated. These data depict a remarkable record of adaptation in technology, mobility, and diet breadth spanning 47,000 years. We discuss the dating and settlement record from CG1 and other northern Australian sites within the context of the new dates for occupation of Madjedbebe in Arnhem Land at 65,000 years (±5700), and implications for colonisation and dispersal within Sahul.

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Quaternary Science Reviews

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191

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© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, providing that the work is properly cited.

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Earth sciences

History, heritage and archaeology

Science & Technology

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Geography, Physical

Geosciences, Multidisciplinary

Physical Geography

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Maloney, T; O'Connor, S; Wood, R; Aplin, K; Balme, J, Carpenters Gap 1: A 47,000 year old record of indigenous adaption and innovation, Quaternary Science Reviews, 2018, 191, pp. 204-228

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