• WNSWAP?  What's That??
• Who are we?
• What do we do?
• What you can do: postgraduate research opportunities
• Publications

 

WNSWAP is the Western New South Wales Archaeology Program, a multidisciplinary collaboration between researchers at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and Auckland University in New Zealand, working together with indigenous Traditional Owners of country and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service to progress the understanding and management of Indigenous material cultural heritage.

The projects use the latest electronic survey equipment, GIS, and database software to map, document and analyse the distribution of Aboriginal stone artefacts and associated heat-retainer hearths in their landscape context. They are supported by an intensive program of dating, using the charcoal and hearthstones from heat retainer hearths and sediments within valley fill sequences, to provide a chronology of landscape change and Aboriginal settlement.

Predicting the Past: Time, Landscape and Indigenous Australian History
(ARC Discovery Grant project, Paroo-Darling National Park, 2005-2007)

Conventionally archaeologists discover sites through survey and excavation. Both are problematic in the arid 70% of Australia where many sites lack boundaries and rest on the surface. To solve these problems we re-conceptualise archaeological site surveys by providing an integrated methodology based on archaeology, Quaternary geochronology and geomorphology that emphasises the landscape setting as a means for evaluating when archaeological materials were deposited, how they have been modified through time, and where they have been eroded. The result will be a clear statement of when and where we may expect the archaeological record to be preserved enabling a more detailed account of Indigenous Australian place use history.

Stone artefacts and hearths – people and environment: understanding the past at Poolamacca
(funded by the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, 2004-2005)
In 2005, archaeologists, geomorphologists and geochronologists from the Western NSW Archaeology Program (WNSWAP) worked with Traditional Owners to study the archaeological record of Poolamacca Station in western NSW. We surveyed artefacts and the remains of heat-retainer hearths on a small section of river terrace adjacent to Campbells Creek. We also recorded possible lithic sources, and conducted a pilot study to test a non-destructive method for dating hearths. The goal was to provide TOs with geoarchaeological information to add to their knowledge of their country. In the past, waterholes and lithic sources made Campbells Creek a good place to live, as indicated by the rich archaeological record. But the environment was not unchanging: differences in the wood burnt in the hearths from one time period to the next suggests variability in the availability of particular species, which may be related to climate change. Aboriginal people appear to have adapted to such changes, however, as a record of occupation going back at least 6000 years has been established from age determinations on the hearths. Recent erosion now threatens that record. Overgrazing in the late 19th century led to stream incision and widening, and sheetwash and rill and gully erosion continue to threaten the preservation of the archaeological record that remains. Scientists and Traditional Owners need to continue working together to learn from that record before it is lost forever.

Geoarchaeological Investigation of Aboriginal Landscape Occupation in Peery National Park, western NSW
(Macquarie University External Collaborative Grant project with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, 2002)
This pilot project investigated archaeological material in its landscape context at three locations in Peery National Park (now part of the Paroo-Darling National Park) that were being considered for visitor facilities, using WNSWAP survey and analysis techniques. All three areas were found to contain assemblages different from those recorded from elsewhere in NSW. Alternative locations for visitor facilities were recommended.

Peopling of the arid zone revisited: Aboriginal stone artefact scatters as indicators of occupation intensity in western NSW.
(ARC Large Grant project, Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station, 1999-2001)
Dramatic increases in the density of archaeological materials dated to the last 1500 years are reported for the arid zone of western NSW. We investigated this record at a regional level by applying a sophisticated sampling design to search for patterns in the deposition of stone artefacts across six landscape types (Land Systems) at Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station, 110 km north of Broken Hill. Through an approach that combined archaeological and geomorphological studies using new technological solutions based on GIS to record surface scatters of artefacts, we produced a high quality database to investigate Aboriginal place use history in the late Holocene. The length of archaeological record was found to vary across space, depending on the relative landscape stability: longer records of occupation were found on older, more stable landforms, while the more dynamic geomorphic environments preserved much shorter records. These findings have major implications for the use of settlement systems as models of Aboriginal occupation in Australia, and elsewhere.

Dealing with space: the interface between archaeology and geomorphology in far western NSW.
(ARC Collaborative Grant project with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, 1996-1998)
Surface deposits of stone artefacts are the most common archaeological material in Australia, yet their study has contributed the least to our understanding of Aboriginal prehistory. Amongst the myriad of reasons is a lack of understanding of the interrelationships between geomorphic processes of landscape change and the preservation, exposure and visibility of the archaeological record of Aboriginal occupation. In this project we developed methods that overcome this problem. We used geomorphological and geophysical techniques to establish a chronology of landscape evolution, and electronic survey technology and GIS to document and analyse artefact and hearth distributions. The project involved archaeologists, geomorphologists, and geochronologists working together to integrate a dynamic view of natural landscape change with an understanding of the spatial distribution of archaeological materials.

Applications are invited from prospective students to undertake postgraduate research degrees at Masters or PhD level (depending on undergraduate qualification) on WNSWAP projects.  Candidates should have completed an undergraduate degree with a high level of achievement (1st class Honours or equivalent) in Archaeology, Geomorphology or Environmental Science. For information on postgraduate research degrees based at Macquarie University, go to the website for the Higher Degree Research Office or send an email to Trish Fanning.  For information on research degrees based at Auckland University, send an email to Simon Holdaway.

Fanning PC, Holdaway SJ & Rhodes EJ. A new geoarchaeology of Aboriginal artefact deposits in western NSW, Australia: establishing spatial and temporal geomorphic controls on the surface archaeological record. Geomorphology.

Fanning PC, Holdaway SJ & Rhodes EJ. A geomorphic framework for understanding the surface archaeological record in arid environments. Geodinimica Acta

Shiner J., Holdaway S.J., Allen H. & Fanning, P.C. Burkes Cave and flaked stone assemblage variability in western New South Wales, Australia. Australian Archaeology.

2006
Holdaway, S., Fanning, P.C. & Shiner, J. Geoarchaeological Investigation of Aboriginal Landscape Occupation in Paroo-Darling National Park, Western NSW, Australia. Research in Anthropology and Linguistics-e No. 1, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Auckland, Auckland. ISBN 0-9582744-0-1. http://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/handle/2292/325

2005
Holdaway SJ, Fanning PC & Shiner J. Absence of evidence or evidence of absence? Understanding the chronology of indigenous occupation of western New South Wales, Australia. Archaeology in Oceania 40, 33-49. ISSN 0003-8121

Shiner, J., Holdaway, SJ, Allen, HA & Fanning PC. (2005) Understanding Stone Artefact Assemblage Variability in Late Holocene Contexts in Western New South Wales, Australia: Burkes Cave, Stud Creek and Fowlers Gap. In C. Clarkson and L. Lamb (eds) Lithics Down Under: Australian Perspectives on Lithic Reduction, Use and Classification. British Archaeological Reports, International Monograph Series No. S1408, pp. 67-80. Archaeopress: Oxford. ISBN 1841718513.

2004
Fanning PC & Holdaway SJ. Artifact Visibility at Open Sites in Western New South Wales, Australia. Journal of Field Archaeology 29, 255—271. ISSN 0093-4690

Holdaway SJ, Shiner J and Fanning PC. Hunter-gatherers and the archaeology of the long term: An analysis of surface, stone artefact scatters from Sturt National Park, New South Wales, Australia. Asian Perspectives 43(1):34-72. ISSN 0066-8435

2002
Holdaway SJ, Fanning PC, Witter DC, Jones M, Nicholls G, Reeves J & Shiner J. Variability in the chronology of Late Holocene Aboriginal occupation on the arid margin of southeastern Australia. Journal of Archaeological Science 29, 351-363. ISSN 0305-4403.

Fanning PC & Holdaway SJ. Using Geospatial Technologies to Understand Prehistoric Human/Landscape Interaction in Arid Australia. Arid Lands Newsletter No. 51, Office of Arid Lands Studies, the University of Arizona, Tuscon, 10 pp.

2001
Fanning PC, Holdaway SJ. Stone artifact scatters in western NSW, Australia: geomorphic controls on artifact size and distribution. Geoarchaeology, an International Journal. 16(6), 667-686. ISSN 0883-6353.

Fanning PC & Holdaway SJ. (2001) Temporal limits to the archaeological record in arid western NSW, Australia: lessons from OSL and radiocarbon dating of hearths and sediments. In M. Jones and P. Sheppard (eds), Australasian Connections and New Directions: Proceedings of the 7th Australasian Archaeometry Conference, Research in Anthropology and Linguistics 5, 85-105. ISBN 0-9583686-4-3 ISSN 1174-5967.

2000
Gnaden D & Holdaway SJ. Understanding observer variation when recording stone artifacts. American Antiquity, 65(4):739-47.

Holdaway SJ, Fanning PC & Witter DC. Prehistoric Aboriginal occupation of the rangelands: interpreting the surface archaeological record of far western New South Wales, Australia. The Rangelands Journal 22, 44-57. ISSN 1036 9872

1999
Fanning PC. Recent landscape history in arid western New South Wales, Australia: a model for regional change. Geomorphology 29, 191 – 210. ISSN 0169-555X.

1998
Holdaway SJ, Witter D, Fanning PC, Musgrave R, Cochrane G, Doelman T, Greenwood S, Pigdon D & Reeves J. (1998) New approaches to open site spatial archaeology in Sturt National Park, New South Wales, Australia. Archaeology in Oceania, 33,1 – 19. ISSN 0003-8121.

1997
Holdaway, S., Fanning, P. & Witter, D. (1997). GIS analysis of artefact distributions in an eroding landscape: the Western New South Wales Archaeological Project. In Johnson, I. & North, M. (eds) Archaeological Applications of GIS: Proceedings of Colloquium II, UISPP XIIIth Congress, Forli, Italy, September 1996. Sydney University Archaeological Methods Series 5. ISBN 1 86451 327 6

Reports and Other Output

2005
Holdaway SJ, Fanning PC, Rhodes EJ, Broken Hill Local Aboriginal Lands Council. A Geoarchaeological and Geochronological Assessment of the Surface Archaeology of the Campbells Creek Area, ‘Poolamacca’ Station, western NSW. Unpublished report for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies and the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation. 124pp.

2004
Shiner, JI. Place as Occupational Histories: Towards an Understanding of Deflated Surface Artefact Distributions in the West Darling, New South Wales, Australia. Unpublished PhD thesis, the University of Auckland.

2003
Holdaway SJ & Fanning PC. Time, Period, Place, and Preservation: an Analysis of Aboriginal Heat Retainer Hearths from Fowlers Gap, western NSW. Unpublished report to NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Sydney. 139pp

Holdaway SJ & Fanning PC. Geoarchaeological Investigation of Aboriginal Landscape Occupation in Peery National Park, western NSW: Results of Radiocarbon Age Determinations on Charcoal from Heat-retainer Hearths. Unpublished supplementary report to NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Sydney, 6 pp.

2002
Fanning PC. Beyond the Divide: a New Geoarchaeology of Aboriginal Stone Artefact Scatters in Western New South Wales, Australia. Unpublished PhD thesis, Graduate School of the Environment, Macquarie University.

Holdaway SJ, Fanning PC & Shiner J. Geoarchaeological Investigation of Aboriginal Landscape Occupation in Peery National Park, western NSW. Unpublished report to NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Sydney.

2001
Fanning PC & Holdaway SJ. The Western NSW Archaeology Program (WNSWAP) at Fowlers Gap. Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station Annual Report 2001, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, p.23-25.

2000
Fanning PC & Holdaway SJ (2000) The Western NSW Archaeology Program (WNSWAP) at Fowlers Gap. Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station Annual Report 2000, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, p.22-24.

Holdaway SJ, Fanning PC & Witter DC. Report of the Western New South Wales Archaeological Project in Sturt National Park. Unpublished report to NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Sydney, 139 pp.

1999
Fanning PC & Holdaway SJ. The Western NSW Archaeology Program. Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station Annual Report 1999, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, p.31-32.