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Key issues in the conservation of the Australian coastal archaeological record: natural and human impacts

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Abstract

Australia has an extensive coastline extending over 60,000 km through diverse tropical and temperate environments. Indigenous archaeological sites are found along this coastline from the time of earliest settlement at least 50,000 years ago. However, Pleistocene sites are rare owing largely to the destructive impacts of sea-level change associated with the end of the last ice age around 10,000 years ago. After this sites are more numerous but there is variability around the coastline due to the impact of a range of both natural and human factors. Here we focus on six key issues impacting on the development and conservation of coastal archaeological deposits: sea-levels, climate change, cyclones, storms, tsunamis and contemporary human impacts. A number of examples of these impacts are discussed from across Australia. Managing and monitoring of sites has been limited in Australia and geoindicators are discussed as a means of developing a long-term measurement of continuing impacts.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Torben Rick and Scott Fitzpatrick for the invitation to contribute to this special issue and to Bryce Barker, Jay Hall, Ian Lilley, Annie Ross, Ian McNiven, Dan Rosendahl, Richard Robins, Jill Reid, Deborah Brian, Pat Faulkner and Deb Vale for long and sometimes animated discussion about coastal occupation in Australia. This research was supported under the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Projects funding scheme (project number DP0663047) and Linkage Projects funding scheme (project number LP0775186). The views expressed in this paper do not necessarily represent the views of the author’s research or funding institutions.

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  1. Cultural Heritage Coordination Unit, Department of Environment and Resource Management, GPO Box 2454, Brisbane, QLD, 4001, Australia

    Michael John Rowland

  2. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Michael John Rowland & Sean Ulm

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  1. Michael John Rowland
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Rowland, M.J., Ulm, S. Key issues in the conservation of the Australian coastal archaeological record: natural and human impacts. J Coast Conserv 16, 159–171 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-010-0112-5

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