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Marginal returns and fringe benefits: Characterising the prehistory of the
lowland deserts of Australia (a reply to Smith)
Peter Veth
Given the rapidly increasing discovery of early sites in
Australia and the 'filling in' of the arid zone (cf. Smith and
Sharp 1993), there is a demonstrable need for archaeologists to accurately characterise the behavioural systems
mol
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32
responsible for producing 'first assemblages' at the regional level. Most commentators would agree that the
earliest dated assemblages are unlikely to reflect the fust,
permanent occupations of a region, let alone reflect the
timing of initial colonisation. That a time-lag might exist
for the production of archaeologically visible residues may
Australian Archaeology, Number 40, 1995
Veth
be attributed to numerous factors, including sample size
effect, post-depositional disturbance, intensity of site
occupation, rate of sedimentation and the uncertainties of
radiocarbon determinations.
The relationship between regional population levels,
type of residential mobility, site function and discard rate
at specific localities within settled areas is likely to be
highly complex. It seems imperative, therefore, that
archaeologists attempt to assess whether prehistoric groups
are entering lands only opportunistically, as influenced by
climate or cultural preference, or if entry constitutes a
colonising event leading to permanent occupation and
ultimately the establishment of a culturally constructed
and maintained landscape (cf. O'Connor et al. 1993;
Sutton 1990). While archaeologists cannot expect to
necessarily discover, nor calibrate, a continuous record of
occupation in any one stratified site they should reasonably
aim to find evidence for repeated occupations.
As daunting as the mid-range challenge is, there is a
clear need to discriminate, where possible, between sites
with aggregate signatures of repeated occupations from
those sites which simply reflect sporadic, and possibly
'pulse-like', incursions from groups in adjacent territories.
To automatically treat the oldest dated cultural manifestation in a region, such as a hearth, as proof of colonisation,
occupation aud adaptation is, in my mind, to underestimate the social flexibility and temporal requirements of
prehistoric groups engaged in the process of mapping onto
new country.
It is my contention that successful colonisation of, and
adaptation to, lands with significantly different resource
structuring can only be archaeologically demonstrated
through the location of similarly dated assemblages at the
regional level. If the earliest date from an individual site
located within a region is used as evidence of a group's
familiarity with resources of that region, then this denies the
opportunistic and ephemeral use of 'marginal' lands, so well
described kom arid zone ethnographies (Veth 1987,1993).
Therefore, when exploring alternative models to explain the pattern and timing of prehistoric occupation of
unsettled lands, it is essential to conceptualise the differences between short-term, opportunistic and pulse-like
incursions into those lands and the establishment of truly
regional occupations.
Competing models
In a recent review of the human ecology and prehistory
of the sandridge deserts of Australia, Smith (1993:47)
offers a model which 'posits that fluctuations in climate ...
are likely to have been the major factor affecting the
accessibility of these regions to humans.' He (1993:48-9)
argues that the entire arid zone would have been accessible
to humans prior to the last glacial maximum.
Following abandonment of the sandridge deserts during the last glacial maximum these deserts are likely to
have been recolonised by 12,000 to 10.000 BP, at the same
time as other desert lowlands. He (1993:48) notes that
recolonisation 'may have proceeded very rapidly in empty
territory, with groups budding off well before any popula-
tion pressure was felt'. This scenario may be characterised
as a (climatically driven) fast train model.
In direct challenge to this 'alternative scenario' it will
be the purpose of this paper to argue that a different model
encompassing a dine in the timing of reoccupation of
post-glacial arid lowlands can be expected. This follows
The Islands in the Interior Model' from Veth (1989a).
That model came from a review of faunal responses to
phases of aridity and particularly models for speciation in
amphibians, reptiles and birds (Davey 1983; Pianka 1969,
1972, 1981; Roberts and Maxson 1985a, 1985b, 1986,
1987; Veth 1989a, 1989b) and resulted in a division of the
Australian continent into a hierarchy of zones of marginality with significance for human geography. The most
marginal desert regions were termed barriers (Veth
1989a:81).
The model aimed to characterise a cline in the actual
timing of permanent occupation of increasingly marginal
desert regions. That these regions might be redefined
using different criteria of significance to human ecology is
to be expected (e.g. Morse 1993), given the paucity of
palaeoclirnate and vegetation data for much of arid Australia (Ross et al. 1992). As originally noted in the colonisation model (Veth 1989a:81) 'Although the model employs fluctuating boundaries around areas of occupation
and assumed non-occupation, these serve as heuristic
devices for illustrating modes of adaptation' (Veth
1989a:81). This alternative scenario may be characterised
as a gradual dine model.
The term cline is used here to describe a gradual
change in dates of (re)colonisation between a starting
point and an end point. The points can be defined as
regions of increasing marginality within the arid zone.
Marginality is clearly both a biological parameter and a
social construction and we must therefore necessarily take
account of both.
I would predict that a cline in the timing of permanent
(re)occupation of lowlands has occurred and that this
process will be reflected in earlier dates for suites of sites
located in arid lowlands with coordinated drainage rather
than those in areas of uncoordinated drainage.
A reconfiguration of desert lowlands
Smith (1993:39-42) has argued strongly for an equal
ranking of desert lowlands. Recent ecological studies,
such as the framework for the ecology of arid Australia
advanced by Stafford-Smith and Morton (1990), lend some
support to his arguments. What these recent studies do
emphasise in particular, however, is the significance of
drainage lines and run-on areas and the strong patterning
of plant and animal communities at these features.
Stafford-Smith and Morton (1990255) note that within
the arid zone the unpredictability of rainfall combined
with the presence of ancient and infertile soils. and the
high degree of soil differentiation, results in 'a specific
range of establishment and persistence opportui~itiesfor
plants. with fertile or reliable sites scattered like islands in
a sea of exceptionally infertile and unreliable conditions'.
Additionally. they state.
Marginal Return and Fringe Benefits
Environments with relatively continuous production are riverine channels and a range of
buried drainage lines and run-on areas ... In
these places native mammalian herbivores are
(or were originally) most diverse and abundant ... Many other invertebrate herbivores are
also likely to be found preferentially in such
piaces ... (Stafford-Smith and Morton 199O:27O)
Given these observations, I argue that drainage configuration must be of significance to human geography,
especially in providing networks of more reliable resources. Coordinated drainage occurs within some desert
lowlands (e.g. the Lake Eyre Basin) and not in many
others (e.g. the Tanami, Great Sandy and Gibson Deserts).
I concede that the sandridge deserts can be designated
a similar status of 'marginality' to that of other arid lowlands such as the Nullarbor Plain, Gibson Desert and
Tanami sandplains. This is largely on the basis of the
commonality of uncoordinated drainage.
I do not agree, however, that all desert lowlands should
be treated as a homogeneous entity in that they would
necessarily have been re-colonised immediately following
amelioration of full glacial conditions. Indeed, the 'levelling' approach adopted by Smith runs contrary to current
syntheses, such as that of Gould (1991:30) who notes that
Since arid Australia is not a uniform or homogeneous area, it is reasonable to expect and to
try to model different regional outcomes according to local variations in biogeography.
Those areas originally shown as barrier deserts (Veth
1989a) are now enlarged to accommodate all areas of
desert lowlands which lack coordinated drainage (see
Fig. 1). Coordination of drainage is a fundamental physical parameter which is argued as determining resource
structure and which must be highlighted when examining
the human ecology of arid zone occupation.
The dine model versus the fast train model
While I will not attempt a review of arid zone data in
this reply, I will focus on pertinent archaeological and
ethnographic issues to provide support for the gradual
cline model. Initially, I will address several aspects of
Smith's (1993) critique which I believe to be problematic.
Fistly, I question whether Smith's 'alternative scenario'
of human access to lands driven mainly by climate
(1993:47) takes us any further in understanding the social
and economic transformations leading to the basic elements of the ethnographic desert economy.
Secondly, I suggest that it is premature to demand
verification and 'proof of the 'Islands in the Interior model'
at the same time that the original theory is explicated, the
predictions and test-implications of which are only being
stated for the first time (Smith 1993:44; see also Clarke
1972:2 and Shanks and Tilley 1992:49).
Lastly, I draw attention to the portrayal of Holocene
socioeconomic transformations (such as development of
long-distance social networks) as hurdles which required
acts of cultural or technical innovation i.e. their appearance as unique phenomena (Smith 1993:44). This characterisation runs entirely contrary to the 'Islands in the
Interior' thesis, which concludes (Veth 1989a:92), 'it is
expected that the roots of the Australian desert cultures
will be found within the refuges of the glacial maximum'.
Turning now to the competing models it should be emphasised that a basic tenet of the fast train scenario is that
change in climate determines access to arid lowlands
(Smith 1993:47). This stands in contrast to the conchsions of Ross et al. who, after extensively surveying
environmental data for the Holocene (1992: 1O7), note 'that
the timing and magnitude of Holocene environmental
change in the arid zone is not in phase with the timing and
magnitude of change seen in the archaeological record'.
The authors reject the notion that the environment acts
as a trigger to cultural change in the Holocene and opt for
a model in which environment sets boundary conditions,
beyond which behaviour cannot vary, but within which
social and technological forces control the changes
(1992:109).
These forces are described in the original model (Veth
1989a:83) as socioeconomic transformations which encompass shifts in resource strategies, social organisation
and technologies and which largely had their antecedents
in the glacial refuges. This view is also expounded by
Ross et al. in their proposed phase I1 occupation of the arid
zone
a period of consolidation which followed the
spread of aridity to most parts of the continent.
During this period adaptation to a number of
truly arid localities developed, and people may
have begun to have an effect on their local environment. (1992:77)
One of the socioeconomic shifts described related to the
shift towards the intensive use of seeds, particularly within
the hummock grasslands of the desert lowlands.
That hummock grassland dominates these regions is
supported by Smith (1993:39), however, in no way was the
presence of hummock grassland, due to its homogeneity,
argued to be a primary limiting factor. Rather, the decision by groups to shift their economies towards the more
intensive use of a staple i.e. seeds, is seen as a flexible
strategy which would facilitate the permanent occupation
of marginal areas, including those that may occur outside
barrier deserts. Identifying a staple food group and increasing its dietary ranking is an economic shift, not an
innovation. Increasing reliance on an accessible and
abundant resource to the level where it becomes a major
staple food group does, however, require a 'detailed
knowledge of the distribution, seasonality and processing
methods for useful seed-bearing species in the hummock
grasslands' (Veth 1989a:83).
Is Smith suggesting that the entire total of 46 grass
seed species, documented as being used by Martujarra in
the Great and Little Sandy Deserts and argued to be a
major staple group (Veth and Walsh 1988) was also a
staple group 15,000 years ago? The likely use of some of
these species amongst groups occupying the sites of
Puntutjarpa and Puritjarra (cf. Smith 1993:Fig. 5 ) is
acknowledged. However the point is that we have no
archaeological evidence whatsoever that they were used
regularly at this time. Is Smith also suggesting that the
Australian Archaeology, Number 40, 1995
Veth
broad suite of seed processing techniques which were
recorded at contact have a similar antiquity? His own
archaeological work in the arid zone (Smith 1986) argues
against such technological breadth.
Smith has juxtaposed the 'heuristic' barrier desert
boundaries from Veth (1989a) against plots of dunefields
with hummock grassland and uncoordinated drainage
(1993:Figs 3 and 5). Given that hummock grasslands are
not incorporated in the original definition of barrier
deserts (Veth 1989a:81), this is not a valid exercise. It
should also be noted that Smith uses a different reference
for the plot of hummock grasslands (Atlas of Australian
Resources, Vol. 6, 1990:44) rather than the primary
source from the collator (and mapper) for the majority of
these grasslands (Beard 1981). There are differences
between the plots. All of these factors exaggerate a
supposed lack of fit between definitions and actual
boundaries.
While some areas of dunefield with uncoordinated
drainage fall outside the barrier desert boundaries (e.g. in
the Gibson and Tanami Deserts), these were not seen to be
large systems (Veth 1989a:81) in the sense of the other
major sandridge deserts. Having established that hummock grasslands have not, in fact, been portrayed as 'an
unfamiliar environment' (Smith 1993:37), we might now
examine the issue of drainage coordination in some detail.
Smith notes that the resources of some riverine habitats
are comparatively poor. This is presumably to support the
argument that the terminal Pleistocene sites of JSN (Smith
et al. 1991) and the Lower Cooper hearths (Veth et al.
1990), despite being near coordinated drainage systems,
reflect systematic use of dunefield resources.
Given the relatively high productivity of drainage
courses in the arid zone is it possible, therefore, to underplay the significance of continuous drainage systems when
examining the mechanisms for the movement of groups
into sandridge deserts to sites such as JSN? Indeed,
excellent evidence for a 'riverine-tethered' settlement
strategy is presented by Smith et al. (1991) in their description of the use of the JSN site in the Strzelecki desert.
For example, they (1991:185) note that stone raw materials must originate from the adjacent creeks and that stone
reduction is minimal indicating that 'people intended to
travel directly back to Strzelecki Creek after leaving the
site' (1991: 188). Additionally, they state that The duration of visits to the JSN site must also have been relatively
short' (1991:188) and that 'The presence of Velesunio shell
at JSN, in both late Pleistocene and mid-Holocene contexts, is tangible evidence of some link with these riverine
habitats' (199 1:190).
While Smith actually admits (thereby contradicting a
number of previous comments) that 'Humans moving into
the barrier deserts would in many cases have found much
poorer country than that they had left' (1993:39) and that
the sandridge deserts are likely to have been barriers to
permanent occupation 'due ultimately to the aridity of
these regions' (1993:39) he is unwilling to accept there
may have been a mechanism for colonising groups to
establish estates which would extend beyond several
generations.
Australian Archaeology, Number 40,1995
The concept of greater marginality in some desert
lowlands finds common expression in anthropological
literature. For example, Cane comments that the Aboriginal settlement of the Western Desert (a region of uncoordinated drainage)
represents possibly the most marginal example
of permanent human occupation in the world ...
the Western Desert provides an example of the
extreme limits of human expansion and settlement and represents the harshest conditions under which human society could exist.
(1990: 1%)
It was Peterson (1976) who first produced the map of
17 culture-areas which correlated to drainage divisions of
the continent. Following on this theme, Sutton (1990)
defined smaller regional groupings which fall in between
the culture-area groupings and the dialectal tribes of
Tindale; the so-called 'confederacies' or 'messmates'.
These social groupings are argued by Sutton
to have been sets of hundreds or even a few
thousands of people who intermarried often,
who spoke many if not all of each others' languages, and whose countries tended to cover
linked sub-parts of a drainage system, where
drainage was clearly differentiated. These are
the groupings where one finds commonality of
prescriptive marriage rules, a clear basis for
collaboration in ceremonies, the maximum
range from which allies might normally come in
time of conflict, and many surface similarities
among languages, for example. (1990:73)
Sutton reasons (1990:74) that large-scale populations
of the order of messmates are linked in relations of attraction and repulsion and that equilibrium, if it exists, comprises pulsing movements of integration and disintegration. He notes further,
While the forces of these pulses is never neatly
unidirectional, I suggest that the underlying
pressure for this combination of demographic
movement and social ideological encompassment tends to be in one particular direction in
each region. This direction is from the area of a
poorer economy, with fewer people, towards a
better one which has more people, across a permeable but real social and topographical membrane that is visible in the bush as the key ecological break in each case, and that is classically
the subject of elaborate cultural constructions
that are frequently pursued with great passion.
(1990:74)
One of the three kinds of ecological break identified by
Sutton (1990:75) and relevant to the arid zone is that of
river versus hinterland. There are three related hypotheses
underlying this dichotomy
1. Populations in arid areas of undifferentiated drainage
press towards (coordinated) drainage systems
2. Populations in the 'back' country near rivers press
towards them, and
3. Up river populations tend to press towards downstream
areas.
Marginal Returns and Fringe Benejits
Sutton (1990:75) characterises such movements as being part of a chain of connection, where on desert plains,
hills might be targeted, due to their greater capacity to
provide permanent water (Berndt and Berndt 1942:326),
yet these in turn are not as favoured as distant regions with
more reliable rainfall and drainage development. As
Sutton (1990:75) concludes The point here is that the
various environments may be seen in a chain leading from
relatively poor to relatively rich'.
Discussion
That the evolutionary plasticity, or adaptability, of
(re)colonising groups was high for Pleistocene Ausualians
is not being questioned (see also O'Connor 1990). Rather,
I question the mechanisms and timing required for groups
'being able to map ... onto local resources and new terrain'
(Smith 1993:47). My concern is with the permanent
occupation of marginal lands with significantly different
structuring of resources. I believe this process entails a
longer chronological perspective than that provided by the
level of generation.
This is particularly so if we believe that socioeconomic
transformations were required to 'mitigate the effects of
environmental stochasticity' (Davidson 199054) and that
earlier colonising processes were 'acted out by populations
possibly quite unlike the pre-contact ethnographic 'norm"
(Beaton 1990:36).
With reference to the clinal model, an informative
juxtaposition may be made between the location of all
known late Pleistocene sites (Smith and Sharp
1993:Fig. 6) and those areas defined as having uncoordinated drainage (Smith 1993:Fig. 3). This overlay is
presented in Figure 1. Only one site, Puntutjarpa (Gould
1977), is clearly located within this huge area
(approximately 2000 km long by 1500 km wide). This site
only just falls within the Pleistocene. The other five sites
shown in Figure 1 which lie on, or just within, the boundary of uncoordinated drainage may be approached from
Flgure 1
Map of Pleistocene sites of Australia (after Smith and
Sharp 1993) and regions with uncoordinated h a g e
(after Smith 1993).
adjacent areas. That is, their early use may have been
incorporated within core temtories located outside this
boundary. For example, Puritjarra has been depicted as an
outlier of an adjacent rangelplains system with a connecting chain of major and permanent waters (Smith
1989:102). The early sites of Koonalda and Allens Caves
on the Nullabor Plain may have been approached, and
incorporated within, settlement and subsistence rounds
mainly focused on the (now largely drowned) Roe Plain to
the south. It is acknowledged, however, that these sites do
contain economic fauna representative of arid plains
assemblages.
A charcoal sample from the base of a small rockshelter,
Katumpul, in the Goldfields of Western Australia has,
however, recently returned a date of approximately
22,000 BP (O'Connor p m . comm.). This site is clearly
located within an area of uncoordinated drainage. What is
significant about the site is that the early assemblage
associated with the date is exceptionally sparse. In contrast, the mid-Holocene unit immediateiy overlying the
lower assemblage is extremely rich.
That &ly dates will be found for the use of locations
within areas of uncoordinated drainage is to be expected.
That these sparse and characteristically 'episodic' assemblages are representative of the systematic exploitation of a
group's territory is another issue, however. My purpose in
drawing attention to this distinction is not to ueate an
artificial dichotomy between exploited and non-exploited
lands but to stress that the behavioural systems responsible
for creating 'first assemblages' must be fully examined.
For example. a consideration of the source and availability
of the stone materials present, their degree and stage of
reduction and the diversity of implements may inform on
the type of residential mobility and logistical planning
occurring at a particular site. It is only through a regional
analysis of early assemblages that archaeologists will be
able to argue with any certainty that a site reflects familiarity with the resource base to the extent that the region
may be occupied.
That the pattern of occupation demonstrated by ethnographic arid zone hunter-gatherers is often opportunistic,
highly fluid and transitory, and that this may result in
minimal assemblages, is beyond dispute. Conversely, it is
also m e that aggregation sites are common in contemporary accounts and, importantly, are seen to be essential to
the establishment of reciprocity networks and, indeed, the
overall viability of a basic desert adaptation (cf. Gould
1977; Veth 1993). Numerous extensive and dense artefact
scatters have been recorded from sites known to have
served as major aggregation sites in desert lowlands (Veth
1993). While such assemblages have been located in
Holocene units from Katumpul, Puntutjarpa and Puritjarra,
they are arguably absent from the Pleistocene units (Gould
1977; O'Connor pers. comm.; Smith 1988), although this
disparity may be argued to simply reflect lower population
levels.
I fully acknowledged that there is under-representation
in previous survey and excavation coverage in the areas of
uncoordinated drainage. Tbese areas are also likely to
have lower archaeological visibility due to poor exposure
Australian Archaeology. Number 40. 1995
of past living surfaces. That these biases can account for
such a low representation of Pleistocene sites located
within the uncoordinated drainage lowlands (a ratio of
2:155), however, is open to debate. I would propose that
the apparent hiatus in dates may reflect real environmental
constraints on human behaviour which were 'outweighed
by the rise of social options' (Ross et al. 1992:77). That
demographic factors may have played a role in the process
of gradual recolonisation (Smith 1993:46) must also be
acknowledged (cf. O'Connor et al. 1993).
In conclusion, I would stress that the modelling of behavioural systems responsible for the formation of 'first
assemblages' is as important an endeavour as the exarnination of taphonomic processes and the establishment of
dating associations. This need arises directly from the
problems involved in attempting to establish whether
sparse assemblages recorded from the arid zone indeed
reflect systematic use and occupation of previously unsettled or abandoned lands.
The need for further systematic survey and excavation
within desert lowlands, having uncoordinated drainage, is
clear. Concurrent research must also be conducted,
however, on the behavioural systems likely to have given
rise to early assemblages. This is required so that we
might address the issue of whether such assemblages
reflect opportunistic incursions into marginal lands or,
instead, reflect a group's occupation of such lands.
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my appreciation to Mike Smith
for providing the stimulus to revisit the 'Islands in the
Interior' model. For valuable discussions andor critical
feedback on aspects of the contents I would like to thank
Jim Allen, Ken Aplin, Alex Baynes, John Campbell, Iain
Davidson, Richard Fullagar, Paul Gorecki, Richard Gould,
Rosita Henry, Peter Hiscock, John Luly, Susan O'Connor,
Sandra Pannell, Tim Pulsford, Anne Ross, Peter White
and an anonymous reviewer.
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g$
Victorian offshore islands in a mainland coastal economy
Denise ~aughwin'and Richard ~ullaga6
In English literature, the sea is often seen as a testing
ground for the human spirit, and islands, like ships,
provide a ready literary &vice for isolating people from
society and their familiar activities. However, islands need
not isolate people, but can be part of a broader economic
and social system. We argue that Aboriginal exploitation
of Victorian offshore islands was certainly part of a mainland economic system but question the degree to which
island resources were integral to its operation. We examine the hypothesis that this mainland system focused not
on marine resources but rather on the wetlands and forests
of the coastal plains. This hypothesis can in part be tested
from mainland coastal sites but as they are geographically
located on the margin between terrestrial and marine
resources it is difficult to isolate the marine component of
technology and settlement. Islands, on the other hand, are
surrounded by a marine environment and require a marine
technology to visit and exploit. We suggest that the
terrestrial resources of the small Victorian islands were not
significant. In this paper we examine both historical and
Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Melbourne.
Parkville, Vic 3052, Australia
Division of Anthropology, ?he Australian Museum, PO Box A285.
Sydney South, NSW 2000, Aushalia
archaeological evidence in order to assess three aspects of
the marine technology: frequency of and reasons for island
visitation; watercraft; and stone tool production. This
survey will provide data that will clarify the use of the
islands in Victoria as well as further our knowledge of
economies and settlement history on the adjacent mainland territories.
Models
Humans have exploited littoral resources from at least
300,000 years ago when shellfish were harvested from the
Mediterranean coast (DeLumley 1969). At least 30,000
years of coastal exploitation on the margins of the western
Pacific are documented in New Guinea (Allen et al. 1988),
but evidence of marine exploitation in the Pleistocene is
very rare (see also Godfrey 1989 on the Southern Ocean,
and Morse 1988; O'Connor 1989 on the Indian Ocean).
Although there is a wealth of evidence suggesting use of
marine resources in Holocene prehistory from many parts
of Australia, the importance of these resources in the
overall system is not clear. Nevertheless, marine resources
figure prominently in discussions of proposed cultural
change during the mid- to late Holocene (e.g. Beaton
1985). Recent research into maritime and island
Australian Archaeology. N umher 40. 1995