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Late Pleistocene Megafauna and Archaeology from Cuddie Springs, South-eastern Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2014

Judith Field
Affiliation:
(nee Furby) School of Archaeology, University of Sydney, New South Wales, 2006 Australia
John Dodson
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Western Australia, Western Australia, 6907 Australia

Abstract

The Cuddie Springs site in south-eastern Australia provides the first evidence of an unequivocal association of megafauna with humans for this continent. Cuddie Springs has been known as a fossil megafauna locality for over a century, but its archaeological record has only recently been identified. Cuddie Springs is an open site, with the fossil deposits preserved in a claypan on the floor of an ancient ephemeral lake. Investigations revealed a stratified deposit of human occupation and fossil megafauna, suggesting a temporal overlap and an active association of megafauna with people in the lead up to the Last Glacial Maximum, when conditions were more arid than the present day. Two distinct occupation phases have been identified and are correlated to the hydrology of the Cuddie Springs lake. When people first arrived at Cuddie Springs, sometime before 30,000 BP, the claypan on the lake floor was similar to a waterhole, with five species of megafauna identified. Flaked stone artefacts were found scattered through this level. After the lake dried, there was human occupation of the claypan. The resource base broadened to include a range of plant foods. Megafauna appear to be just one of a range of food resources exploited during this period. A return to ephemeral conditions resulted in only periodic occupation of the site with megafauna disappearing from the record around 28,000 BP. The timing of overlap and association of megafauna with human occupation is coincident with the earliest occupation sites in this region. The archaeological evidence from Cuddie Springs suggests an opportunistic exploitation of resources and no specialised strategies for hunting megafauna. Disappearance of megafauna is likely to be a consequence of climatic change during the lead up to the Last Glacial Maximum and human activities may have compounded an extinction process well under way.

Résumé

Le site de Cuddie Springs en Australie du sud-est fournit la première preuve d'association sans équivoque entre la mégafaune et l’homme sur ce continent. On connaît Cuddie Springs en tant que lieu de découverte de fossiles de mégafaune depuis plus d'un siècle, mais ce n'est que récemment qu'on a reconnu sa richesse archéologique. Cuddie Springs est un site découvert avec des dépôts de fossiles préservés dans une cuvette argileuse sur le fond d'un ancien lac éphémère. Les recherches ont révélé des vestiges stratifiés d'occupation humaine et de mégafaune fossilisée, donnant à croire à une concomittance et à une réelle association de la mégafaune et des hommes au cours de la période qui a précédé le denier grand maximum glaciaire, quand les conditions étaient plus arides qu'elles ne le sont actuellement. On a identifié deux phases d'occupation distinctes qui sont en corrélation avec l'hydrologie du lac de Cuddie Springs. Quand les hommes sont arrivés pour la première fois à Cuddie Springs, avant 30,000 ans avant le présent, la cuvette argileuse au fond du lac ressemblait à un trou d'eau, cinq espèces de mégafaune y ont été identifiées. Des objets de pierre sur éclats ont été trouvés éparpillés partout à ce niveau. Après l'assèchement du lac, la cuvette argileuse fut occupée par l'homme. La gamme de ressources s’élargit pour inclure alors une variété de plantes comestibles. La mégafaune semble n’avoir représenté qu'une variété de nourriture parmi d'autres exploitées pendant cette période. Un retour à des conditions éphémères a eu comme résultat l'occupation périodique seulement du site, la mégafaune disparaissant des témoignages vers 28,000 avant le présent. La période pendant laquelle la mégafaune et l'ocupation humaine se sont chevauchées et associées coincide avec les sites d'occupation les plus anciens de la région. Les témoignages archéologiques de Cuddie Springs mettent en évidence une exploitation opportuniste des ressources et ne prouvent pas l'existence de stratégie particulière pour chasser la mégafaune. Il est probable que la disparition de la mégafaune ait été la conséquence d'un changement climatique pendant la période qui a précédé le dernier maximum glaciaire et les activités humaines ont peut-être contribué à un procédé d'extinction déjà bien engagé.

Zusammenfassung

Die Cuddie Springs Fundstelle in Südost-Australien liefert den ersten Nachweis einer unzweideutigen Assoziation von Großfauna und Menschen für diesen Kontinent. Cuddie Springs war für über ein Jahrhundert als Fundstelle fossiler Großfauna bekannr, doch seine archäologischen Funde sind erst kürzlich identifiziert worden. Cuddie Springs ist eine offene Fundstelle, in der die fossilen Ablagerungen in einer Lehmpfanne auf dem Boden eines alten kurzlebigen Sees erhalten geblieben waren. Untersuchungen haben eine srratifizierte Ablagerung menschlicher Nutzung und fossiler Großfauna gezeigt, die eine temporäre Überlappung und eine aktive Verbindung von Großfauna und Menschen am letzten Glazialmaximum – einer Zeit als die Verhältnisse trockener waren als heute – nahelegt. Zwei unterschiedliche Nutzungsphasen konnten erkannt werden und sind mit dem Wasserhaushalt des Cuddie Springs Sees korreliert worden. Als die Menschen das erste Mal nach Cuddie Springs kamen, irgendwann vor 30,000 BP, konnten in der Lehmpfanne auf dem Grund des Sees, der einem Wasserloch ähnelte, fünf Spezies von Großfauna identifiziert werden. Abschläge von Steinartefakten wurden verstreut in diesem Niveau gefunden. Nachdem der See ausgetrocknet war, wurde die Lehmpfanne von Menschen genutzt. Die Nahrungsgrundlage wurde erweitert, indem verschiedene Pflanzen mit einbezogen wurden. Großfauna scheint dabei nur ein Bestandteil der Nahrungsressourcen gewesen zu sein, die in dieser Periode verwertet wurden. Eine Rückkehr zu kurzlebigen Verhältnissen resultierte in einer lediglich periodischen Nutzung des Lagerplatzes, und dementsprechend im Verschwinden der Großfauna aus dem Fundzusammenhang um 28,000 BP. Das zeitliche Zusammentreffen von Überlappung und Verknüpfung von Großfauna und menschlicher Nutzung deckt sich mit der frühesten Besiedlung in dieser Region. Der archäologische Nachweis von Cuddie Springs weist auf eine opportunistische Verwertung der Ressourcen hin, und nicht auf spezialisierte Strategien zur Jagd auf Großfauna. Das Verschwinden der Großfauna war wahrscheinlich eine Konsequenz der klimatischen Veränderung während des letzten Glazialmaximum. Aber auch die menschlichen Aktivitäten mögen eine Rolle gespielt haben in diesem sich bereits auf dem Weg befindlichen Prozess des Aussterbens der Großfauna.

Résumen

El yacimiento arqueológico de Cuddie Springs, en Australia sur-oriental, ha proporcionado evidencia de una relación inequívoca entre megafauna y seres humanos en este continente. Que Cuddie Springs era una mina de fósiles es bien sabido desde el siglo pasado, pero sólo recientemente se ha identificado su registro arqueológico. Cuddie Springs es un yacimiento abierto, donde los depósitos fósiles están preservados en una capa de arcilla, en lo que fué el suelo de un antiguo y efímero lago. La investigación ha revelado un depósito estratificado de ocupación humana y de megafauna, que sugiere que los dos coincidieron parcialmente en el tiempo y que se puede hablar de una asociación activa entre megafauna y seres humanos en los momentos previos al último Máximo Glacial, cuando las condiciones del medio ambiente eran más áridas que en el presente. Se pueden distinguir dos fase de ocupación bien diferenciadas y correlacionadas con la hidrología del lago de Cuddie Springs. Cuando los hombres llegaron por primera vez a Cuddie Springs, en un momento anterior al año 30,000 BP, la capa de arcilla en el suelo del lago era similar a un abrevadero, con cinco especies de megafauna identificadas. Útiles de piedra tallada se encontraron diseminados por todo este nivel. Después de que se secó el lago, la ocupación humana apareció en el suelo de arcilla. Se amplió la base de recursos incluyendo una serie de alimentos vegetales. La megafauna parece ser simplemente uno más entre los recursos alimenticios explotados durante este periodo. Un retorno a las breves condiciones medio¬ambientales previas resultó en la ocupación del yacimiento de manera sólo periódica, mientras que la megafauna desaparece totalmente del regisrro alrededor del año 28,000 BP. El momento de la coincidencia temporal y de la asociación entre megafauna y ocupación humana coincide con la ocupación más temprana de yacimientos en esta región. La evidencia arqueológica de Cuddie Springs sugiere una explotación oportunística de los recursos y estrategias no especializadas en la caza de megafauna. La desaparición de la megafauna es probablemente una consecuencia de los cambios climatológicos durante el periodo previo al último Máximo Glacial, y la actividad humana puede haber contribuido a un proceso de extinción ya bien avanzado.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1999

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