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The archaeology of Anthropocene rivers: water management and landscape change in ‘Gold Rush’ Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Susan Lawrence ,
Peter Davies  and
Jodi Turnbull
Susan Lawrence
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia (Email: s.lawrence@latrobe.edu.au; peter.davies@latrobe.edu.au; j.turnbull@latrobe.edu.au)
Peter Davies
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia (Email: s.lawrence@latrobe.edu.au; peter.davies@latrobe.edu.au; j.turnbull@latrobe.edu.au)
Jodi Turnbull
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia (Email: s.lawrence@latrobe.edu.au; peter.davies@latrobe.edu.au; j.turnbull@latrobe.edu.au)
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Abstract

Future scientists seeking evidence of the Anthropocene on a planetary scale will find a series of structurally similar deposits dating to within the same few thousand years at multiple locations around the world. It will be evident that they were produced by a global human drive to exploit the Earth's mineral wealth. The impact and the evidence left by this phenomenon in the ‘Gold Rush’ region of Victoria, Australia are particularly clear. Using a multi-scalar approach, the authors examine the extent and significance of changes resulting from water management and mining processes, which, in some cases, resulted in the creation of new landscapes far beyond the mining district.

Keywords

AustraliaAnthropoceneriverswater managementgold mining
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 90 , Issue 353 , October 2016 , pp. 1348 - 1362
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2016 

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