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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Early Aboriginal pottery production and offshore island occupation on Jiigurru (Lizard Island group), Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol.333, pp.1-22
2024
Abstract
Aboriginal manufacture and use of pottery was unknown in Australia prior to European settlement, despite well-known ceramic-making traditions in southern Papua New Guinea, eastern Indonesia, and the western Pacific. The absence of ancient pottery manufacture in mainland Australia has long puzzled researchers given other documented deep time Aboriginal exchange networks across the continent and the close proximity of pottery-bearing Lapita and post-Lapita maritime communities in the western Pacific with ocean-going watercraft and sophisticated navigation abilities. We report the oldest securely dated ceramics found in Australia from archaeological excavations on Jiigurru (Lizard Island Group) on the Great Barrier Reef, northeast Australia. Comprehensive radiocarbon dating and Bayesian modelling constrains ceramic deposition to between 2950–2545 cal BP and 1970–1815 cal BP. This timing overlaps with late Lapita and post-Lapita ceramic traditions of southern Papua New Guinea. Geological characterisation of the sherds strongly suggests local manufacture as the vessels belong to three temper and clay groups locally sourced to northeast Australia, and most likely to Jiigurru. The oldest occupation layers date to 6510–5790 cal BP, making Jiigurru the earliest offshore island occupied on the northern Great Barrier Reef. The results demonstrate that northeast Australian First Nations communities had sophisticated canoe voyaging technology and open-sea navigational skills and were intimately engaged in ancient maritime networks, connecting them with peoples, knowledges, and technologies across the Coral Sea region.
Details
- Title
- Early Aboriginal pottery production and offshore island occupation on Jiigurru (Lizard Island group), Great Barrier Reef, Australia
- Authors
- Sean Ulm (Corresponding Author) - James Cook UniversityIan J. McNiven - Monash UniversityGlenn R. Summerhayes - University of OtagoPei-hua Wu - University of OtagoMagdalena M.E. Bunbury - James Cook UniversityFiona Petchey - University of WaikatoQuan Hua - The University of QueenslandRobert Skelly - Monash UniversityAriana B.J. Lambrides - James Cook UniversityCassandra Rowe - James Cook UniversityKelsey M. Lowe - The University of QueenslandChristian H. Reepmeyer - James Cook UniversityCailey Maclaurin - James Cook UniversityKatherine G.P. Woo - James Cook UniversityMatthew Harris - James Cook UniversitySarah B. Morgan - James Cook UniversityKayla L. Turner-Kose - James Cook UniversitySarah A. Slater - James Cook UniversityJoshua D. Connelly - James Cook UniversityMichael C. Kneppers - James Cook UniversityKatherine Szabó - Monash UniversityAndrew Fairbairn - The University of QueenslandSimon G. Haberle - Australian National UniversityFelicitas Hopf - Australian National UniversityRobert Bultitude - Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and EnergyJeremy Ash - Monash UniversityStephen E. Lewis - James Cook UniversityRobin J. Beaman - James Cook UniversityJavier Xavier Leon - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and EngineeringMatthew C. McDowell - Monash UniversityMartin Potter - Deakin UniversityBenjamin Connelly - Maptek Pty Ltd. (Australia)Chris Little - Griffith UniversityScott Jackson - Deakin UniversityJohn McCarthy - Flinders UniversityLuke D. Nothdurft - Queensland University of TechnologyJian-xin Zhao - The University of QueenslandMichael I. Bird - James Cook UniversityMatthew W. Felgate - James Cook UniversityBrian CobusWalmbaar Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC (Author)
- Publication details
- Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol.333, pp.1-22
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- Date published
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108624
- ISSN
- 1873-457X; 0277-3791
- Copyright note
- © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Data Availability
- All primary data relevant to the interpretations discussed in the manuscript are detailed in the supplied Supplementary Data.
- Grants
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Sustainability Research Cluster
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991026546802621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Geography, Physical
- Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
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