Archaeology of the mound spring campsites near Lake Eyre in South Australia

Abstract

This study examines the variability of the stone assemblages at the mound springs campsites in South Australia. The research area is part of the tribal territories of Arabana and Diyari people. It comprises a network of mound springs stretching for about 200 km along the south and southwest shores of Lake Eyre. These mound springs were vital for permanent occupation of this arid region in late prehistory and in the post contact period. Large campsites located near the major springs attest to the prehistoric occupation of the area. Historical accounts reveal that this occupation was abruptly terminated in early 1 8 6 0’s. Although environment and chronology are uniform for all the mound spring sites the assemblages are distinctly different. They vary in the proportions of lithic materials, tool types, and artefact size. Inter-site variability is prominent while intrasite variation is minimal. The research is focused on this fact as it provides an important clue to the nature of springs o c c u p a t i o n. It is demonstrated that the variability of the mound spring campsites reflects different tactics of use and economy of lithic materials at each site. These tactics were influenced by: a) availability of different lithic materials and b) different demands for processing organic materials. It is argued that assemblage patterning is sensitive to local circumstances, and affected by quantity and quality of resources at each site. Consequently the variability between assemblages reflects the overall organisation and strategy of land use. This study attempts not merely to reconstruct human behaviour at each site but rather to understand how this behaviour was organised on the strategic level. This level of organisation is best represented by the differential use of sites within a common settlement system. Organisation such as this suggests consistent links between groups of people in the mound springs area throughout the last thousand years.