Australia: The Land Where Time Began

A biography of the Australian continent 

Goorurarmum Rock Shelter

At the Goorurarmum excavation site (Goor-2) is in an elevated rockshelter, and the adjacent sand sheet (Goor-1) is about 20 m in front of Goor-2. Within the rockshelter the sediments produced a similar age by OSL of 500 ± 140 BP and ages of 300 ± 70 BP by radiocarbon. According to Ward these recent estimates of age are younger than that indicated by the presence of stone points at the profile base, which indicates that either the points or the older sediments containing them have been moved or reworked. Dated by TL to 14,300 ± 400 BP at a depth of 220 cm, the lowermost sediments of the adjacent sand sheets are significantly older. Below these sediments is indurated (hardened) or bedrock horizon which according to Ward may represent a surface dating to the LGM. The inversion between the OSL age of 4,300 ± 100 BP at 180 cm and the TL age of 6,100 ± 100 BP at 155 cm, assuming there are no errors in the dates, indicates secondary mixing. The upper metre of the sediment sequence contains the greatest density of artefacts which includes charcoal, stone points, and bone.

For the excavations at Jinmium, Granilpi and Punipunil full details of the chronometric, sedimentary and archaeological records can be found in (Fullagar et al., 1996; Atchison, 2000; Atchison et al., in prep.) and for excavations at Goorurarmum and Karlinga (Ward, 2003; Ward et al., 2004, 2005).

Sources & Further reading

1. Ward, I. (2004). "Comparative Records of Occupation in the Keep River Region of the Eastern Kimberley, Northwestern Australia." Australian Archaeology(59): 1-9.