Fauna on the floodplains: late Holocene culture and landscape on the sub-coastal plains of northern Australia

Abstract

This paper describes the faunal record from a late Holocene archaeological site located on the freshwater wetlands of the South Alligator River and compares it with that from the Adelaide River, in the Northern Territory. The information characterizes freshwater wetland resources and their use by Aboriginal people, providing a snapshot of life on the floodplains immediately prior to European contact. Although the two wetland systems appear similar, and extractive technology in the form of bone points is also similar, the faunal assemblages show that Aboriginal hunting strategies differed between the two areas. These differences can be explained by variations in regional topography and seasonality of site use.