Digital Commons Network^™

Re-Evaluating Human Dispersal Patterns Over Central & Eastern Asia, Andrew Jenkins

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

Human dispersal is a prominent topic in archaeology and palaeoanthropology. The pathways through which our ancestors traversed and settled in remote comers of the world continue to be subjects of extensive debate. The presence of Initial Upper Paleolithic technology in No1them and Central Asia provides a timeline of our aiTival in the region. It is assumed that we reached these regions through a northern ai·c, adhe1ing to the arid and mountainous regions acting as 'baiTiers' to human dispersal. Previous studies have incorporated GIS analysis with revised paleoclimate and paleolake data, simultaneously with archaeological evidence, to prove that routes through these …

Modelling Erosional Sensitivities Of Archaeological Sites Using Dem’S From Low Altitude Uav Imagery, S J. Chambers

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

In South Africa, archaeological sites that are open and exposed are often subject to degradation via erosion, allowing the archaeological material throughout these landscapes to be displaced resulting in a loss of archaeological context over time. As erosional sensitivities become higher, the condition of these sites continue to degrade, and artefacts and artefact deposits can be eroded from their in-situ positions and integrated into the landscape. This in turn reduces the integrity of the archaeological deposits at a site resulting in a loss of information. Providing an erosional risk-based assessment using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) demonstrating the …

Understanding Intra-Source And Inter-Source Variation On The Success Of Silcrete Heat Treatment, Lachlan S. Kenna

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

The study of rapid heating and its effects on silcrete is widely debated, and studies have arrived at competing conclusions regarding factors that determine the success of silcrete rapid heating. Clarifying the potential effect of these various factors is important for furthering our understanding of the role of intentional heat treatment as an engineering strategy employed by early humans for modifying the flaking potential of lithic materials. To this end, this study tests for potential inter- and intra-source variation in the overall fracture rates of silcrete heated under a controlled, rapid heating environment.

The tested silcrete samples were collected from …

Establishing Traces For The Working Of Nautilus Shell In Prehistory, Gavin Parkinson

Science, Medicine & Health - Honours Theses

In 1994 and 1996, Peter Bellwood and colleagues excavated Golo Cave, an archaeological site on Gebe Island, eastern Indonesia. This excavation uncovered a number of artefacts, including examples of modified shells. Fragments of Nautilus pompilius were also uncovered, however, due to difficulty identifying traces of working on the unique structure of Nautilus shell, it was uncertain if these fragments represented worked samples or not. This paper presents the findings of a number of experiments aimed at determining the origins of the Nautilus shell fragments recovered from Golo Cave.

Firstly, whole shell specimens of Nautilus shell were fractured using an INSTRON …