Human & Environmental Effects on the Archaeological Record

In South Australia the Murray River and its tributaries dominate the landscape. The river forms a deep single channel and turns southwards to drain into the Southern Ocean. In their middle and lower reaches these rivers cross semi-arid country (Littleton 2007). Evaporation exceeds rainfall and the average variability in rainfall is 33 percent (Karoly et al. 2003).

Ploughing, irrigation ditching, sand mining, and erosion have affected the archaeological record of this region. All of these human-induced events have led to the exposure of Aboriginal burials, however (Littleton 2007). Although these behaviors have caused weathering and harm to the archaeological record, they nonetheless led to the discovery of these findings.

The area has experienced high rates of soil loss due to a combination of severe drought, stock and vegetation clearance (Johnston & Littleton 1993) and the rapidity of erosion makes for a highly changeable topography (Littleton 2007). A highly changeable topography is not ideal for preservation of human remains. Consistency would be much more ideal.

The burial record reflects a landscape of survival and destruction and the record is neither complete nor representative (Littleton 2007). Due to the present state of the southeastern Australian mortuary records, and because most of the deposit has gone, assumptions about stratigraphy unfortunately cannot be made at this time.