Data copyright © Alan Williams unless otherwise stated
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Alan
Williams
Fenner School of Environment and Society
Australian National University
Canberra
ACT 0200
Australia
Record ID | 20346 |
---|---|
Site | Warkworth Sand Sheet (#37-6-0946) |
IBRA Region | Sydney Basin |
Longitude | 151.05 |
Latitude | -32.6 |
Site Type | Open site |
Lab Code | Not given |
Age | 53000 |
Error | 5000 |
Material | Quartz (180-212 microns) |
Context | RF4/Auger |
Depth from surface (cm) | 300 |
Method | OSL (SAR) |
Open or closed site | Open |
Directly related to occupation? | N |
Source | Scarp Archaeology, 2009 (Full bibliographic references are available from the Downloads page) |
Notes | Large excavation (100 sq m) of a sand sheet on the banks of Sandy Hollow creek. The sand sheet was some 500 x 300 m in size and 4 m deep. Excavations identified that no artefactual material occurred below 1 m with earlier sand deposits at deeper levels being old and sterile. Some 1,014 flakes were recovered and 2,022 non-diagnostic pieces of stone (some of which proved to be artefacts). While extensive dating and geomorphic interpretation indicate movement of the sand and artefacts within the profile, the authors conclude that two assemblages were present: an upper assemblage characterised as Bondaian and dating to 1-2ka and a lower assemblage (Capertian in composition, although not specifically stated as such) and dating to between 8.4 - 14.1 ka. The OSL was taken in three stages. This date comes from the second and third stages, which focussed on bracketing artefactual layers. It should be noted that the bioturbated nature of the site make any direct comparisons betwen artefacts highly suspect. They were undertaken by Zenobla Jacobs and Bert Roberts at University of Wollongong. Due to the bioturbated nature of the deposits, Jacobs and Roberts provided an age range for the samples rather than one age. The age presented here was considered the most reliable estimate by the authors. This sample was taken from 215 cm below the lowest artefacts in in Tr. 4. |