A pre- and post-contact Aboriginal shell midden at Disaster Bay, New South Wales south coast

Abstract

This report describes archaeological investigation of Aboriginal shell middens at Disaster Bay on the New South Wales far south coast (Fig. 1). Small test excavations were conducted in 1989 and sorting and analysis were com- pleted between 1990 and 1996. The research aimed to further investigate the 'mussel horizon' in NSW south coast shell middens (see below). However the sites proved to be too recent to answer the original research questions. A considerable depth of deposit at the Greenglade rockshelter appears to date after the time of European contact. This paper describes the excavations and the dating of the site and highlights possible future research directions.