Collaborative anthracology and cultural understandings of wood charcoal in Marra Country (northern Australia)

Abstract

This paper presents results from the first collaborative anthracological (archaeological wood charcoal analysis) study in northern Australia’s southwest Gulf of Carpentaria region. The analysis focused on charcoal from a Late Holocene combustion feature and surrounding dispersed charcoal on a buried floor surface. The results suggest that the combustion feature likely functioned as a ground oven associated with a potential specific function, with the majority of fuel wood coming from wakuwaku/marnunggurrun (Callitris columellaris or White Cypress Pine) and Myrtaceae species. These species are found in low woodlands associated with hilly and freshwater springs settings, and their abundance and dispersal are influenced by fire regimes (e.g., Aboriginal fire regimes). Information provided by members of the Marra Aboriginal community about our findings focused on the social and cultural significance of wakuwaku/marnunggurrun, with particular emphasis around its role in past and present wood collection strategies (fire-making and transport, high value timber etc.). By exploring how anthracology and cultural knowledge intersect to generate new understandings about the relational qualities of wood (charcoal), we aim to highlight how collaborative archaeobotany can help reorient research questions in the discipline, providing an opportunity to make such specialised analyses meaningful to communities.