Distinguishing middens and cheniers: a case study from the southern Kimberley, W.A.

Abstract

A common phenomenon in northern Australia is the geographically overlapping occurrence of Aboriginal shell mounds or middens, and cheniers. Cheniers are tropical coastal landforms comprising shell or shelly‐sand ridges, developed on wetlands which are referred to as chenier plains. Chenier plains are widely distributed along the low wave energy coastline of northern Australia. The record of prehistoric human occupation of chenier plains in Australia, although incomplete, is better than records from elsewhere in the tropical world. The association of cheniers with shell middens has been described from several localities in northern Australia. Discriminating between the different types of shell deposit is difficult and misunderstandings have occurred. These have resulted in Aboriginal middens mis‐identified as cheniers having been mined for shell grit, and natural shell deposits having been assigned cultural origins.Recent surveys of a section of the Kimberley coastline at Roebuck Bay south of Broome identified a series of shell mounds between 2 and 5km from the coastline, but their status was equivocal. Field investigation, sampling of a range of shell deposits, and excavation indicated three types of deposit were present: chenier mounds, shell middens and middens overlying cheniers. Initial interpretations of the landscape history and discussion of the problem of separating middens from cheniers are presented. The area provides an interesting comparative study for similar sites in prograding landscapes in other parts of northern Australia, such as the Alligator Rivers area, where chenier and midden deposits occur in association.