Late Holocene biological records from the middens of stick-nest rats in the central Australian arid zone

Abstract

Abstract Australian stick-nest rat midden research is in its infancy compared to the North American packrat midden research. The results of detailed studies of twenty stick-nest rat middens from different regions is briefly reported here to highlight the contribution they currently make to tracing environmental history and human impact in the arid areas of Australia at useful spatial and temporal scales. The middens are widespread in a variety of natural communities and in areas subject to different human impact. AMS dating has shown that the middens are predominantly younger than 3000 BP and that some middens have complex taphonomy. The data derived from the middens is mainly palynological although macrofossils of plants and animals have been analysed to provide an ecosystem perspective. The research challenges assumptions of environmental reconstruction developed within an equilibrium model and has required the development of new techniques of midden-based analysis.