Late Holocene mollusc exploitation and changing near-shore environments: a case study from the coastal margin of Blue Mud Bay, northern Australia

Abstract

Occupation on the coastal margins of northern Australia over the mid to late Holocene characteristically reflects chronological and spatial variability in settlement and subsistence. In many geographically diverse regions across the tropical coast, the archaeological record indicates patterns of molluscan resource exploitation that reflects the altered local ecological habitats that accompanied broader coastal environmental change over the last few thousand years. This paper investigates these issues via analyses of molluscan species richness, diversity, and habitat exploitation through time and space on the Point Blane Peninsula, Blue Mud Bay, north-east Arnhem Land. As well as variability in the intensity of exploitation, this research confirms the interpretation of previous investigation of coastal occupation as being flexible and dynamic, with changes linked to alterations in species availability and abundance relative to changes in near-shore environments.