Abstract
AbstractExamination of northern Australian shell and earth mound data suggests that mounds previously attributed to human agencies should be more properly attributed to generations of nesting scrub‐fowl. A connection between Aboriginal discard behaviour and scrub‐fowl nesting processes is also proposed. Mounds containing artefactual material may represent middens or campsites reworked by scrub‐fowl. Environmental, stratigraphic and ethnographic data tend to support this. Mound distribution may be used to assess local vegetation changes, and this explains the apparent geographic discontinuities of mounds in some areas. Trends in the basal dating of mound sites support Lees and Clements (1987) proposal that regional rainfall increased around 1600 BP. A reassessment of the archaeological significance of northern Australian mound sites is warranted.
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