Over and under: geography and archaeology of the Palm Islands and adjacent continental shelf of North Queensland

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A preliminary investigation into the Aboriginal archaeology of the Herbert / Burdekin region of the continental shelf, northeastern Queensland, is approached (a) from the beginning of the Holocene transgression when sea level first overtopped the edge of the shelf at c. 13,000 BP; and (b) from the time of the apparent stabilisation of sea level at c. 6,500 years BP. A possible episodic rise in Holocene sea level, as evidenced by relic shorelines, is related to the palaeochannels of the Herbert and Burdekin Rivers to reconstruct the palaeogeography of the shelf during the low sea level of the last glacial period and subsequent Holocene transgression. Potential archaeological sites for future investigation are identified on the emergent landmasses of the Palm Islands. Antecedent platforms of modern reefs, sheltered sites around island land masses which existed at earlier shorelines and areas adjacent to former estuaries are suggested as potential underwater archaeological sites. While the patterning of late Holocene Aboriginal settlement on Orpheus Island, in the Palm Islands, is offered as a possible recent analogue for earlier settlement on the continental shelf, it suggested that isolation by rising sea level at c. 7,500 BP created drastic environmental changes and triggered a divergence from modern mainland lifeways for the Palm Islanders. Evidence is drawn from preliminary habitat reconstruction, radiocarbon dating and small excavations of shell midden deposits on Orpheus Island.