Oxygen isotope analysis: a means for determining the seasonal gathering of the pipi (Donax deltoides) by Aborigines in prehistoric Australia

Abstract

The number of theses and paper in which the question of seasonally arises (e. g. Attenbrow 1976; Bailey 1975; Bowdler 1970, 1984; Callaghan 1980; Coleman 1982; Coutts 1970; Coutts et al. 1984; Draper 1978; Gaughwin 1983; Gaughwin and Brennan 1986; Geering 1982; Hall 1980, 1982; Hope and Coutts 1971; Hotchin 1982; Jones 1971; Jones and Allen 1980; Lampert 1966, 1971; Lourandos 1980; Luebbers 1978; McBryde 1982; Neal 1981; Poinef 1976; Sullivan 1982; Vanderwal and Horton 1984) indicates the importance this factor has for prehistorians in understanding Aboriginal hunting and gathering strategies. Most studies though, have been limited by the scarcity of historical references and by the available methods of analysis. Where the archaeological evidence has been considered (e. g. Gaughwin and Brennan 1986; Hotchin 1982; Lampert 1966; Sullivan 1982) it is usually limited to the numerically scarcer components of sites, such as the bones of migratory birds and fish of which there are very few species represented, the shells of birds' eggs and occasionally some plant remains. The presence of certain seal bones can help identify when some sites were occupied (Jones 1971; Vanderwal and Horton 1984), but other osteological studies have been inconclusive (Geering 1982). Among the few attempts to analyze the shells of marine molluscs, which are the dominant component of most middens, only one study seems to have some promise (Draper 1978: Appendix 2). The other research projects have been inconclusive or have failed (Callaghan 1980; Coutts 1970; Luebbers 1978; Neale 1981 for comments on the work of Callaghan, Luebbers and Neale see Godfrey 1984). The method discussed in this paper is the first which can be successfully used to determine the times of the year that Aborigines were gathering the pipi, Donax deltoides (Plebidonax).