Prehistoric settlement patterns and artefact manufacture at Lawn Hill, Northwest Queensland

Abstract

Between 1981 and 1988 1 carried out archaeological investigations in northeast Queensland, the results of which were written up in a Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of Queensland. The thesis is described in the following abstract. Archaeological research at Lawn Hill Station, northwest Queensland, was undertaken to investigate prehistoric stone artefact manufacture and settlement patterns. Of particular interest were the ways in which technology and settlement responded to changes in environmental conditions. Settlement strategies are inferred from a study of sixty-two sites and many thousands of artefacts found outside sites. Most archaeological material culture is found in close proximity to permanent water and outcrops of flakeable stone. It is concluded that this pattern resulted partly from more intensive occupation of those parts of the landscape, and partly from a greater rate of artefact discard. Other environmental features had more subtle effects on activity location. One pattern which emerged from the study was that site size is inversely related to distance from stone quarries, suggesting that site size and numbers of occupants are poorly correlated.