The archaeologist as ethnographer: A case from the Western desert of Australia

Abstract

Abstract Recent excavations at Puntutjarpa Rocksheiter, in the Western Desert of Australia, reveal a continuous human occupation of this site from 10,000 years ago to the present. Preliminary analysis has stressed systematic comparisons of modern desert Aborigine stone tools, camp‐sites, ‘native wells’, etc., with specific archaeological features and lithic materials discovered in the excavations. Changes, mainly in the stone toolkit, are evident. These, however, are outweighed by evidence for cultural continuities pointing to a relatively stable adaptation to rigorous post‐Pleistocene conditions in the Western Desert which has continued to the present‐day (the Ngatatjara Aborigines and their desert‐living kin). This long‐term hunting and foraging pattern is referred to here as ‘the Australian desert culture’. The formulation of this hypothesis points to specific ways the ethno‐archaeologist, as a site‐oriented ethnographer, can achieve useful interpretations of prehistoric human behavior.