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Acknowledgements Since the beginning of my research into the archaeology and prehistory of the Upper Mangrove Creek catchment in 1979, many people have helped in a variety of ways and at different times — during the initial salvage program for the Mangrove Creek Dam, during my PhD research project and, finally, during the transformation of the thesis into a published monograph. Fieldwork and analyses were carried out during the salvage program as a consultant to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and as a PhD student in the Department of Anthropology, University of Sydney. Revision of the text and production of the monograph have been completed during my employment with the Australian Museum. At the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), I wish to thank the staff of the (then) Cultural Resources Division — in particular, Helen Clemens, Kate Sullivan and Sharon Sullivan. I also wish to thank staff in the NPWS Hawkesbury District Office: Brian Vile, Dave Lambert, Tony Williams and Ian Webb for their interest, help and advice on local matters. The NSW Department of Public Works gave permission for me to have access to the Mangrove Creek Dam catchment so I could continue with my research work once the salvage project was completed. I wish to thank Alan Griffiths, John Palmer, Kevin Carter, Paul Gilbertson, Barry Hunt and John Madden for their assistance. At the University of Sydney, I wish to acknowledge the support, help and assistance of the members of staff and students of the (then) Department of Anthropology throughout the course of my research — in particular, I wish to thank J. Peter White for acting as my supervisor, providing advice on all aspects of my thesis as well as looking after the administrative side of things; Richard Wright for providing advice on statistical matters; Roland Fletcher for discussions on theoretical issues and acting as supervisor when Peter White was away; Roland Fletcher, in association with Helen Clemens of NSW NPWS, for providing advice on sampling strategies for the catchment site survey; John Clegg for discussions on matters pertaining to all manner of things, and Ed Roper for equipping me with knowledge and skills about computers and computer programs. At the Australian Museum, I particularly wish to thank Betty Meehan, Jim Specht and other members of the Anthropology Division for their encouragement and assistance in bringing this monograph to publication stage. In addition, I wish to thank the Museum’s Photography Department, in particular Carl Bento and James King, for their expert and invaluable assistance in producing photographs and digitised versions of photographic figures. terra australis 21 27 The Australian National University’s Department of Archaeology and Natural History provided a place for me to work in peace during 1996 and 1997 when I was updating the text at that time. Particular thanks to Ann Andrews, then of the Publications Department, who organised these facilities as well as providing an encouraging and positive welcome during my visits to the department. During the many site survey and excavation fieldwork periods, many people helped. I wish to thank them not only for their hard labour, working long hours under sometimes difficult conditions, but also for the many useful and lively discussions which took place. In particular, I wish to thank Tessa Corkill, Kathy Perrin and Edna Turvey, who were constant members of the fieldwork teams. At the time of fieldwork between 1979 and 1982, there were no Aboriginal organisations or land councils established in the Gosford–Wyong region. However, several Aboriginal people assisted in the fieldwork at various times; they included local residents and NPWS site officers: Lindsay Bostock, Wayne Cook, Dallas Donnelly, Jenny Fraser, Peter Ivanoff, Glen Morris and Aden Ridgeway, as well as Phil Gordon from the Australian Museum. Local residents provided advice on the existence of archaeological sites in the catchment and the general locality, and on many aspects of the local environment — in this regard I wish to thank Robert Thompson and family, Mark Swinton and Lionel Young. Reference materials were provided by many people and advice was received during discussions held with numerous others. I wish to thank these people for the time they spent and the assistance provided: Peter Hiscock, Eugene Stockton and Dan Witter on stone artefacts; Robin Torrence and Todd Whitelaw on risk; Harry Lourandos on intensification; Tim Murray on theoretical issues; Philip Hughes and Marjorie Sullivan on geomorphology; Mike Barbetti on radiocarbon dating; Dan Lunney and Peter Smith of the NSW NPWS on animal behaviour; Pat Vinnicombe on potential habitation shelters and information deriving from the North Hawkesbury study; Mike Williams, then of NSW NPWS, on identification of stone materials; Ken Aplin and Su Solomon on the origin of faunal remains in archaeological deposits; Mrs J. Thompson and Doug Benson of the NSW Herbarium on the identification of plant remains; Brian O’Toole of the University of Sydney Sample Survey Centre on sampling methods; Anthony and Christopher George (my nephews) on calculating the average annual growth rates and writing a small computer program for this purpose; and Frank Sinn for mathematical advice. John Edgar more recently calculated the revised K-means employed in the final chapter. I wish to thank Roger Luebbers, Richard Robins and Mike Morwood for their timely responses to my requests for copies of unpublished documents. Peter Roy of the Coastal Studies Unit, Department of Geography, at the University of Sydney for advice on changing sea-levels and coastal morphology. Scott Mooney of the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales for advice on climatic change. For Chapter 7, data from some excavated sites were reanalysed to produce depth/age curves so that I could calculate artefact accumulation rates. In doing this, I did not consult with individual researchers to obtain information beyond that which was available in publications or public documents because of the number of sites involved. Lack of certain data about the deposit and stratigraphy in sites may well have led to some incorrect artefact accumulation rates, and I apologise to researchers who may feel I have misrepresented their data. Fiona Roberts reproduced line drawings from my revised originals, and I thank her for her thoroughness and patience in providing the digitised versions. I would like to give special thanks the late Patricia Vinnicombe, Kate Sullivan, Philip Hughes and Marjorie Sullivan, who provided much encouragement, stimulation and good advice, particularly during the formative stages of the project, but also through to the end. My thanks also to Phillip Hughes and Marjorie Sullivan for providing accommodation and terra australis 21 28 a stimulating environment in which to retire during visits to Canberra when revising this monograph. During the production of the monograph, several people read drafts of the chapters and provided useful comments and discussions. For their helpful comments and advice, which helped change my thesis into the present monograph, I wish to thank Sarah Colley, Richard Fullagar, Phillip Hughes, Margrit Koettig, Ian McNiven, Scott Mooney, Peter Roy, Jim Specht, Marjorie Sullivan and Robin Torrence. Funds were provided by several organisations: NSW NPWS for fieldwork and photographic expenses and for radiocarbon dates; Carlyle Greenwell Bequest (Anthropology Department, University of Sydney) for radiocarbon dates and fieldwork expenses; the Australian Museum awarded me grant-in-aid funds for Ken Aplin to undertake the faunal analysis and, more recently, has paid for additional radiocarbon dates, as well as photographs and illustrations for the monograph. The last two years of the PhD research in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Sydney were carried out under a Commonwealth postgraduate award. NSW NPWS also gave permission for me to use their camping and excavation equipment as well as a 4WD vehicle during fieldwork periods, and use of their laboratory for the analysis of materials. In acknowledging the help of the above people, I hold none responsible for any faults or omissions in the final product — these are my responsibility alone. Finally, I wish to thank my husband, Barry Higgins, as well as my family and friends for their continued support and encouragement in my research endeavours. terra australis 21 29.

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