Proposed Collector Wind Farm Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessment Report A report to RATCH-Australia Corporation January 2012 Julie Dibden New South Wales Archaeology Pty Limited PO Box 2135 Central Tilba NSW 2546 www.nswarchaeology.com TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 PARTNERSHIP WITH ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES ......................................................................................... 1 1.3 DESCRIPTION OF IMPACT .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.4 OBJECTIVES AND METHODS ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.5 HERITAGE CONTEXT .................................................................................................................................... 2 1.6 RESULTS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT ............................................................................................................ 3 1.7 MITIGATION AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ............................................................................................. 3 1.8 RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................................................... 4 2. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 7 2.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 7 3. PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ABORIGINAL COMMUNITY .......................................................................... 9 4. DESCRIPTION OF IMPACT .......................................................................................................................... 12 4.1 IMPACT JUSTIFICATION .............................................................................................................................. 12 4.2 IMPACT HISTORY ........................................................................................................................................ 12 4.3 PROPOSED IMPACTS ................................................................................................................................... 12 4.4 POTENTIAL IMPACTS .................................................................................................................................. 15 5. STUDY METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................................. 17 5.1 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................................. 17 5.2 FIELD SURVEY AND METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................... 17 5.3 SURVEY COVERAGE VARIABLES ................................................................................................................ 19 6. LANDSCAPE CONTEXT ................................................................................................................................ 21 6.1 TOPOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY AND VEGETATION .............................................................................................. 21 7. ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT - INDIGENOUS ......................................................................................... 23 7.1 SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................... 23 7.2 PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ABORIGINAL OBJECTS ........................................................................................ 25 7.3 ARCHAEOLOGY – THE LOCAL AREA .......................................................................................................... 28 7.4 PREDICTIVE MODEL OF ABORIGINAL OBJECT AND LOCATION ................................................................... 33 8. HERITAGE CONTEXT – NON-INDIGENOUS .............................................................................................. 36 8.1 ALIENATION OF LANDS WITHIN THE COLONY OF NEW SOUTH WALES ...................................................... 36 8.2 REGIONAL HISTORY ................................................................................................................................... 37 8.3 PREVIOUSLY RECORDED HERITAGE ITEMS................................................................................................. 40 8.4 HISTORICAL THEMES.................................................................................................................................. 41 8.5 PREDICTIVE STATEMENT ............................................................................................................................ 42 9. SURVEY RESULTS ........................................................................................................................................ 44 9.1 SURVEY COVERAGE ................................................................................................................................... 44 9.2 SURVEY RESULTS - INDIGENOUS ................................................................................................................ 60 9.3 INDIGENOUS HERITAGE - DISCUSSION AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT ............................................................. 69 9.4 SURVEY RESULTS – NON-INDIGENOUS....................................................................................................... 75 10. STATUTORY CONTEXT .............................................................................................................................. 76 11. SIGNIFICANCE ASSESSMENT ................................................................................................................... 77 11.1 SIGNIFICANCE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA - INDIGENOUS .............................................................................. 77 11.2 SIGNIFICANCE VALUE OF THE ABORIGINAL OBJECTS IN THE STUDY AREA .............................................. 78 12. MITIGATION AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ................................................................................. 79 12.1 MANAGEMENT AND MITIGATION STRATEGIES - INDIGENOUS .................................................................. 79 13. RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................................. 84 14. REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................................. 86 APPENDIX 1. CORRESPONDENCE FROM BURU NGUNAWAL ABORIGINAL CORPORATION ............. 90 List of Figures Figure 1 Location of the proposed Collector Wind Farm study area showing the wind turbine layout within the broader development envelope (map supplied by client). ............................ 6 Figure 2 Detail of the northernmost section of the study area showing the location of previously recorded sites situated nearest to areas of proposed impacts (Gunning 8728-S 1:50 000 topographic map). .................................................................................................... 27 Figure 3 Map showing the Chisholm properties ca. 1898 (shaded in grey) including ‘Lerida’ (Griffiths 2010). ...................................................................................................................... 39 Figure 4 Location of Survey Units and Aboriginal objects recordings in northwest proposal area (Note that Survey Units measured 100 metres in width and accordingly their graphic display in this series of maps represents the centre line). ....................................................... 71 Figure 5 Location of Survey Units and Aboriginal objects recordings in northeast proposal area. ......................................................................................................................................... 72 Figure 6 Location of Survey Units and Aboriginal objects recordings in central proposal area. ......................................................................................................................................... 73 Figure 7 Location of Survey Units and Aboriginal objects recordings in south proposal area. ................................................................................................................................................ 74 List of Tables Table 1 Main phases of the wind farm construction program. ............................................... 14 Table 2 Individual components of the proposal and their impact area. .................................. 16 Table 3 Aboriginal objects listed on NSW DECCW AHIMS search. ................................... 26 Table 4 Artefact numbers and distribution density of Cullerin Range Deviation sites recorded by Koettig and Silcox (1985). .................................................................................. 28 Table 5 National, state and local historical themes applicable to the study area and surrounds. ..............................................................................................................................