‘The Waters of Australian Deserts’ Cultural Heritage Study A report to the Department of Environment and Energy and the Australian Heritage Council Canning Stock Route and surrounding country 2008, by 14 women artists at Kunawarritji (well 33 of the Canning Stock Route). Showing waterholes made into wells in the country crossed by the Canning Stock Route, and alternative permanent and ephemeral water places used when the Canning wells were closed off to the Martu people (Yiwarra Kuju 2010: 44-5) Ingereth Macfarlane and Anne McConnell Final Report March 2017 1 Table of contents List of tables ............................................................................................................................. 3 List of maps and figures............................................................................................................. 4 Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................... 5 PART 1: Introduction and background ........................................................................................ 6 1.1 Introduction to the study ............................................................................................... 6 1.2 The study area ............................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Study scope................................................................................................................... 9 1.4 Existing cultural heritage identification and assessment for the Australian arid zone ....... 10 PART 2 Study approach ........................................................................................................... 15 2.1. General approach......................................................................................................... 15 2.2. Study methods ............................................................................................................. 17 2.2.1 Thematic essay and construction of themes ................................................................. 17 2.2.2 Identification of heritage places ................................................................................... 20 2.2.3 Assessment framework ............................................................................................... 23 2.3 Study limitations .......................................................................................................... 32 PART 3 Thematic essay: a framework for understanding the cultural heritage significance of Australian deserts, as limited by the sub-theme of water ............................................................ 34 3.1 Towards a thematic framework: understanding Australian desert environments, the qualities of desert waters and their influence on people’s occupation of the deserts ............................... 34 a) Aridity ......................................................................................................................... 34 b) Variability, unpredictability and extremes ..................................................................... 35 c) Forms of water ............................................................................................................ 36 d) Vast scale, with long distances between patchily distributed resources ........................... 37 e) A history of rangeland pastoral landuse ........................................................................ 40 3.2 A thematic history of the Australian Deserts: interactions of people, deserts and waters through time .......................................................................................................................... 41 Introduction........................................................................................................................ 41 3.2.1 Waters of the Australian deserts .................................................................................. 41 3.2.2 Theme: ‘Learning how to live in the arid zone’ .............................................................. 48 3.2.3 Theme: Living in ‘sparselands’...................................................................................... 54 3.2.4 Theme: Living in rangelands......................................................................................... 73 3.2.5 Theme: The Australian Desert as a conceptual environment .......................................... 84 3.2.6 Important themes that do not relate to water .............................................................. 95 3.2.7 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 97 Table 3.1 Chronology of events in the arid zone .................................................................... 98 2 PART 4 Identification and assessment of places of potential National Heritage significance .....104 4.1 Assessed places of National Heritage significance (Preliminary List) ...............................104 4.2 Discussion ..................................................................................................................113 PART 5 Priority Places for National Heritage Listing.................................................................119 5.1 Priority List of water-related desert Cultural Heritage Places .........................................119 Initial Priority List ...............................................................................................................119 Ranked Priority List of Ten Places ........................................................................................122 Additional Representative Priority Places.............................................................................123 5.2 Review of existing arid zone National Heritage Listings and Cultural Heritage values.......128 5.3 Priority Place Individual Assessments ...........................................................................130 PART 6 Recommendations .....................................................................................................119 PART 7 References .................................................................................................................131 List of Appendices ..................................................................................................................149 Appendices (Appendices are provided in three additional separate files) Appendix 1 – Terms of reference for the study Appendix 2 – Copy of the letter sent to stakeholders regarding the study Appendix 3 – Responses received from stakeholder groups Appendix 4 – List of stakeholders emailed by the Department of Environment and Energy Appendix 5 – Experts consulted for the study Appendix 6 – Place Assessment Matrix Appendix 7 – Ten Individual Priority Place assessments List of tables Table 1.1 Numbers of Cultural Heritage Places in the Australian arid region listed on the various national and higher level lists…………………………………………………………………………………………12 Table 1.2 World Heritage Properties within the Australian arid region……………………………………….12 Table 1.3 National Heritage Properties within the Australian arid region………………………………..….13 Table 1.4 Commonwealth Heritage Properties within the Australian arid region…………………….….14 Table 2.1 Waters of Australian Deserts project thematic assessment approach with a natural heritage parallel…………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………24 Table 3 Forms of water in the Australian arid zone……………………………………………………………………..36 Table 3.1 Chronological sequence of major changes and events in the Australian deserts………....98 Table 4.1 Preliminary List of Australian arid zone desert water cultural heritage places (ie places assessed as being worthy of listing on the National Heritage List)……………………………….…105 Table 5.1 Study key Priority Places list……………………………………………………………………….……………....119 Table 5.2 Short list of 10 ranked Priority Places ………………………………………………………………….….....122 Table 5.3 Adjunct Priority Places – representative Cultural Landscapes……………………………………..127 Table 5.4 Cultural Heritage Places in the Arid Zone already registered on the National Heritage List (as at May 2016……………………………………………………………....129 Table 5.5 Places in the arid zone registered for their Natural Values on the National Heritage List (as at May 2016) but which have Cultural Value at the national level…………………………………….….129 3 List of maps and figures Map 1 Study area boundary …………………………………………………………………………………………………8 Map 2 The six major areas within the Australian Arid Zone (from Smith 2013: 5 fig 1.4)…...….9 Map 3 Rainfall variability (from Smith 2013: 9 Fig 1.5)………………………………………………………….35 Map 4 Land forms - elevation (from Woinarski et al 2014: 62)……………………………………………..38 Map 5 Remoteness (from Woinarski et al 2014: 8)……………………………………………………………….39 Map 6 Population density (from Woinarski et al 2014: 133)………………………………………………….40 Map 7 Griffith Taylor’s 1926 ‘Habitability map’ (from Woinarski et al 2014: 125)…………….……55 Map 8 Sites of major ochre quarries (open triangles): 1) Wilkie Mia (on NHL), 2) Karrku, 3) Pukardu grindstone quarries (squares): 6) Kurutiti (Helen Springs) 7) Anna Creek (Palthirri-pirdi) 8) Tooths Nob (Wadla wadlyu) 9) Innaminka quarries 10) Yambacoona Hill. 11) Mt Isa axe quarries (4 and 5 not relevant to this discussion) (from Smith 2013: 268 fig 8.2)………………………………….62 Map 9 Eastern Lake Eyre exchange routes (from Smith 2013: 267 Fig 8.1)……………………………..63 Map 10 Map of light pollution in Australia (map