This colloquium continues to bring together people involved in different ways with the archaeology of Victoria, including representatives of Victorian Archaeology Colloquium 2014 Indigenous communities, academic researchers, heritage managers and heritage advisers. It is an important time to take stock of where we are and to think about where we are going. We share many common interests and our understanding of the past and practices in the present can only be enhanced by sharing ideas and information. We are grateful to see such an overwhelming response to this initiative and hope it will lead to further interactions in the future. Institute for Advanced Study We are particularly grateful to Shaun Canning and ACHM, our major sponsor, for their generous contribution toward hosting this event, as well La Trobe University as our other sponsors AACAI, Ochre Imprints, Biosis Pty Ltd, AHMS and La Trobe University. Friday, 7 February 2014 David Frankel, Susan Lawrence and Caroline Spry La Trobe University AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATION AUSTRALIAN CULTURAL OF CONSULTING HERITAGE MANAGEMENT ARCHAEOLOGISTS INC Lunch catering by 12 Ovens (www.12ovens.com.au) PROGRAM 8:30 Registration 9:00–9:30 Welcome to Country 9:30–9:45 Introduction 9:45–10:00 John Tunn Fieldwork at Keilor: a short film 10:00–11:00 Session chair: Ilya Berelov Ron Arnold, Ilya Berelov, Andy Herries and Matthew Phelan Recent Aboriginal occupation of Victoria’s southwest coast: the Browns Creek Community Archaeology Project Martin Lawler, Ilya Berelov and Tim Cavanagh Investigation of a Pleistocene river terrace at Birrarrung Park, Lower Templestowe, Victoria Jim Wheeler, Stacey Kennedy, Alan N. Williams, Phillip Toms and Peter Mitchell A Pleistocene date at Chelsea Heights: evidence of Aboriginal occupation beneath the Carrum Swamp Racheal Minos Investigations on a terrace at Deep Creek, Bulla 11:00–11:30 Morning break 11:30–12:30 Session chair: Andrea Murphy Edwina Kay The buildings of Abbotsford Convent: insights into the practice of confinement Sarah Hayes and Barbara Minchinton The formation of cesspit deposits at Little Lon, Melbourne – 2 – the importance of documenting the site as an archaeological landscape Alison O’Connor and its protection as a highly significant Aboriginal heritage place. Lonsdale Street, Lt. Lonsdale Street and Alston Lane: initial testing and first stage of historical excavation A Pleistocene date at Chelsea Heights: evidence for Aboriginal Barry Green and Alana Doyle occupation beneath the Carrum Swamp Hiding in plain sight: excavation of a lost pioneer Jim Wheeler, Stacey Kennedy (Archaeological & Heritage Management homestead on Kororoit Creek Solutions (AHMS)), Alan N. Williams (AHMS; The Australian National University), Phillip Toms (University of Gloucestershire) and Peter Sylvana Szydzik and Pamela Ricardi Mitchell (Groundtruth Consulting Pty Ltd) Two households ... in Truganina, where we lay our scene During recent test excavations at Chelsea Heights, a small number of 12:30–1:30 Lunch flaked stone artefacts were recovered from a sand body beneath peat deposits identified as part of Carrum Swamp. The low elevation of the study 1:30–2:30 Session chair: Jessie Birkett-Rees area (<2 m ASL) suggests that the upper peat deposits formed following inundation of the coastline in the early to mid-Holocene (~7–2 ka; Lewis Caroline Spry et al. 2013) and formed a cap over the artefact-bearing sand deposits. Re-evaluating artefact density as a standalone method OSL ages obtained from the sand body indicate that the artefacts were of categorising stone artefact occurrences in Victoria: a deposited between 32±4 ka and 30±3 ka, with burial of the sand by 10±1 case study from Beveridge ka. Due to low lithogenic dose rates, additional modelling of the ages was undertaken and indicates a more conservative age of artefact deposition Josara de Lange at ~25–23 ka, and burial of the sand unit by ~5 ka. Although few artefacts The Victorian Digital Archaeological Data Archive: an were recovered from the site and the scope of investigation limited by the annual update size of the study area, the results lend support to the previous findings at Bend Road (Hewitt & Allen 2010), and suggest that sealed archaeological Jillian Garvey deposits exist on specific landforms beneath the Carrum Swamp peats. Investigating Late Quaternary human occupation of The results also suggest the archaeological deposits underneath the semi-arid northwest Victoria: preliminary survey and swamp potentially pre-date the Last Glacial Maximum. excavation at Neds Corner Station and Murray-Sunset Our paper will discuss a number of possible geomorphic explanations of National Park the sedimentary sequence found at Chelsea Heights and the important Alex Blackwood, Emily Dillon, Chris Silvester, David Clark, Jeffrey questions they raise about the conventional view of the geomorphic Clarke, Maurizio Campanelli, Anthony Dall’Oste, Ada Dinckal, Sara history of the Carrum Swamp and current approaches to archaeological Lombardo, Anthony Romano, Adam Valka and Jillian Garvey investigation and assessment of sites within the former Carrum Swamp system. Identifying Aboriginal hearths in Late Quaternary northwest Victoria: cultural vs natural accumulations of References burnt clay and the implications for understanding the Lewis, S. E., Sloss, C. R., Murray-Wallace, C. V., Woodroffe, C. D. and Smithers, archaeological record S. G. 2013. Post-glacial sea-level change around the Australian margin: a review. Quaternary Science Reviews 74: 115–138. Ben Watson, Paul Kucera and Darren Perry Hewitt, G. and Allen, J. 2010. Site disturbance and archaeological integrity: the Wallpolla 3: documenting a complex archaeological case of Bend Road, an open site in Melbourne spanning pre-LGM Pleistocene landscape in the Murray River Corridor, northwestern to Late Holocene periods. Australian Archaeology 70: 1–16. Victoria – 14 – – 3 – 2:30–3:00 Afternoon break Pty Ltd who employed similar excavation methodologies for both sites. Despite being structurally similar and located within close proximity to 3:00–4:00 Session chair: Shaun Canning each other, analyses of the artefact assemblages reveal that the two Darren Griffin and Ben Watson rural households were in fact quite different. Where residents at one house enjoyed a drink (or three) and smoking a pipe, residents at the Sisters Rocks: changing connections to a sacred place other appear to have preferred a more restrained lifestyle. This paper Adam Magennis will discuss some of the key findings resulting from the two excavations. Indigenous Cultural Heritage Management at the Mornington Peninsula Shire Fieldwork at Keilor: a short film David Rhodes John Tunn (Ironbark Heritage & Environment) Landscape analysis in archaeology: interpretation of The rich Aboriginal archaeological record identified along the Aboriginal campsites at ‘Greenhills’, Pakenham Maribyrnong River Valley holds a significant place in the history and maturation of Australian archaeology. The location played a prominent Thea Kinsela, Maddy Maitri and Susan Lawrence role in developing a professional and public understanding regarding the La Trobe University’s Young Archaeologists’ Program antiquity of Aboriginal Australia. Indeed some of the very early applications of radiocarbon dating were undertaken using samples recovered from the Jamin Moon valley’s alluvial sedimentary units and much has been published regarding A brief comparison of Indigenous cultural heritage the many decades of fieldwork undertaken there by a range of players. legislation – or – It’s not that bad here in Victoria ... no, Today I present rare footage of archaeological fieldwork undertaken at really ... Green Gully (current day Brimbank Park) by Dermott Casey, Prof. John Mulvaney and Prof. Richard Wright, and was shot by the Museum of Victoria in September 1966. This now historic footage represents one of the first real multi-disciplinary archaeological studies undertaken in what remains one of Victoria’s most significant cultural landscapes. Although the fieldwork involved the recovery of Aboriginal skeletal remains, none are shown in the footage. Wallpolla 3: documenting a complex archaeological landscape in the Murray River Corridor, northwestern Victoria Ben Watson, Paul Kucera (Dr. Vincent Clark & Associates Pty Ltd) and Darren Perry (Ngintait People) This paper presents results of fieldwork carried out across a remnant Pleistocene alluvial terrace adjacent to Wallpolla Creek in northwestern Victoria. Intensive survey of linear corridors revealed evidence for intensive Aboriginal land-use and occupation across an area of over 150 hectares, including burial complexes, lithic artefact scatters, hearths, freshwater mussel shell deposits and other remains. The relationship between recorded features and the condition of the palaeoterrace is discussed in relation to – 4 – – 13 – Landscape analysis in archaeology: interpretation of Aboriginal ABSTRACTS campsites at ‘Greenhills’, Pakenham David Rhodes (Heritage Insight Pty Ltd) Recent Aboriginal occupation of Victoria’s southwest coast: the Browns Creek Community Archaeology Project The property known as ‘Greenhills’ Pakenham South is situated on a prominent hill formed on Devonian Granite. Analyses of landscapes and Ron Arnold (Gadubanud and Gulidjan Traditional Owner Group), Ilya soils defined a laterite plateau on the crest of the hill, coarse sandy soils Berelov (Biosis Pty Ltd), Andy Herries (La Trobe University) and Matthew on the lower hillslopes and parts of the floodplain