Alice Buhrich - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Alice Buhrich
Journal of Community Archaeology & Heritage, 2022
Preliminary results of the Undara Archaeology Project
ABORIGINAL HISTORY , 2023
First Nations perspectives on the Frontier Wars are gaining increasing interest in historical, ac... more First Nations perspectives on the Frontier Wars are gaining increasing interest in historical, academic, political and social spheres. The arrival of squatters and miners brought momentous change to Ewamian people in Queensland’s Gulf savannah. Aboriginal resistance was followed by European reprisals, a pattern seen across Australia. A key aim of our paper is to address the dominant view of how Ewamian contact history is presented – Ewamian people did not passively accept the arrival of Europeans; the historic sources describe a resistance that continued over 35 years in three distinct phases. This paper has two aims. First, we challenge the colonial narrative that describes Ewamian as passive respondents to European colonialism. Second, we reinterpret the
colonial narratives to identify three phases of resistance in the Ewamian estate in response to the changing nature of the colonial frontier in Queensland’s Gulf savannah.
Transforming Heritage Practice in the 21st Century
Cultural heritage research is not impartial to local or wider politics. While community-based pro... more Cultural heritage research is not impartial to local or wider politics. While community-based projects need to address local issues, histories and protocols, external forces such as legislation also influence methodologies. This chapter describes a process for developing collaborative approaches to research projects with Aboriginal groups in the Australian Wet Tropics that addresses local protocol and legislative frameworks to produce mutually beneficial research outcomes (of benefit to the researcher and the community). This process provided two-pronged outcomes—the researcher was able to identify, record and assess the preservation of cultural sites while Aboriginal communities used the project to assert ownership, build their own site databases, train younger land managers and rangers and record cultural knowledge. The approach also had limitations. Governance, resourcing, recognition of “native title” and other factors influenced both the capacity and desire for groups to participate in heritage projects. The resulting power sharing arrangements provides a framework for “working alongside” community groups in a post-native title landscape.
Journal of Community Archaeology & Heritage
ABSTRACT Australian Aboriginal rainforest dendroglyphs are a rare and enigmatic cultural resource... more ABSTRACT Australian Aboriginal rainforest dendroglyphs are a rare and enigmatic cultural resource. Only twenty-three individual rainforest carved trees have been recorded, all in remote parts of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area which are rarely visited. The Western Yalanji dendroglyph is a near life size male anthropomorphic or zoomorphic figure carved into the trunk of a yellow walnut (Beilschmedia bancroftii) five metres above ground level on the Windsor Tableland, in the Western Yalanji estate. The Yalanji dendroglyph is a reminder of the vulnerability of rainforest dendroglyphs to natural processes. Inspections in 2015 identified significant fungal rot in the tree and by 2018 the tree had fallen. This paper documents the history, death and replication of the Yalanji dendroglyph by Western Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation.
If dendroglyphs were a faunal species they would be classified as critically endangered. They are... more If dendroglyphs were a faunal species they would be classified as critically endangered. They are the Giant Panda of the archaeological world, threatened by loss of habitat and natural decay. This paper describes the significance, attributes and preservation of Aboriginal dendroglyphs in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, the only dendroglyphs recorded in a tropical rainforest environment. For Dugulbarra and Waribarra clan group of Mamu the dendroglyphs represent not only the old people and their use of the rainforest as a cultural landscape, they also assert Mamu cultural survival after a history of land clearing, logging and ‘locking the gate’ on the world heritage protected area. Our research identifies the attributes of rainforest dendroglyphs on Mamu and other rainforest Aboriginal cultural estates. Rainforest dendroglyphs are usually on single trees depicting abstract linear or figurative designs and associated with Aboriginal walking tracks and other sites. Tree carving was...
This Cultural Assets Literature Review and Research Synthesis report was undertaken by The Cairns... more This Cultural Assets Literature Review and Research Synthesis report was undertaken by The Cairns Institute for the Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW. The project collates available information relevant to the understanding and mitigation of climate change impacts on cultural assets and seeks to draw out the themes and issues relevant to the broader Sydney area. The project components were conducted within a relatively tight time frame. These included a literature review, a survey of practitioners and agencies and local governments and 6 targeted interviews based in part on the feedback from the survey. Planning and preliminary work for the project began in late April and the literature review and survey was undertaken in May 2012. An EndNote database of all the literature reviewed was compiled. There are 324 references included in this database (see Appendix A). The targeted interviews were undertaken in July 2012. There were 47 respondents to the online survey. Significant t...
This paper reviews a changing scenario of cultural heritage management in the Quinkan region, Cap... more This paper reviews a changing scenario of cultural heritage management in the Quinkan region, Cape York Peninsula, currently experiencing unprecedented pressures from tourism and mining. From 1971 State and Federal governments acted to address concerns over protecting Quinkan rock art from modern impacts such as tourism: Gresley Holding (locally known as Crocodile Station) received statutory recognition as a declared ‘Aboriginal site’, the Quinkan Reserves were created, and ‘Quinkan Country’ was listed on the (now defunct) Register of the National Estate. In the 1990s the Quinkan Reserves were transferred to Aboriginal Land Trusts, and the local Aboriginal corporation received intermittent government grants to help manage tourism. In 2004 the State government opened an interpretive centre in Laura as a tourism initiative without providing for a visitor management system. Today, virtually the entire Quinkan region is affected by applications for minerals and coal exploration. The out...
This paper explores past connections of Aboriginal people within what is now known as the Wet Tro... more This paper explores past connections of Aboriginal people within what is now known as the Wet Tropics, a coastal strip of tropical rainforest in northeast Australia. As a result of historical and ethnographic descriptions the rainforest is often defined as a ‘cultural zone’. The proclamation of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, based on environmental parameters, has exaggerated the idea of the rainforest as a cultural boundary. We propose that in the past, Aboriginal connections were multifaceted, multifunctional and multidirectional, extending beyond the Wet Tropics boundaries. We use rock art to illustrate connections within and beyond the rainforest. For example, decorated shields, an iconic item of rainforest material culture, are depicted in rock art assemblages south of the rainforest boundary. Are the shield paintings out-of-place or do they illustrate networks of connection? We examine rock art motifs found in rainforest areas and compare them with those found in other ro...
ABSTRACT This Cultural Assets Literature Review and Research Synthesis report was undertaken by T... more ABSTRACT This Cultural Assets Literature Review and Research Synthesis report was undertaken by The Cairns Institute for the Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW. The project collates available information relevant to the understanding and mitigation of climate change impacts on cultural assets and seeks to draw out the themes and issues relevant to the broader Sydney area. The project components were conducted within a relatively tight time frame. These included a literature review, a survey of practitioners and agencies and local governments and 6 targeted interviews based in part on the feedback from the survey. Planning and preliminary work for the project began in late April and the literature review and survey was undertaken in May 2012. An EndNote database of all the literature reviewed was compiled. There are 324 references included in this database (see Appendix A). The targeted interviews were undertaken in July 2012. There were 47 respondents to the online survey. Significant themes and issues emerged from the literature review and survey including: • Lack of research funding; • Lack of political will and leadership on the part of government; • Frustration that climate change impacts on cultural heritage are not being addressed by governments at all levels in Australia; • The need for fine grained site specific research to go beyond general predictions; • Opportunities for information sharing relating to research projects and outcomes between researchers, cultural asset managers and policy makers. • The value of small community based projects AND • The needed for larger scale projects that can draw together the knowledge gained from the geographically scattered projects into a more coherent picture; • The importance of regular maintenance in maximising the resilience of cultural assets in the face of change; • The need for long term monitoring of cultural assets and the collation and dissemination of this data; • The importance of specific research on new pests and changing conditions and ways to mitigate these impacts; • The importance of local council and state government agencies to build cultural assets into their general climate change preparedness, and • A perceived urgency for identifying the likelihood of specific sites being negatively impacted and the development of priorities for research, mitigation and salvage. There is broad recognition that cultural assets will suffer both direct and indirect impacts as a result of climate change. Direct bio-physical impacts are generally likely to involve an escalation in frequency or an increase in intensity of the impacts that assets are already subjected to. Such impacts are likely to be cumulative over time. However some direct impacts for some cultural assets may be catastrophic. For example coastal sites that currently experience impacts such as salt corrosion, saltwater inundation, and heavy rain from coastal storms are expected to experience these impacts with increasing frequency. Strategies such as building the resilience of cultural assets through regular maintenance, effectively protecting assets from known and existing biophysical impacts and understanding when these impacts become critical through effective monitoring are the key to the sound management of cultural assets in the face of a changing climate. There is an urgent need to audit and assess the range, significance and distribution of cultural assets that might be affected by climate change and develop an informed response. Such a response might involve a range of interventions such as recording, salvage excavation, and stabilization. It is also important for governments to begin a conversation with the community about the nature and likelihood of climate change impacts on their cultural assets and to better understand community expectations for the management of these places. In many cases existing projects and programs may be able to be adapted so that they adequately address the issue of climate change and cultural heritage although increased investment in research and conservation activity will be required. Unfortunately, it is clear that governments in Australia are under- investing in cultural assets and this must be addressed. The cost of inaction now will compound the cost of remedial action for future generations as well as exacerbate the non-monetary costs associated with the social impact of the unnecessary loss of cultural heritage places and values. The climate change focus of local governments needs to shift from the immediate urgency of ‘liability’ back to a focus on nurturing and working for communities. In the short term however these fundamental shifts are unlikely to occur and this report has identified a number of opportunities to advance our understanding of the impacts of climate change on cultural assets and to develop useful projects with little additional financial commitment. These opportunities involve Local Government broadening existing…
That is a cassowary foot… and we are the cassowary clan. Dugulbarra fieldworker's initial rea... more That is a cassowary foot… and we are the cassowary clan. Dugulbarra fieldworker's initial reaction to locating a Wet Tropics dendroglyph (March 2014). Identity is a key concept in Australian rock art research. Archaeological interpretations of rock imagery recognise that motifs and their production convey information, not just about the artist, but also about the cultural and social context in which motifs were produced. Rock art studies provide a unique window into the world view of the artists that is not available through other archaeological material. Aboriginal custodians are also interested in the relationship between imagery and identity, often through a lens that does not separate the social, cultural and physical landscapes. Dendroglyphs, although rare, offer similar opportunities to explore visual expression, identity and place. The Wet Tropics of Queensland offers a unique set of circumstances to investigate style in Late Holocene visual culture. The rock art, affecte...
Australian Archaeology, 2015
This paper describes the attributes, preservation and management of Aboriginal dendroglyphs in th... more This paper describes the attributes, preservation and management of Aboriginal dendroglyphs in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area of northeast Australia, the only known dendroglyphs recorded in a tropical rainforest environment worldwide. Our research identifies that dendroglyphs are usually single trees with abstract linear or figurative designs carved into their outer bark and are often associated with Aboriginal walking tracks and other cultural sites. Using existing historical field notes and records, including a fibreglass model of one carving made in 1991, we conclude that the dendroglyphs have changed little over 20 years. They appear to be more resilient to extreme climatic events than previously predicted, and the main threat to their preservation appears to be vulnerability from the effects of ageing, such as insect and fungal attack. Difficulties for traditional owners in accessing dendroglyphs within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area highlight tensions between natural and cultural site management practices.
The International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses, 2012
Australian Archaeology, 2012
This paper reviews a changing scenario of cultural heritage management in the Quinkan region, Cap... more This paper reviews a changing scenario of cultural heritage management in the Quinkan region, Cape York Peninsula, currently experiencing unprecedented pressures from tourism and mining. From 1971 State and Federal governments acted to address concerns over protecting Quinkan rock art from modern impacts such as tourism: Gresley Holding (locally known as Crocodile Station) received statutory recognition as a declared 'Aboriginal site', the Quinkan Reserves were created, and 'Quinkan Country' was listed on the (now defunct) Register of the National Estate. In the 1990s the Quinkan Reserves were transferred to Aboriginal Land Trusts, and the local Aboriginal corporation received intermittent government grants to help manage tourism. In 2004 the State government opened an interpretive centre in Laura as a tourism initiative without providing for a visitor management system. Today, virtually the entire Quinkan region is affected by applications for minerals and coal exploration. The outstanding heritage values of the Quinkan region are threatened by this potential mining development, coupled with expanding tourism, and traditional owners are struggling to manage their cultural heritage. It is not clear how current heritage legislation, environmental codes and the status of 'Gresley Pastoral Holding-Crocodile Station' as a Declared Landscape Area (DLA002) will be applied to protect the area into the future.
iScience, 2021
The ‘‘Wet Tropics’’ of Australia host a unique variety of plant lineages that trace their origins... more The ‘‘Wet Tropics’’ of Australia host a unique variety of plant lineages that trace their origins to the super-continent of Gondwanaland. While these ‘‘ancient’’ evolutionary records are rightly emphasized in current management of the region, multidisciplinary research and lobbying by Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples have also demonstrated the significance of the cultural heritage of the ‘‘Wet Tropics.’’ Here, we evaluate the existing archeological, paleoenvironmental, and historical evidence to demonstrate the diverse ways in which these forests are globally significant, not only for their ecological heritage but also for their preservation of traces of millennia of anthropogenic activities, including active burning and food tree manipulation. We argue that detailed paleoecological, ethnobotanical, and archeological studies, working within the framework of growing national and world heritage initiatives and active application of traditional knowledge, offer the best opportunities for sustainable management of these unique environments in the face of increasingly catastrophic climate change and bushfires.
Journal of Community Archaeology and Heritage, 2020
Australian Aboriginal rainforest dendroglyphs are a rare and enigmatic cultural resource. Only tw... more Australian Aboriginal rainforest dendroglyphs are a rare and enigmatic cultural resource. Only twenty-three individual rainforest carved trees have been recorded, all in remote parts of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area which are rarely visited. The Western Yalanji dendroglyph is a near life size male anthropomorphic or zoomorphic figure carved into the trunk of a yellow walnut (Beilschmedia bancroftii) five metres above ground level on the Windsor Tableland, in the Western Yalanji estate. The Yalanji dendroglyph is a reminder of the vulnerability of rainforest dendroglyphs to natural processes. Inspections in 2015 identified significant fungal rot in the tree and by 2018 the tree had fallen. This paper documents the history, death and replication of the Yalanji dendroglyph by Western Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation.
Transforming Heritage Practice in the 21st Century, 2019
Cultural heritage research is not impartial to local or wider politics. While community-based pro... more Cultural heritage research is not impartial to local or wider politics. While community-based projects need to address local issues, histories and protocols, external forces such as legislation also influence methodologies. This chapter describes a process for developing collaborative approaches to research projects with Aboriginal groups in the Australian Wet Tropics that addresses local protocol and legislative frameworks to produce mutually beneficial research outcomes (of benefit to the researcher and the community). This process provided two-pronged outcomes—the researcher was able to identify, record and assess the preservation of cultural sites while Aboriginal communities used the project to assert ownership, build their own site databases, train younger land managers and rangers and record cultural knowledge. The approach also had limitations. Governance, resourcing, recognition of “native title” and other factors influenced both the capacity and desire for groups to participate in heritage projects. The resulting power sharing arrangements provides a framework for “working alongside” community groups in a post-native title landscape.
Journal of Community Archaeology & Heritage, 2022
Preliminary results of the Undara Archaeology Project
ABORIGINAL HISTORY , 2023
First Nations perspectives on the Frontier Wars are gaining increasing interest in historical, ac... more First Nations perspectives on the Frontier Wars are gaining increasing interest in historical, academic, political and social spheres. The arrival of squatters and miners brought momentous change to Ewamian people in Queensland’s Gulf savannah. Aboriginal resistance was followed by European reprisals, a pattern seen across Australia. A key aim of our paper is to address the dominant view of how Ewamian contact history is presented – Ewamian people did not passively accept the arrival of Europeans; the historic sources describe a resistance that continued over 35 years in three distinct phases. This paper has two aims. First, we challenge the colonial narrative that describes Ewamian as passive respondents to European colonialism. Second, we reinterpret the
colonial narratives to identify three phases of resistance in the Ewamian estate in response to the changing nature of the colonial frontier in Queensland’s Gulf savannah.
Transforming Heritage Practice in the 21st Century
Cultural heritage research is not impartial to local or wider politics. While community-based pro... more Cultural heritage research is not impartial to local or wider politics. While community-based projects need to address local issues, histories and protocols, external forces such as legislation also influence methodologies. This chapter describes a process for developing collaborative approaches to research projects with Aboriginal groups in the Australian Wet Tropics that addresses local protocol and legislative frameworks to produce mutually beneficial research outcomes (of benefit to the researcher and the community). This process provided two-pronged outcomes—the researcher was able to identify, record and assess the preservation of cultural sites while Aboriginal communities used the project to assert ownership, build their own site databases, train younger land managers and rangers and record cultural knowledge. The approach also had limitations. Governance, resourcing, recognition of “native title” and other factors influenced both the capacity and desire for groups to participate in heritage projects. The resulting power sharing arrangements provides a framework for “working alongside” community groups in a post-native title landscape.
Journal of Community Archaeology & Heritage
ABSTRACT Australian Aboriginal rainforest dendroglyphs are a rare and enigmatic cultural resource... more ABSTRACT Australian Aboriginal rainforest dendroglyphs are a rare and enigmatic cultural resource. Only twenty-three individual rainforest carved trees have been recorded, all in remote parts of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area which are rarely visited. The Western Yalanji dendroglyph is a near life size male anthropomorphic or zoomorphic figure carved into the trunk of a yellow walnut (Beilschmedia bancroftii) five metres above ground level on the Windsor Tableland, in the Western Yalanji estate. The Yalanji dendroglyph is a reminder of the vulnerability of rainforest dendroglyphs to natural processes. Inspections in 2015 identified significant fungal rot in the tree and by 2018 the tree had fallen. This paper documents the history, death and replication of the Yalanji dendroglyph by Western Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation.
If dendroglyphs were a faunal species they would be classified as critically endangered. They are... more If dendroglyphs were a faunal species they would be classified as critically endangered. They are the Giant Panda of the archaeological world, threatened by loss of habitat and natural decay. This paper describes the significance, attributes and preservation of Aboriginal dendroglyphs in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, the only dendroglyphs recorded in a tropical rainforest environment. For Dugulbarra and Waribarra clan group of Mamu the dendroglyphs represent not only the old people and their use of the rainforest as a cultural landscape, they also assert Mamu cultural survival after a history of land clearing, logging and ‘locking the gate’ on the world heritage protected area. Our research identifies the attributes of rainforest dendroglyphs on Mamu and other rainforest Aboriginal cultural estates. Rainforest dendroglyphs are usually on single trees depicting abstract linear or figurative designs and associated with Aboriginal walking tracks and other sites. Tree carving was...
This Cultural Assets Literature Review and Research Synthesis report was undertaken by The Cairns... more This Cultural Assets Literature Review and Research Synthesis report was undertaken by The Cairns Institute for the Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW. The project collates available information relevant to the understanding and mitigation of climate change impacts on cultural assets and seeks to draw out the themes and issues relevant to the broader Sydney area. The project components were conducted within a relatively tight time frame. These included a literature review, a survey of practitioners and agencies and local governments and 6 targeted interviews based in part on the feedback from the survey. Planning and preliminary work for the project began in late April and the literature review and survey was undertaken in May 2012. An EndNote database of all the literature reviewed was compiled. There are 324 references included in this database (see Appendix A). The targeted interviews were undertaken in July 2012. There were 47 respondents to the online survey. Significant t...
This paper reviews a changing scenario of cultural heritage management in the Quinkan region, Cap... more This paper reviews a changing scenario of cultural heritage management in the Quinkan region, Cape York Peninsula, currently experiencing unprecedented pressures from tourism and mining. From 1971 State and Federal governments acted to address concerns over protecting Quinkan rock art from modern impacts such as tourism: Gresley Holding (locally known as Crocodile Station) received statutory recognition as a declared ‘Aboriginal site’, the Quinkan Reserves were created, and ‘Quinkan Country’ was listed on the (now defunct) Register of the National Estate. In the 1990s the Quinkan Reserves were transferred to Aboriginal Land Trusts, and the local Aboriginal corporation received intermittent government grants to help manage tourism. In 2004 the State government opened an interpretive centre in Laura as a tourism initiative without providing for a visitor management system. Today, virtually the entire Quinkan region is affected by applications for minerals and coal exploration. The out...
This paper explores past connections of Aboriginal people within what is now known as the Wet Tro... more This paper explores past connections of Aboriginal people within what is now known as the Wet Tropics, a coastal strip of tropical rainforest in northeast Australia. As a result of historical and ethnographic descriptions the rainforest is often defined as a ‘cultural zone’. The proclamation of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, based on environmental parameters, has exaggerated the idea of the rainforest as a cultural boundary. We propose that in the past, Aboriginal connections were multifaceted, multifunctional and multidirectional, extending beyond the Wet Tropics boundaries. We use rock art to illustrate connections within and beyond the rainforest. For example, decorated shields, an iconic item of rainforest material culture, are depicted in rock art assemblages south of the rainforest boundary. Are the shield paintings out-of-place or do they illustrate networks of connection? We examine rock art motifs found in rainforest areas and compare them with those found in other ro...
ABSTRACT This Cultural Assets Literature Review and Research Synthesis report was undertaken by T... more ABSTRACT This Cultural Assets Literature Review and Research Synthesis report was undertaken by The Cairns Institute for the Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW. The project collates available information relevant to the understanding and mitigation of climate change impacts on cultural assets and seeks to draw out the themes and issues relevant to the broader Sydney area. The project components were conducted within a relatively tight time frame. These included a literature review, a survey of practitioners and agencies and local governments and 6 targeted interviews based in part on the feedback from the survey. Planning and preliminary work for the project began in late April and the literature review and survey was undertaken in May 2012. An EndNote database of all the literature reviewed was compiled. There are 324 references included in this database (see Appendix A). The targeted interviews were undertaken in July 2012. There were 47 respondents to the online survey. Significant themes and issues emerged from the literature review and survey including: • Lack of research funding; • Lack of political will and leadership on the part of government; • Frustration that climate change impacts on cultural heritage are not being addressed by governments at all levels in Australia; • The need for fine grained site specific research to go beyond general predictions; • Opportunities for information sharing relating to research projects and outcomes between researchers, cultural asset managers and policy makers. • The value of small community based projects AND • The needed for larger scale projects that can draw together the knowledge gained from the geographically scattered projects into a more coherent picture; • The importance of regular maintenance in maximising the resilience of cultural assets in the face of change; • The need for long term monitoring of cultural assets and the collation and dissemination of this data; • The importance of specific research on new pests and changing conditions and ways to mitigate these impacts; • The importance of local council and state government agencies to build cultural assets into their general climate change preparedness, and • A perceived urgency for identifying the likelihood of specific sites being negatively impacted and the development of priorities for research, mitigation and salvage. There is broad recognition that cultural assets will suffer both direct and indirect impacts as a result of climate change. Direct bio-physical impacts are generally likely to involve an escalation in frequency or an increase in intensity of the impacts that assets are already subjected to. Such impacts are likely to be cumulative over time. However some direct impacts for some cultural assets may be catastrophic. For example coastal sites that currently experience impacts such as salt corrosion, saltwater inundation, and heavy rain from coastal storms are expected to experience these impacts with increasing frequency. Strategies such as building the resilience of cultural assets through regular maintenance, effectively protecting assets from known and existing biophysical impacts and understanding when these impacts become critical through effective monitoring are the key to the sound management of cultural assets in the face of a changing climate. There is an urgent need to audit and assess the range, significance and distribution of cultural assets that might be affected by climate change and develop an informed response. Such a response might involve a range of interventions such as recording, salvage excavation, and stabilization. It is also important for governments to begin a conversation with the community about the nature and likelihood of climate change impacts on their cultural assets and to better understand community expectations for the management of these places. In many cases existing projects and programs may be able to be adapted so that they adequately address the issue of climate change and cultural heritage although increased investment in research and conservation activity will be required. Unfortunately, it is clear that governments in Australia are under- investing in cultural assets and this must be addressed. The cost of inaction now will compound the cost of remedial action for future generations as well as exacerbate the non-monetary costs associated with the social impact of the unnecessary loss of cultural heritage places and values. The climate change focus of local governments needs to shift from the immediate urgency of ‘liability’ back to a focus on nurturing and working for communities. In the short term however these fundamental shifts are unlikely to occur and this report has identified a number of opportunities to advance our understanding of the impacts of climate change on cultural assets and to develop useful projects with little additional financial commitment. These opportunities involve Local Government broadening existing…
That is a cassowary foot… and we are the cassowary clan. Dugulbarra fieldworker's initial rea... more That is a cassowary foot… and we are the cassowary clan. Dugulbarra fieldworker's initial reaction to locating a Wet Tropics dendroglyph (March 2014). Identity is a key concept in Australian rock art research. Archaeological interpretations of rock imagery recognise that motifs and their production convey information, not just about the artist, but also about the cultural and social context in which motifs were produced. Rock art studies provide a unique window into the world view of the artists that is not available through other archaeological material. Aboriginal custodians are also interested in the relationship between imagery and identity, often through a lens that does not separate the social, cultural and physical landscapes. Dendroglyphs, although rare, offer similar opportunities to explore visual expression, identity and place. The Wet Tropics of Queensland offers a unique set of circumstances to investigate style in Late Holocene visual culture. The rock art, affecte...
Australian Archaeology, 2015
This paper describes the attributes, preservation and management of Aboriginal dendroglyphs in th... more This paper describes the attributes, preservation and management of Aboriginal dendroglyphs in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area of northeast Australia, the only known dendroglyphs recorded in a tropical rainforest environment worldwide. Our research identifies that dendroglyphs are usually single trees with abstract linear or figurative designs carved into their outer bark and are often associated with Aboriginal walking tracks and other cultural sites. Using existing historical field notes and records, including a fibreglass model of one carving made in 1991, we conclude that the dendroglyphs have changed little over 20 years. They appear to be more resilient to extreme climatic events than previously predicted, and the main threat to their preservation appears to be vulnerability from the effects of ageing, such as insect and fungal attack. Difficulties for traditional owners in accessing dendroglyphs within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area highlight tensions between natural and cultural site management practices.
The International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses, 2012
Australian Archaeology, 2012
This paper reviews a changing scenario of cultural heritage management in the Quinkan region, Cap... more This paper reviews a changing scenario of cultural heritage management in the Quinkan region, Cape York Peninsula, currently experiencing unprecedented pressures from tourism and mining. From 1971 State and Federal governments acted to address concerns over protecting Quinkan rock art from modern impacts such as tourism: Gresley Holding (locally known as Crocodile Station) received statutory recognition as a declared 'Aboriginal site', the Quinkan Reserves were created, and 'Quinkan Country' was listed on the (now defunct) Register of the National Estate. In the 1990s the Quinkan Reserves were transferred to Aboriginal Land Trusts, and the local Aboriginal corporation received intermittent government grants to help manage tourism. In 2004 the State government opened an interpretive centre in Laura as a tourism initiative without providing for a visitor management system. Today, virtually the entire Quinkan region is affected by applications for minerals and coal exploration. The outstanding heritage values of the Quinkan region are threatened by this potential mining development, coupled with expanding tourism, and traditional owners are struggling to manage their cultural heritage. It is not clear how current heritage legislation, environmental codes and the status of 'Gresley Pastoral Holding-Crocodile Station' as a Declared Landscape Area (DLA002) will be applied to protect the area into the future.
iScience, 2021
The ‘‘Wet Tropics’’ of Australia host a unique variety of plant lineages that trace their origins... more The ‘‘Wet Tropics’’ of Australia host a unique variety of plant lineages that trace their origins to the super-continent of Gondwanaland. While these ‘‘ancient’’ evolutionary records are rightly emphasized in current management of the region, multidisciplinary research and lobbying by Rainforest Aboriginal Peoples have also demonstrated the significance of the cultural heritage of the ‘‘Wet Tropics.’’ Here, we evaluate the existing archeological, paleoenvironmental, and historical evidence to demonstrate the diverse ways in which these forests are globally significant, not only for their ecological heritage but also for their preservation of traces of millennia of anthropogenic activities, including active burning and food tree manipulation. We argue that detailed paleoecological, ethnobotanical, and archeological studies, working within the framework of growing national and world heritage initiatives and active application of traditional knowledge, offer the best opportunities for sustainable management of these unique environments in the face of increasingly catastrophic climate change and bushfires.
Journal of Community Archaeology and Heritage, 2020
Australian Aboriginal rainforest dendroglyphs are a rare and enigmatic cultural resource. Only tw... more Australian Aboriginal rainforest dendroglyphs are a rare and enigmatic cultural resource. Only twenty-three individual rainforest carved trees have been recorded, all in remote parts of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area which are rarely visited. The Western Yalanji dendroglyph is a near life size male anthropomorphic or zoomorphic figure carved into the trunk of a yellow walnut (Beilschmedia bancroftii) five metres above ground level on the Windsor Tableland, in the Western Yalanji estate. The Yalanji dendroglyph is a reminder of the vulnerability of rainforest dendroglyphs to natural processes. Inspections in 2015 identified significant fungal rot in the tree and by 2018 the tree had fallen. This paper documents the history, death and replication of the Yalanji dendroglyph by Western Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation.
Transforming Heritage Practice in the 21st Century, 2019
Cultural heritage research is not impartial to local or wider politics. While community-based pro... more Cultural heritage research is not impartial to local or wider politics. While community-based projects need to address local issues, histories and protocols, external forces such as legislation also influence methodologies. This chapter describes a process for developing collaborative approaches to research projects with Aboriginal groups in the Australian Wet Tropics that addresses local protocol and legislative frameworks to produce mutually beneficial research outcomes (of benefit to the researcher and the community). This process provided two-pronged outcomes—the researcher was able to identify, record and assess the preservation of cultural sites while Aboriginal communities used the project to assert ownership, build their own site databases, train younger land managers and rangers and record cultural knowledge. The approach also had limitations. Governance, resourcing, recognition of “native title” and other factors influenced both the capacity and desire for groups to participate in heritage projects. The resulting power sharing arrangements provides a framework for “working alongside” community groups in a post-native title landscape.
Australian Archaeology Association, 2019
In May 2019, a project team, supervised by the Western Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation, traveled t... more In May 2019, a project team, supervised by the Western Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation, traveled to record a dendroglyph on the Mt Windsor Plateau in Far North Queensland. Photogrammetry of the dendroglyph was conducted along with the creation of a physical fibreglass peel, providing two unique recordings of this significant cultural modification. The authors provide a summary of the two methodologies along with an analysis of the benefits and costs of both. This paper also explores the further opportunities generated through the creation of digital cultural heritage.
http://australianarchaeology.com/gallery/managing-the-ewamian-cultural-landscape-of-talaroo-station/
If dendroglyphs were a faunal species they would be classified as critically endangered. They are... more If dendroglyphs were a faunal species they would be classified as critically endangered. They are the Giant Panda of the archaeological world, threatened by loss of habitat and natural decay. This paper describes the significance, attributes and preservation of Aboriginal dendroglyphs in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, the only dendroglyphs recorded in a tropical rainforest environment. For Dugulbarra and Waribarra clan group of Mamu the dendroglyphs represent not only the old people and their use of the rainforest as a cultural landscape, they also assert Mamu cultural survival after a history of land clearing, logging and ‘locking the gate’ on the world heritage protected area. Our research identifies the attributes of rainforest dendroglyphs on Mamu and other rainforest Aboriginal cultural estates. Rainforest dendroglyphs are usually on single trees depicting abstract linear or figurative designs and associated with Aboriginal walking tracks and other sites. Tree carving was probably practised over a much larger area, but the surviving dendroglyphs appear to have been protected by their inaccessibility, forestry management and national park / world heritage tenure. Comparison of records of the dendroglyphs made 25 years ago suggests the main threat to surviving rainforest dendroglyphs is the finite lifespan of the trees themselves.