An archaeological example of Aboriginal management of a hydro-ecological system in the Murray River valley, South Australia
Craig Westell
A * , Amy Roberts A , Daniel McCullough B and the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
B Department for Environment and Water, Water Science and Monitoring Branch, Water and River Murray Division, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
C River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Marine and Freshwater Research 74(12) 1026-1038 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF23049
Submitted: 3 April 2023 Accepted: 13 June 2023 Published: 10 July 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Context: A rare archaeological example of Aboriginal water management in a Murray River floodplain upstream of Renmark is described and contextualised.
Aims: Historical accounts, archaeological descriptions and hydrological modelling are used to propose a likely function of the site.
Methods: The site was documented through archaeological field recording, a digital elevation model (DEM) developed through a real-time kinematic (RTK) survey and flood inundation modelling (FIM), and is interpreted through a review of archival and documentary sources.
Key results: The site represents one of only a few extant physical examples of Aboriginal water management in the Riverland and greater Murray–Darling Basin.
Conclusions: Our assessment indicates that Aboriginal people had excavated an artifical channel within the Calperum floodplain in order to manipulate natural water connectivity, most likely as part of a fish trap or weir structure.
Implications: The site builds an appreciation of the complexity of Aboriginal land practices and supports the impression gained though historical accounts of a curated and managed riverscape.
Keywords: Aboriginal archaeology, fish trap, flood inundation modelling, floodplain management, freshwater fishery, hydro-ecology, Murray–Darling Basin, Murray River.
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