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Marine and Freshwater Research Marine and Freshwater Research Society
Advances in the aquatic sciences
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

An archaeological example of Aboriginal management of a hydro-ecological system in the Murray River valley, South Australia

Craig Westell https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2405-6861 A * , Amy Roberts https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9004-292X A , Daniel McCullough https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6453-2871 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.

* Correspondence to: craigwestell@ozemail.com.au

Handling Editor: Max Finlayson

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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