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Very high, elevated mountain regions.
A portable flat stone, usually a river pebble, which has been used as a base for working stone. Anvils that have been used frequently have a small circular depression in the centre where cores were held while being struck. An anvil is often a multifunctional tool used also as a grindstone and hammer stone.
Any product made by human hands or caused to be made through human actions.
A surface scatter of stone artefacts is defined as being the occurrence of five (5) or more items of cultural material within an area of about 100 square metres (AAV 1993:lj). Artefact scatters are often the only physical remains of places where Aborigines have camped, prepared and eaten meals and worked stone material.
A stone artefact that has been ground on one or more sides to produce a sharp edge.
A blade flake has been abruptly retouched along one or more margins opposite an acute (sharp) edge. Backed pieces include backed blades and geometric microliths. They are thought to have been hafted onto wooden handles to produce composite cutting tools or spears. Backed blades are a feature of the "Australian Small Tool Tradition", dating from between 5,000 and 1,000 years ago in southern Australia (Mulvaney 1975).
The dark, dense igneous rock of a lava flow or minor intrusion.
A core or a flake, which, presumably, has been struck on an anvil. That is, the core from which the flake has been struck has been rotated before the flake has been struck off. Bifacial platforms tend to indicate that the flake has come off a heavily worked core.
A long parallel sided flake from a specially prepared core. Blade flakes are twice as long as they are wide.
Usually small, open or closed depression excavated by the wind crater.
A cliff, headland or hill with a broad steep face.
Tools constructed from animal bones.
Water with a slightly salty or briny flavour where freshwater and sea water mix.
This is a term used to describe the shape of the platform on a flake. A broad platform is wider than the body of a flake. Broad platform flakes are produced when flakes are struck off back from the edge of the platform on a core.
This is the conchoidal protuberance (percussion rings) formed under the point of impact when a flake is struck off the core.
Burial sites may occur in association with campsites, in mounds or shell middens or in specific burial grounds that lack any other cultural material. Softer ground was chosen for burials, and any sandy area can be expected to contain burials. Burial sites can contain one or a number of individuals. Burials sites and cemeteries are a common archaeological site type in the sand country adjoining the Murray River, though are a rare feature in the southern part of Victoria.
Heap of stones set up as a monument, landmark, tombstone etc.
An area used as a meeting place where large groups gathered for feasts, ceremonies or settlement of disputes, but they are difficult or impossible to identify from material evidence. In some instances they are mentioned in historical sources, or may be known to Aboriginal people through oral tradition. These sites will be highly significant to Aboriginal communities.
Fine grained siliceous rock usually formed in deep sea environments either as a chemical precipitate, or as accumulated remains of siliceous single celled organisms.
These are sites relating to the period of first contact between Aboriginal and European people. These sites may be associated with conflict between Aborigines and settlers, mission stations or reserves, or historic camping places. The artefact assemblage of contact sites will often include artefacts manufactured from glass.
An artefact from which flakes have been detached using a hammer stone. Core types include blade, single platform, multiplatform and bipolar forms.
Original or natural (unflaked) surface of a stone.
Artefacts which indicate previous cultural activity at a location.
Landform element that stands below all, or almost all points in the adjacent terrain crater.
Moderately inclined to very steep ridge or hillock built up by the wind crater.
Stone that was introduced to a location by trading or transporting from another district.
A piece of stone with definite flake surfaces that cannot be classified as a flake or core. These artefact types are generally refuse materials discarded during the working of stone material.
Alluvial plain characterised by frequently active erosion and aggradation by channelled or overbank stream flow crater.
This is a term used to describe the shape of the platform on a flake. A focal platform is narrower than the body of the flake. Focal platform flakes are produced when flakes are struck off near the edge of the platform on a core.
These sites generally occur on sandstone outcrops and to a lesser extent granite outcrops and result from the sharpening of ground stone hatchets/axe heads. Grinding grooves are often located on prominent hilltops.
Open depression with short, precipitous walls and moderately inclined to very gently inclined floor or small stream channel, eroded by channelled stream flow and consequent collapse and water aided mass movement.
Usually a sub-surface feature found eroding out of a river or creek bank or in a sand dune - it indicates a place where Aboriginal people cooked food. The remains of a hearth are usually identifiable by the presence of charcoal and sometimes clay balls (like brick fragments) and hearth stones. Remains of burnt bone or shell are sometimes preserved within a hearth.
A general term for tools, weapons, etc. made by people.
Refers to cultural material that is discovered as being undisturbed and considered to be in its original context. That is, material which, when identified is considered to be in the same location when the site was abandoned.
An isolated artefact is defined as being the occurrence of four (4) or less items of cultural material within an area of about 100 metres (AAV 1993:1). It/they can be evidence of an ephemeral (or one off) activity location, the results of an artefact being lost or discarded during travel or evidence of an artefact scatter which is otherwise obscured by poor ground surface visibility.
Very long, very low, nearly level sinuous ridge immediately adjacent to a stream channel, built up by over-bank flow. Levees are built, usually in pairs bounding the two sides of a stream channel, at the level reached by frequent floods.
Anything made of stone.
A medium textured soil of approximate composition 10 to 25 percent clay, 25 to 50 percent silt, and less than 50 percent sand.
Crescent shaped beach and dune complex found on the eastern sides of lakes in arid Australia. Usually composed of quartz sand but can also be partly or wholly composed of sand sized clay pellets and occasionally gypsum sand.
Various Australian species of Eucalyptus having a number of almost unbranched stems arising from a large underground lignotuber.
A grass which grows in dense tussocks of tough foliage, and used to stabilise sand dunes.
Small (1-3 cm long) stone tools with evidence of retouch. Includes 'Bondi Points' segment, scrapers, backed blades, triangle and trapezoid.
'Midden' is a term borrowed from the Danish. It originally applied to the accumulations of shell and other food remains left by Mesolithic man in that country. Australian Midden sites are an accumulation of hearth and food debris, which has built up a deposit on the ground surface over a length of time. Middens are generally comprised of charcoal and either freshwater or coastal shell species, depending on the site's location. Midden sites may also contain stone artefacts, and the food refuse of other native animals such as small mammals. Their thick deposit of burnt shells and dark grey/black deposit can distinguish midden sites within the landscape. Coastal shell middens are often found in close association with rock platforms. Freshwater shell middens are found in close proximity to areas that provided freshwater mussels.
The shell of any invertebrate in the phylum Mollusca. Characterised by a calcareous shell of one, two or more pieces.
Mound sites are accumulation of hearth (fire place) debris, which has over time built a thick deposit on the ground's surface. Mounds are generally comprised of charcoal; burnt clay balls and burnt food refuse such as native animal bones. Mound sites may also contain stone artefacts. On rare occasions mound sites may also contain human burial remains. Mound sites can be distinguished in the landscape by their characteristic dark grey/black deposit and height above surrounding land. Mounds that have been utilised over long periods can obtain dimensions of over 100 metres in length and 1 metre in height. Mound sites are generally situated close to major streams, and large water bodies. In times of flood, mound sites are often become marooned, and provide dry land points from which surrounding resources could have been exploited.
The lower stone associated with grinding plants for food and medicine and/or ochre for painting. These stones are usually large and flat, and when well used show deep grooves from repeated grinding.
The yam daisy
A volcanic glass, usually of a dark colour.
Long, curved, commonly water filled closed depression erode by channelled stream flow but closed as a result of aggradation by channelled or overbank stream flow, during the formation of a meander plain landform pattern.
The "upper stone", used to grind plants for food and medicine and/or ochre for painting. A pestle stone often doubles as a hammer stone and/or anvil.
The first flakes struck off a core in order to create a platform from which other flakes can then be struck.
The archaeological deposits within such sites can vary considerably but are often predominantly lithic. Depending on their location, the archaeological deposit may also include midden deposits of shellfish, fish or terrestrial fauna. Due to the often undisturbed deposits at these sites, they are potentially very valuable sites and are generally considered of high scientific significance. Instances where rock shelter sites also possess art work on the stone walls are considered as rock shelter/art site combined.
A long deep narrow valley, especially one worn by water (Macquarie Dictionary).
A community of trees of which the greater proportion are young trees of saplings (Macquarie Dictionary).
Exposed area of rock that is inferred to be continuous with underlying bedrock crater (McDonald et al).
These are sites that are located within a rock shelter/overhang or caves.
Rock Wells are natural cavities in rock outcrops that hold water. They are characterised by relatively narrow openings that limit evaporation. These water sources were commonly known to Aboriginal people and were kept clean and maintained by them. Since they are natural features, they are difficult to identify as Aboriginal sites. The most reliable indicator is the existence of a strong local oral tradition of Aboriginal use.
Natural lakes containing saltwater, which form crystalline salt beds if the water in the lake evaporates.
Grassland region with scattered trees, grading into either open plain or woodland, usually in tropical or sub-tropical regions (Macquarie Dictionary).
Scars on trees may be the result of removal of strips of bark by Aborigines for the manufacture of utensils, canoes or for shelter; or resulting from small notches chopped into the bark to provide toe and hand holds for climbers after possums, koalas and/or views of the surrounding area. A scar made by humans as opposed to naturally made by branches falling off, etc. is distinguished by the following criteria: symmetry and rounded ends, scar does not extend to the ground, some regrowth has occurred around the edges of the scar, and no holes or knots present in the heartwood.
Secondary working of a stone artefact after its manufacture. This was often done to resharpen stone tools after use, or in the production of formal tool types such as blade flakes and scrapers.
Mineral or organic matter deposited by water, air or ice (Macquarie Dictionary).
Small, water-worn stones or pebbles such as lie in loose banks or layers on the seashore (Macquarie Dictionary).
A shallow depression in the soil in which rain water collects (Macquarie Dictionary).
These sites are specifically patterned rocks located on the ground's surface. It is often difficult to identify these sites within the field and even more difficult to define their function unless Aboriginal oral tradition exists.
Material formed in strata or layers (Macquarie Dictionary).
A surface scatter of stone artefacts is defined as being the occurrence of five (5) or more items of cultural material within an area of about 100 square metres (AAV 1993:lj). Artefact scatters are often the only physical remains of places where Aborigines have camped, prepared and eaten meals and worked stone material (City of Monash web site).
linear, level floored open depression excavate by wind, or left relict between ridges built up by wind or waves (McDonald et al).
Moderately inclined or steep waning lower slope, consisting of rock fragments aggraded by gravity crater.
Artefacts that have been designed for a specific purpose.
Loose soil that has not formed any apparent structure
Landform with gentle slopes of 3 - 10% crater.
Tiny flakes or chips that have been broken of the edges of a stone artefact during use.
Refers to the degree to which the surface of the ground can be observed. This may be influenced by natural processes such as wind erosion or the character of the native vegetation, and by land use practices, such as ploughing or grading. It is generally expressed in terms of the percentage of the ground's surface visible for an observer on foot (Bird 1992). For example 10% visibility equates to 10cm 2 per 1 m 2 of ground surface that is not covered by vegetation or soil deposit. The following applies to descriptions of ground surface visibility within this site.
0% = No visible ground surface
0 - 10% = Very Poor
10 - 30% = Poor
30-50% = Fair
50 - 70% = Good
70 -90% = Very Good
90 - 100% = Excellent
Hillock with a circular symmetry built up by volcanism. The crest may form a ring around the crater.
Steep to precipitous closed depression excavated by explosions due to volcanism crater.
A fence made of brush, stones or sticks set in a stream or channel for catching fish.
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