TALLER GRADOS OCTAVO Y NOVENO

T he g re a t V ictoria River Valley of th e N o rth ern T errito ry lies halfw ay betw een th e Kimberley d istric t to th e w est, an d A rnhem lan d to th e n o rth -e a s t (see Map 1). From th e sa n d p lain s of the d e s e rt fringe, th e V icto ria River w in d s n o rth w a rd th ro u g h in creasin g ly w ell-w atered s a v a n n a g ra s s la n d s a n d ran g es, c u ts th ro u g h th e m assive V ictoria River Gorge, an d m e ets th e s a lt w a te r a t th e h e a d of th e J o s e p h B o n a p a rte Gulf. E s tu a rin e conditions extend in la n d for well over 100 kilom etres a n d along th e lower sectio n th e river p a s se s th ro u g h som e of th e h ig h e st a n d m o st rugged ra n g e s in th e valley. M esas a n d flat-to p p ed ran g es of b ro k en sa n d sto n e an d lim estone, an d ran g es of b a s a lt b o rd e r m u c h of th e V ictoria c a tc h m e n t or extend h a p h a z a rd ly acro ss th e valley floor th ro u g h a m osaic of b a sa lt, lim estone, and sa n d plains (Plates 4-11).

The Keep River an d Ord River valleys are ch a ra cte rised by sim ilar landform featu res an d th e rugged sa n d sto n e range co u n try of the V icto ria River region e x te n d s in to th e n o r th e r n p a r t of th e Fitzm aurice River ca tc h m e n t (see Map 4). To th e east, an a re a of flat, relatively fe a tu re le ss a n d very dry c o u n try s e p a ra te s th e c a tc h m e n t of th e V ictoria River from t h a t of th e R oper River (Map 4).

Climate

The clim ate in th is region is m onsoonal - extrem ely dry from May to O ctober w ith rainfall u su a lly confined to th e su m m er m o n th s. By E u ro p e a n A u s tra lia n s ta n d a r d s , s e a s o n a l c o n d itio n s are extrem ely h a rsh . In fact, Lee's (1969) stu d y of h u m a n ad a p ta tio n in tro p ical en v iro n m en ts in d ic ates th a t th is a re a h a s th e m ost prolonged period of h u m id tropical conditions in A ustralia; on an average of 22 5 d ay s p e r year, h e a t a n d h u m id ity com bine to exceed h u m a n com fort levels (ibid: 234).

In Ju ly , th e co ld est m onth, average te m p e ra tu re s ran g e from a m in im u m of a b o u t 10 degrees to a m ax im u m of 27 degrees C e lsiu s (Plum b 1973: m ap 4). By th e end of th e dry se a so n d essicatio n m ay be extrem e - all b u t th e m ajor w aters have dried u p , g ro u n d cover is sp a rse an d th e soil d u sty an d cracked. W ith th e ap p ro ach in g sum m er, m assive th u n d e rh e a d s appear, bringing violent electrical displays an d erratic, tu rb u le n t w inds th a t often p ro d u ce sh o rt, fierce d u s t storm s.

D u rin g th e su m m e r m o n th s (October to F ebruary), c o n tin u o u s high h u m id ity is accom panied by daily te m p e ra tu re s of u p to 45 degrees a n d average overnight lows of a b o u t 30 degrees C elsius (ibid). M ost of th e a n n u a l ra in fall o ccu rs d u rin g su m m er, an d average rain fall figures ran g e from 700 m m in th e n o rth of th e valley to 330 m m in th e so u th (ibid). T hese average figures m a sk th e tru e s itu a tio n - rainfall varies significantly from y ea r to year. D u rin g one su m m e r fierce electrical sto rm s m ay be th e only so u rc e of ra in fa ll w hile a n o th e r su m m e r m ay experience tru e m o n so o n a l r a in s sev eral tim es, so th a t one se a so n m ay be co m p arativ e ly d ry a n d a n o th e r se a so n m ay experience m ajo r flooding.

V egetation

On th e b a sis of n a tu ra l vegetation, influenced by rainfall p a tte rn s, th e region ca n be divided into th re e zones - w oodlands an d tall g r a s s la n d s in th e n o r th e r n h ig h ra in fa ll a re a s , s p a rs e low w oodlands in th e interm ediate rainfall area, an d in th e arid so u th , s h ru b la n d s (Perry 1970). The g reater p a r t of th e V ictoria River valley receives a n interm ediate rainfall.

T he foregoing d e s c rip tio n provides a g en e ra lise d su m m a ry of n ativ e v eg etatio n p re s e n t in th e a re a today. However, th e re is ev id en ce w h ic h s u g g e s ts t h a t th e in tro d u c tio n of E u ro p e a n liv e sto c k h a s h a d a sev ere im p a c t on so m e flo ra sp e c ie s, p articu larly som e of th e sm aller p la n ts su c h as sh ru b s, herbs, an d g rasse s, an d on freshw ater p la n t com m unities.

For exam ple, th e explorer G regory d escrib ed d en se b a n k s of reed s (T y p h a spp.) b o rd erin g m an y sectio n s of th e rivers an d creeks in the region (Gregory 1981: 114-115, 146-47, 149). One of th e expedition m em bers la te r wrote th a t th e h o rses found th e reed s especially p a la ta b le (Wilson 1858: 145). Today reed s are

o n \ y

very rare, and I have only seen them growing^at three locations in the en tire V ictoria River region.

A nother early ac c o u n t m entions 'saltb u sh ' an d 'b lu eb u sh ' growing on V ictoria River Downs (Crawford, cited in P arso n s 1885: 2). It rem a in s u n k n o w n w h eth e r th e se are th e sam e species as th o se renow ned for th e ir value as stock feed; b o th ap p e a r to be entirely a b s e n t today. C u rre n t eth n o -b o ta n ica l re se a rc h by Dr D eborah Rose in d ic a te s th a t m a n y p la n t species w h ich w ere form erly m a jo r s u b s is te n c e foods for th e A borigines, a re now highly restric ted in th e ir range; som e m ay be locally ex tin ct (Rose pers. com m .).

P reh isto ry

Initial h u m a n occupation of A ustralia is now generally accepted to have o ccurred a b o u t 4 0 -5 0 ,0 0 0 y e a rs ago (Mulvaney an d W hite 1987: XV; W hite a n d L am bert 1987: 11; R oberts et al 1990). As th e m o st likely en try to A u stralia w as from th e n o rth , th e re is no reaso n to believe th a t th e V ictoria River valley w as n o t occupied a t th a t tim e. In th e A lligator Rivers region to th e n o rth -e a s t, n u m e ro u s sites have been radio-carbon d ated to well in excess of 2 0 ,0 0 0 y e a rs (Kam m inga an d Allen 1973; S ch rire 1982; J o n e s an d J o h n s o n 1985), an d one of th e se sites h a s given a th e rm o ­ lu m in esc en ce d a te of a t le a s t 5 0 ,0 0 0 y e a rs BP (R oberts et al

1990).

In th e Ord River valley to th e w est, several site s are know n to have b een first occupied a b o u t 20 ,0 0 0 y ears ago (Dortch 1977), an d recently a site on Koolan Island off th e w est Kimberley co ast h a s been dated to m ore th a n 27,000 BP (O'Connor 1989: 102). A lth o u g h in te rm s of d ire c t re s e a rc h , th e p re h is to ry of th e V ictoria River region re m a in s v irtu ally u n k n o w n , th e region is

effectively b ra c k e te d by th e w ork of D av id so n (1935) an d M ulvaney (1975) in th e ea st, an d D ortch (1977) an d Crawford (cited in D ortch 1977) in th e w est. By looking a t th e re s u lts obtained by th e se rese arch ers, a general outline of V ictoria River p reh isto ry m ay be proposed.

D avid son 's Work

In 1930 th e A m erican a n th ro p o lo g ist D. S. D avidson (1935) conducted archaeological investigations of a n unspecified n u m b er of ro ck sh e lte rs a t two locations n e a r th e e a s te rn w ate rsh ed of th e V ictoria River valley. One group of sites, on Willeroo Station, lies on th e ca tc h m e n t of th e F lora River. The o th er group is in 'a g re a t gulch' on a trib u ta ry of th e V ictoria River, on D elem ere S tatio n (Map 2). T hose who know som ething of th e h isto ry of the V ictoria River d istric t an d who have h ad first-h a n d experience of p rese n t-d a y conditions, can appreciate D avidson's achievem ent in co n d u ctin g field w ork in w h a t w as still, in th e 1930’s, a rem ote an d som etim es violent frontier (see C h ap ter 5).

D a v id s o n ’s e x c a v a tio n s in d ic a te d a c h a n g e in s to n e tool technology - from m ainly sc ra p e rs an d adzes n e a r b a se level to p re d o m in a n tly p o in ts in th e u p p e r level. They also revealed a ra n g e of o th e r tool ty p e s in site s in th e a re a . The site s he excavated were n o t stratified and, w ith rad io -carb o n dating still tw enty years in the future, D avidson could only rep o rt a ’...feeling th a t m any h u n d re d s of years are involved...’ an d th a t '...none of the d e p o sits....g a v e th e im p re ssio n th a t m illenia w ere c o n c e rn e d ’ (D avidson 1935: 1 5 3-154). U n fo rtu n a te ly , D av id so n n ev e r p u b lish ed detailed analyses of his excavations, exact locations of h is site s or th e n u m b e r of sites he excavated, a n d n e ith e r his field n otes no r h is excavated m aterials can now be located.

T he m o s t e n d u rin g v a lu e of D av id so n 's s tu d y lies in h is e th n o g ra p h ic o b se rv a tio n s of th e local W ard a m an people w ith w hom he w orked. As well as inform ation con cern in g territo rial lim its, trad e in various goods, an d technological change, Davidson provides v a lu a b le in sig h ts into th e d y n am ics of rock sh e lte r d ep o sitio n , a n d h is w ork is re le v a n t to th e in te rp re ta tio n of

sh e lte r sites elsew here. For exam ple, he describes the W ardam an practice of bu ry in g quartzite p oints for safe keeping in th e ea rth a t th e b a se of sh e lte r w alls, th e b u ria l of h u m a n rem a in s in sh e lte r floors, a n d th e caching of valued goods an d h u m a n bones in wall n ich es (ibid: 151-53). In a n o th e r paper, D avidson (1936: 5 6 -6 0 , 108-20) also provides in te re s tin g d a ta on W ard a m an in te rp retatio n s of th e ir rock engravings an d paintings.