Thursday, July 1, 2021

ABORIGINAL ARTEFACTS

Gulgong is located on Wiradjuri Country. Looking at a map of the different language groups, it is clear that the Wiradjuri people had one of the largest territories of First Nations people in this state, extending from the Great Dividing Range in the east, and bordered by the Macquarie, Lachlan and Murrumbidgee rivers.

Prior to colonisation, they also represented the largest cultural footprint in the state. It is estimated that there were 3,000 Wiradjuri living in the region, their habitation dating back over 60,000 years.

As with all traditional custodians of this country, their footprint on the land was light. Their resources came from nature (bark, fur, grasses etc) and in most cases returned to nature. In places where the people, language and culture were destroyed, the main evidence of habitation is in the form of stone artefacts. 
Location of the gas pipeline in relation to Gulgong
Source:  Archaeological investigation along the proposed Dubbo - Tamworth (& Gunnedah) Gas Pipeline

In 1998, an environmental impact statement was written about a proposed AGL gas pipeline from Dubbo to Tamworth (see above). The consultant was asked to address Aboriginal archaeology, anthropology, cultural heritage and non-Aboriginal heritage issues arising from the proposed pipeline's construction and route selection. This included systematic recording of 111 sample areas along the route in a range of representative landscapes and full pedestrian survey of 226km of the proposed route.

The geological regions along the route contained resources such as quartz, greywacke, mudstone, volcanics, quartzite and sandstone which Aboriginal people used for the production of stone tools.


Gilgandra LALC: View to the south of Gotta Rock with the proposed pipeline easement in the foreground. Four shelters, each containing a small number of stone artefacts (including an edge-ground stone axe), were recorded around the perimeter of the rock.
Source:  Archaeological investigation along the proposed Dubbo - Tamworth (& Gunnedah) Gas Pipeline

The report details all the Aboriginal artefacts found along the way. If you scroll through the 487 pages and just look at the images you get the sense that stone artefacts are lying all over the land which, sadly, indicates the many, many displaced Wiradjuri people.

A total of 98 Aboriginal archaeological sites were recorded during the fieldwork. These include 40 open camp sites, 36 scarred trees, one axe grinding groove, four shelters with deposit and 17 isolated finds
Source:  Archaeological investigation along the proposed Dubbo - Tamworth (& Gunnedah) Gas Pipeline

At Cobbora, two sites with artefacts were found. The first was a small open artefact scatter containing three stone artefacts, which were recorded on the lower hillslope / floodplain of the Talbragar River at Cobbora, approximately 300m from the river itself. The artefacts included a core and a hammerstone, and were made out of quartz and a fine grained siliceous material. The second was a small, open artefact scatter consisting of four stone artefacts, which were recorded on the terrace of the Talbragar River, north of Cobbora. The artefacts consisted of a core, a grindstone fragment, a flake and a flaked piece, made out of a fine-grained siliceous material, quartz and sandstone. The area where the artefacts were located has been cleared, ploughed and cultivated, and is currently used for grazing

Aboriginal sites within a 20km corridor either side of the proposed pipeline easement were also recorded. The following site types were noted:  

Site Type

Total

Open camp site

39

Scarred tree

30

Axe grinding grooves

11

Isolated find

 8

Shelter with deposit

 8

Shelter with art

 6

Quarry

 4

Carved tree

 3

Scarred tree/Axe-grinding grooves

 2

Burial/Carved tree

 2

Axe-grinding grooves/Waterhole/well

 1

Burial

 1

Bora/Ceremonial

 1

Bora/Ceremonial/Carved tree

 1

Fish trap

 1

Natural Mythological/Ritual

 1

Open camp site/Contact/Mission

 1

Midden

 1

 

121


A study of trees and habitats along the route indicated the types of food resources available.

Aboriginal people living in the Dubbo - Tamworth and Gunnedah region would have had a range of woodland and riverine resources available to them such as kangaroo, possum, bandicoots, snakes, goannas, lizards, platypus, emu and echidna. A range of river and wetland species, such as Long-necked Tortoise (Chelodina longicollis), the Australian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata), the Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciiosa), the Black Swan (Cygnus atratus), pelicans, eels, crayfish, freshwater mussels, and freshwater fish such as mullet, bass, and golden perch would also have been available food resources for Aboriginal people in this region.
Source:  Archaeological investigation along the proposed Dubbo - Tamworth (& Gunnedah) Gas Pipeline

Not surprisingly, the proximity to water was seen to correlate with the amount of activity in an area.

Differences in the permanence of the closest water source to an open camp site, were also reflected in the range of lithic activities (and therefore the complexity of thestone assemblage) being carried out by Aboriginal people at a site. Artefact scatters in the vicinity of more permanent water (ie, a higher stream order ranking) had a greater range of activities represented (eg tool use, manufacture I and maintenance, food processing, and quarrying) in their assembhiges, whereas sites near smaller, more temporary water courses, had evidenct for one-off occupation (eg isolated knapping floors or tool discard). Creek unctions also I appeared to provide foci for site activity.

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The Gulgong Pioneers Museum has a large collection of Aboriginal artefacts.


Scarred tree, Gulgong Pioneers Museum, 2013

Knapped stone at location where it was worked by Aboriginal people, Cobbora Road

Hands in the Rocks, Ulan Road, via Gulgong

Hands in the Rocks, Ulan Road, via Gulgong

Adapted from Hands in the Rocks signage.

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1900 - [ARTEFACTS]
Mr Frank Egan the proprietor of the Prince of Wales Hotel has a boomerang and nulla nulla which were made by the late Tommy Governor. These implements of savage warfare are regarded as great trophies.

1917 - [ARTEFACT FOUND]

SYMBOL OF CHIEFDOM - ABORIGINE ARISTOCRAT.
Our illustration is that of a crescent-shaped brass plate, officially recording the social status of "Mickey, chief of Trinkee Plains." This symbol of chiefdom is one of those issued by the Government of N.S. Wales, and at one time must have been proudly worn by the owner around his neck on state occasions.
What happened to Chief Mickey, whether he be alive or dead or how he came to part with his insignia of leadership, is not known.

The brass plate, appropriately embellished with a pictorial representation of the native emu and kangaroo, was found by a navvy working on an excavation along the Scone Muswellbrook (N.S.W.) railway line. He struck it with his pick. Its present possessor is Mr. B. J. Naughton, a Gulgong hotelkeeper, who displays it in the bar of his hospitable inn.
[The plate may be seen by members of the Historical Society, in whose interests it will be held for week. -Ed. Globe.]
Source: 
  •  
    • The Globe and Sunday Times War Pictorial (Sydney, NSW : 1914 - 1917) Mon 28 May 1917 Page 14

    ABORIGINAL CARVED STONES.
    MUDGEE, Tuesday.
    While Mr. S. Rayner was drawing gravel from a pit on Putta Bucca, he unearthed many quaintly carved stones, supposed to have been carved by an aboriginal in the early days. The stones were found at a depth of 14 feet.
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