DigIt NS Vol.1, Issue 1 i i
The Flying Dutchman reaches port
Neolithic burial in Gua Harimau, Malyasia i i
The benefits of student groups
Local and international archaeology programs and conferences i
2013 ArchSoc committee
Newsletter of the Flinders Archaeological Society February 2013 ISSN 1440-2475
Pg. 16 FlindersArchSocmembersandfriendsattheWACͲ7GalaDinnerattheDeadSeaSpaHotelontheDeadSea,Jordan(photograph:TaylorAnƟsdel, 17/01/2013).LͲR:GonzaloCompañy,MariaVictoriaRoca,IslamAlhassn,JessicaLumb,EleanorJenkins,ChanmakaraSun,BasharBaghdadi,Susan Arthure,ClareLeevers,AmyButcher,JanineMcEgan,JordanRalph,JoshuaBrown,AndrewWilkinsonandaBedouinCamelHerder.
Contents Page 4
The Flying Dutchman reaches port -Vincent Megaw
The latest discovery of a Neolithic human burial in Gua Harimau, Lenggong Valley, Malaysia
Page 6
-Hsiao Mei Goh
The benefits of student groups: A regional perspective
Page 8
-Jordan Ralph, Antoinette Hennessy, Vanessa Beasley and Rhiannon Agutter
2013 ArchSoc Committee
Page 10
Oatlands Summer Archaeology Program
Page 12
-Samantha Fidge Page 12
Bamburgh Research Project -Natalie Bittner
Australian Archaeological Association’s Annual Conference, Wollongong, 2012
Page 14
-Rhiannon Agutter -Samantha Fidge -Mandy Atkinson Page 16
ArchSoc to the rescue! -Claire Smith
ArchSoc members win International Student Ethics Debate
Page 18
-Karen Martin-Stone
The ancient city of Jerash, Jordan -Andrew Wilkinson
Page 18
ArchSoc news
Page 19
-Andrew Allen-Farr Award 2
A note from the President
Editorial AŌerasuccessfulrelaunchofDigItattheendof2012aŌeralengthy hiatus, we have decided to start 2013 oī with a new numbering system.ThisissueisVolume1,Issue1intheNewSeriesandwehave plannedtoprintthreeissuesayear;oneinFebruary,oneinJulyand theĮnaloneinOctober.IfyouhaveanysuggesƟonsforthelayoutor contentofthisissue,oranyissue,donothesitatetocontactmeusing thecontactinformaƟonbelow. AsidefromworkingontheprintednewsleƩer,IhavebeendigiƟsing theoldcopiesofDigItfromtheMegawcollecƟon.VincentMegaw ownswhatwouldbetheonlycompletecollecƟonofŝŐ/ƚfromIssue1 1997toIssue152003.Thesewillbeavailableonourwebsitevery soon.It’sgreattolookbackontheoldnewsleƩersandseeingwhich ofourlecturersandindustryprofessionalswereinvolvedinArchSoc commiƩeesandacƟviƟeswhentheywereatuniversity.Mypersonal favouritewasstumblinguponthearƟcle’Whatthehellishappening atJCU’inDigIt61999bythenPresidentoftheJamesCookUniversity Archaeology and Anthropology Student’s AssociaƟon, Michael Morrison. As for this issue, we have lots to oīer our readers (I actually had to turnawaysomeentries!).WehavehadsomegreatcontribuƟonsfrom fellow students, and an arƟcle from Claire Smith about her experiences with WACͲ7 and the eīorts that ArchSoc put in to help runtheWACͲ7conferenceinJordan.ThefeaturedarƟcleofDigIt1is by ArchSoc’s Įrst Honorary Life Member, Vincent Megaw. It is part one of ‘The Flying Dutchman reaches port’, which originally featured in AnƟquity Vol. 86. No. 332 2012. It is an honour to have Vincent submiƫngarƟclestothenewseriesofDigIt,andifyoureadtheold issuesofthenewsleƩer,youwillseewhy!
Jordan Ralph
Welcome to new and conƟnuing ArchSoc members for 2013. This year is proving to be as busy and exciƟng as 2012 was for acƟvity. I would like to thank the commiƩee of 2012 for their dedicaƟon and enthusiasmtoArchSocaswehaveseentheopportuniƟesgrow,and membership numbers reach unprecedented levels. ArchSoc is now the largest and most acƟve student archaeological society in the country.Thisisonlyachievedthroughthehardworkofthemembers and the commiƩee. We are now looking at generaƟng an aĸliaƟon networkwithsimilarorganisaƟonsacrossthecountryandaroundthe world. I would like to welcome the new commiƩee for 2013, and I lookforwardtoworkingwithyouallinthecomingyear. A catch phrase in the Archaeology Department is ‘get involved’. The Flinders Archaeological Society plays an important part in realising this.ManymembersaregraduatestudentsandArchSocisoŌenthe Įrstportofcallforprojectvolunteers.Weconductmanyfundraising acƟviƟes in order to support our events and professional development opportuniƟes. Involvement with these projects is a great way to meet likeͲminded people, industry partners, future colleagues and potenƟal employers. For those students new to the archaeologyprogramyouwilllikelyĮndfriendswithsimilarinterests, and those who have experienced the many nuances of academic study amongst the membership. In this way ArchSoc also forms a supportroleasyouembarkonanewadventure.AllIaskisdon’tbe shy. Come along to things, introduce yourself and start chaƫng. ArchSoc acƟviƟes are displayed on the noƟce board outside HUMN 112 so keep an eye out for what is going on. There is also the newsleƩerDigIt,Facebookpage,TwiƩeraccount(@FlindersArchSoc) and Blog (hƩp://Ňindersarchsoc.com/) for keeping up to date with eventsandacƟviƟes. IlookforwardtomeeƟngwithyouallthroughouttheyear.Asever, we welcome suggesƟons for social events and professional developmentideasfromyou,theArchSocmember.
DigIt
Andrew Wilkinson
DigItistheoĸcialnewsleƩeroftheFlindersArchaeologicalSociety.It began in 1997 and aŌer a hiatus of at least Įve years, it was relaunched in 2012, with the new series beginning in 2013. It is published three Ɵmes a year and is printed at Flinders Press. DigIt featuresbothscholarlyandlightͲheartedarƟclesfromanyonewithan interestinarchaeology. CorrespondencetotheEditorshouldbeaddressedto: TheEditor,DigItc/oArchSoc DepartmentofArchaeology FlindersUniversity GPOBox2100 Adelaide,5001 ORemailjordan.ralph@Ňinders.edu.au
Editorial team Editor:JordanRalph Reviewers:AntoineƩeHennessyandAndrewWilkinson
Cover photographs Front cover: ArchSocks in Egypt. Models: Jordan Ralph and Andrew Wilkinson(photograph:JessicaLumb,Giza,Egypt,23/01/2013). Back cover: Petra at night (photograph: Andrew Wilkinson, Petra, Jordan,20/01/2013).
ThistrophywasawardedtotheArchSocmembersfortheiroutstanding contribuƟonatWACͲ7.SomeofuswereluckyenoughtogotoEgyptaŌer WACͲ7!(photograph:JordanRalph23/01/2013).
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The latest discovery of a Neolithic human burial in Gua Harimau, Lenggong Valley, Malaysia Hsiao Mei Goh InJanuary2010,IsurveyedthecavesiteofGua(cave)Harimauwith the assistance of the research team from the Centre for Global Archaeological Research (CGAR) aĸliated with the University Science Malaysia (USM). As part of a larger PhD project, this survey aims to idenƟfythearchaeologicalpropertyoftheGuaHarimau,andthedata generatedfromthissurveywillbeintegratedintotheformulaƟonofa heritagemanagementplanforthissite.Afortuitousdiscoveryofthis survey was a halfͲexposed human burial found in front of a small entrance in the west part of the cave. This burial was found in a disturbed context in which part of the burial deposits were dug out. Later, in February 2010, a rescue excavaƟon unearthed a 50% complete human skeleton buried with a roundͲboƩom earthenware vessel.Thishumanskeleton,laterlabelledasGH12,wasassessedas an adult male and the radiocarbon dates derived from a charcoal sampleassociatedwiththeskeletalremainsindicateGH12asanearly Neolithicburialdatedto5080±50BP(Beta275680).
another one metre wide opening is found in the west of the cave (Figure 2). This cave is well known for its archaeological signiĮcance since the 1950s (e.g. WilliamsͲHunt 1951, 1952). Research indicates thatearlyhumansusedthiscaveextensivelyasacemeteryduringthe late Holocene. Between 1987 and 1995, at least 11 human burials dated to between 1 700 and 4 900 years ago were uncovered from this cave over three seasons of excavaƟons (Chia & Zolkurnain 2005; Zolkurnain1998;Zurania1988).
Figure2.ThefrontviewofGuaHarimau(photograph:HsiaoMeiGoh, January2010).
FromtheexcavaƟon,a50%completehumanskeletonassociatedwith an earthenware vessel was found. Given that the parƟal skeleton found during the excavaƟon was incomplete, the exact boundary of theburialarearemainsundetermined(Figure3).GH12wasburiedin a northͲsouth orientaƟon and the intact bone arƟculaƟons suggest that the remaining skeletal parts were sƟll inͲsitu. Surprisingly, the mortuary goods were relaƟvely scarce compared to the previous burialsfoundinGuaHarimau,sincetheburialofGH12containedonly oneroundͲboƩomearthenwarevesselwithintheburialarea(Chiaand Zolkurnian2005).
Figure1.ThelocaƟonofHarimauCavein theLenggongValley,PeninsularMalaysia (illustraƟon:HsiaoMeiGoh).
Gua Harimau is a limestone cave situated in the Lenggong Valley– a UNESCO World heritage Site in the state of Perak located in the northernPeninsularofMalaysia(Figure1).Itisthelargestcavefound in the valley thus far, covering an area of approximately 350 square metres.GuaHarimauhastwoentrances–themainentranceiswelllit andfacingsouthwithahorizontalopeningabout18mwidewhereas
Figure3.TheGH12,foundatthedepthof50Ͳ70cmfromthesurface (photograph:HsiaoMeiGoh,February2010).
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GH 12 was found lying in the supine posiƟon in a northͲsouth orientaƟon with the head poinƟng north. Several fragments of earthenware were found on the leŌ of the remains (Figure 4). The skeletal remains were incomplete and found in fragile condiƟon, but basedontheappearanceofthebonesandteeth,theybelongedtoa humanadult.Mostofthefragmentarybonesinthisburialwerefrom the upper body, as there were no lower limbs preserved. The leŌ porƟon of the mandible showed a robust mandibular body and a prominent mandibular angle, giving a masculine impression, and suggests a male (Figure 5). On the mandible, the second and third molarswerepresentintheirsockets,whichmeansthathewouldhave been older than 20 years old. The enamel had a reddish brown discolouraƟonwhiletherootsretainedtheirnaturalcolour,whichmay suggestahabitualconsumpƟonofbetelnut.SexesƟmaƟonwasmade onthesexuallydimorphicfeaturesofthemandibleastherestofthe remainswereseverelyfragmented.
Figure6.TheearthenwarevesselreconstructedfromthepoƩerysherds foundassociatedwithGH12(photograph:HsiaoMeiGoh,September2010).
Previous studies conducted by Chia and Zolkurnain (2005) suggested thiscaveasthelargestprehistoriccemeteryinthePeninsularMalaysia during the late Holocene, between 4,000 and 1,700 years ago. The latest radiocarbon dates obtained from the GH 12, has extended the earlyoccupaƟonofthiscavefromthepresumeddateof3,000Ͳ4,000 years ago back into the mid Holocene. InteresƟngly, the associated mortuary items of GH 12 burial were scarce compared with the previous 11 burials. Whether this indicates variaƟons in burial pracƟces in Gua Harimau during the terminal Mid HoloceneͲLate Holocene, or whether there might have been some other associated mortuaryitemsthathavebeenremovedbyanthropogenicfactorssƟll remains uncertain. Given that the remains of GH 12 are poorly preservedandtheburialareawaspartlydisturbed,thebiologicaland culturalinformaƟonretrievedfromGH12isthereforefairlylimited.
Figure4.TheburialareaandtheassociatedĮndsofGH12(illustraƟon:Hsiao MeiGoh).
Atotalof15poƩerysherdsweighing352.3gwerefoundscaƩeredon theleŌofGH12.ThesepoƩerysherdswerefoundintwoclustersand furtherlaboratoryanalysesindicatedthatthesesherdsallbelongtoa single vessel. The reconstructed vessel is a roundͲboƩom globular vesselwithcordmarkeddecoraƟonfoundonitsbase(Figure6).The vesselisdarkbrownincolour,grogtemperedwithaplainevertedrim. Itisapproximately240mmhighand165mmwidewithalargeoriĮce of140mm.Furtherstudyonthisvesselindicatedthatitiscomparable to the poƩery collecƟons previously found in the Lenggong Valley wherevesselsofsimilarshape,decoraƟonandĮnishhavebeenfound inothercavesites.
References Chia,S.1997PrehistoricpoƩerysourcesandtechnologyinPeninsular Malaysia based on composiƟonal and morphological studies. MonographofMalaysiaMuseumsJournal33. Chia,S.andH.Zolkurnian2005GuaHarimau,aprehistoriccemeteryin Lenggong,Perak.InM.Zuraina(ed.),ThePerakManandother prehistoric skeletons of Malaysia, pp. 363Ͳ383. Penang: UniversiƟSainsMalaysiaPress. WilliamsͲHunt, P. 1951 Recent archaeological discoveries. Journal of theMalayanBranchoftheRoyalAsiaƟcSociety24:186Ͳ191. WilliamsͲHunt, P. 1952 Archaeological discoveries in Malaya. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal AsiaƟc Society 25(1):181Ͳ 190. Zolkurnian,H.1998UrutankebudayaanprasejarahlembahLenggong, Hulu Perak, Perak pada Zaman Holosen. Unpublished MA Thesis,UniversiƟSainsMalaysia,Penang. Zuraina, M. 1988 Indigenous Malaysia bronze manufacture or not? Short notes of new evidence from Gua Harimau in Perak, North Malaysia. Paper presented at the InternaƟonal Conference of Ancient Bronze Drums and Bronze Cultures in SouthernChinaandSoutheastAsia,Kunming.
Figure5.TheleŌmandibleshowsarobustmandibularbodyandaprominent mandibularangle,indicatesGH12asamale(photograph:HsiaoMeiGoh, February2010).
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