Format: Paper presentations with discussion
Convenors:
Jim Wheeler, Director Extent Heritage; Honorary Senior Lecturer School of Archaeology and Anthropology Australian National University; Chair Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists (AACAI) Victoria Chapter, Australia, jwheeler@extent.com.au
Dr Duncan Wright, Assoc. Prof., School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Australia, duncan.wright@anu.edu.au
Bill Bell, Acting Heritage, Research & Policy Manager, Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, Australia, bill@gunditjmirring.com
Adam Black, Acting Chief Operating Officer, Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, Australia, adam@gunditjmirring.com
Dr Michael Wallace, Post-Excavation Manager, Headland Archaeology, Australia, Michael.Wallace@headlandarchaeology.com
In recent decades, there has been a philosophical shift in archaeological research from traditional site-based approaches to more dynamic, landscape-oriented frameworks for understanding and mapping past human mobility. This transition reflects an increasing recognition, both within academic circles and among First Nations communities, that human societies have historically occupied not just physical sites, but entire cultural landscapes and seascapes. These broader conceptualisations of space challenge a conventional focus on campsites, settlements and sacred places.
Cultural landscape mapping has benefited from the rapid development and integration of innovative techniques that capture both tangible and intangible aspects of heritage. Methods now encompass a wide range of geospatial tools, including LiDAR, photogrammetry, geophysics, digital twins, and augmented reality visualisations, alongside increasingly sophisticated approaches for documenting cultural values, toponyms, and individual biographies. These technologies allow for multi-vocal, interdisciplinary research, drawing from fields such as anthropology, ethnography, heritage studies, human geography, and art history.
This session seeks to bring together academic researchers, professional archaeologists, and First Nations people interested in cultural landscape mapping. We welcome contributions from across the globe that explore theoretical frameworks, methodologies, or alternative approaches to this evolving field. All presenters will be invited to join a panel discussion at the end of the session, creating a valuable opportunity to advance the field by sharing experiences, exchanging insights, and exploring diverse perspectives on cultural landscape mapping.
Papers:
Integrating Remote Sensing Methods for the Study of Corded Ware Culture Burial Mounds in the Eastern Carpathians
Roman Liubun, Dept of Archaeology and Museology, Masaryk University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republik
Tibor Lieskovsky, Dept of Global Geodesy and Geoinformatics, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, Slovakia
The use of modern remote sensing methods, such as LiDAR, satellite imagery, and orthophotos, has become an essential approach for studying archaeological sites, including burial mounds associated with the Corded Ware Culture (CWC) in the Eastern Carpathians. This study aims to present the results of applying these techniques for the identification, monitoring of preservation status, and analysis of the spatial organisation of burial mounds in the Eastern Carpathians. The objectives of the research include analysing LiDAR data for the detection of archaeological sites in challenging natural environments, specifically in mountainous forested areas, and comparing the quality of satellite and orthophoto imagery with LiDAR data in open landscapes and agricultural areas. Additionally, the study evaluates the effectiveness of various remote sensing methods for investigating CWC burial mounds across different landscape contexts.
Archaeology and Ritual Movement in the Australia-Pacific: Lessons Learnt During the Waiet Archaeology Project
Duncan Wright, Australian National University, Australia
Cygnet Repu, Gabriel Bani and William (Abba) Babia, Goemulaig of Mabuiag
Sabu Wailu, James Zaro and Alo Tapim, Dauareb Elders Group
First Nation communities across Oceania often attribute a high importance to journeying spirit beings, Cultural Heroes and reforming Ancestors. Also prominent in contemporary narratives and nineteenth century ethnographies are consecrated journeys used by Ancestors to travel to ceremonial grounds and during funerary and initiation rituals. Far less well-articulated in this region is the extent to which this has been commemorated on country in ways that leave behind a material trace and/or continue to influence the lives of people in the present. In this paper we explore this theme in Torres Strait, far northern Australia, with a focus on the trajectory of development of the ‘Waiet’ cult and associated mortuary and initiation rituals. Results explore memorialisation of Waiet in the western and eastern islands, and the extent to which activities altered across time and space. We explore echoes of a shared spiritual heritage that are preserved in stories, songs and stone and emphasise potential for such studies elsewhere in the Australia-Pacific.
Reconstructing a Dauareb Cultural Landscape: A Multi-disciplinary and Multi-vocal Study of Dauar and Waier Islands in Eastern Torres Strait
Duncan Wright, Australian National University, Australia
James Zaro, Sabu Wailu, Alo Tapim and Nicholas Skopal, Dauareb Elders Group
Dauareb occupation of Dauar Island, likely began in the mid third millennium BP, culminating in abandonment of this island in the 1920s. In the interim there is evidence for substantive settlement of coastal ‘villages’, also far-flung connectivity incorporating Papua New Guinea and Western Torres Strait. Far less clear is the trajectory of socio-political and ceremonial activities across this cultural landscape and through time. This paper provides a preliminary, environmental and landscape context to previous discoveries, also documents results from the first systematic archaeological survey of the island’s interior. Oral and archaeological histories provide important insights into reconfiguration of this island society towards remembered cosmologies and ceremonial behaviours after 700 years ago. This incorporates a storied landscape stretching between mountains and the sea, incorporating gardens (zogo) shrines, pathways, boundary markers, engravings, fish traps and natural features associated with Dauareb Ancestors.
Landscaped Culture or Cultural Landscapes?: African Understanding of the Landscape
Ashton Sinamai, independent researcher (Greatland Gold), Honorary Research Fellow La Trobe University, Australia
The concept of cultural landscape is defined by a single western knowledge system. It is this knowledge system that is used to define cultural landscapes in the tropics and that is used to create primary documents that are used by UNESCO in its definition of landscapes. This ignores the concepts of landscapes as defined by other knowledge systems. This paper advocates for the use of local knowledge systems to understand cultural landscapes in the tropics. The paper will examine how local knowledge systems can be utilised to capture components of the landscape which are often not picked up by the use of knowledge systems outside the relevant cultural frameworks.
Off With the Faeries—Applying Cultural Values Mapping Approaches Developed in Indigenous Cultural Heritage to New Areas of Heritage Practice
Jim Wheeler, Director, Extent Heritage Pty Ltd; Honorary Senior Lecturer, School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Australia
This paper presents the results of an ICCROM Research Fellowship project which trialled the use of Australian cultural values mapping methods in the rural parish of Pallasgreen and Templebraden, in the Republic of Ireland. The intent of the research was to investigate how cultural values mapping developed in Indigenous cultural heritage research might be applied in other areas of international heritage practice.
The cultural values mapping identified an array of places, landscape values and traditions that are either not currently identified and protected within the Irish heritage protection framework, or whose social significance values have not been fully understood and are therefore highly vulnerable to cumulative impacts. Many of the features identified in the mapping make important contributions to the distinctive character and history of the parish, and a number of places were considered by the local community to be the most important places associated with the most significant values and enduring traditions in the parish.
The project demonstrated the benefits of cultural values mapping in broadening our understanding of the places and values that have social significance to a community in rural Ireland, and as a powerful adjunct to what existing technical-focused research and protection processes can offer.
Understanding Cultural Landscapes on Wadawurrung Country
Billy-Jay O’Toole, Kaelan Morrison, Kyle O’Toole, Blair Gilson, Chelsea Cooke, Kristen Ellis, Siobhan Privitera, Rob Tobin and Meltem Cemre Ustunkaya, Wadawurrung Traditonal Owner Aboriginal Corporation (WTOAC), Australia
This paper explores the intricate relationships between the First Peoples of Australia and their landscapes, specifically focusing on Wadawurrung Country and how its Traditional Custodians document cultural sensitivities. Unlike the more easily detectable impacts of agriculture, religious sites, and monumental structures observed in the Old-World Archaeology, the First Peoples of Australia, including the Wadawurrung, engage in a deeper, cyclical understanding of the natural environment, centred around the acquisition of resources, landscape use and management, and intangible connections.
The Wadawurrung Traditional Owners have employed Cultural Values Assessments and cultural mapping as tools to systematically record and protect cultural knowledge, ensuring that both stakeholders (non-sensitive) and the Wadawurrung community have access to information. These assessments are guided by Traditional Custodian knowledge and self-determination, emphasising the importance of intangible values such as stories connected to landscape.
This paper highlights how these practices reflect the ongoing significance of Country in First Peoples’ heritage and their efforts to safeguard and carry on their cultural legacy in a contemporary context.
The Western Renewable Link (WRL) Cultural Heritage Approvals: Landscape, Archaeology, Values, Collaboration, Challenges
Ilya Berelov and Aaron Dalla-Vechia, Ausnet, Australia
Julia Cornwell, Ausnet, Australia
Phillip Roberts, Associate Archaeologist, Jacobs; Visiting Fellow, The Australian National University, Australia
David Matthews, Unearthed Heritage, Australia
Linda Sonego, Andrew Long and Associates, Australia
Lauren Modra, Wurundjeri Elders, Woiwurrung Wurundjeri, Australia
Siobhan Privitera, Wadawurrung Elders, Wadawurrung, Australia
Jon Marshallsay, Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation (DDWCAC), Australia
Nathalia Guimaraes, Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation, Australia
Mick Douglas and Chrystle Carr, Barengi Gadjin Land Council, Australia
The Western Renewable Link (WRL) Project consists of the construction of almost 200km of new transmission line to connect Victoria’s new renewable energy resources to the metropolitan grid. As part of this project, a significant number of environmental approvals have been required, including Aboriginal cultural heritage investigations. The WRL Project approvals are made of 10 Cultural Heritage Management Plans (CHMPs) taken across five RAP areas. Additionally, the Project has undertaken Cultural Values Assessments (CVAs) and has engaged to deliver benefit sharing arrangements to all TO Groups (TOGs) along the project. The investigations are being completed in a contentious land access environment and the challenging nature of the project has meant that cooperation and flexibility between sponsor and TOGs has been essential to successfully achieve project approval. This paper presents the challenges, findings and learnings of undertaking Aboriginal heritage approvals in a highly contentious environment containing numerous important cultural values, both tangible and intangible.
Cultural Landscape Mapping on Gunditjmara Country: Perspectives, Approaches and Methods
Bill Bell, Cultural Heritage Manager, Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, Australia
Miranda Gronow, Senior Heritage Advisor Extent Heritage Pty Ltd, Australia; Monash Scholar; DPhil candidate, The University of Oxford, UK
Alex Murphy, Senior Geospatial Specialist, Extent Heritage Pty Ltd, Australia
Jim Wheeler, Director, Extent Heritage Pty Ltd; Honorary Senior Lecturer, School of Archaeology and Anthropology ANU, Australia
This paper presents the results of a Strategic Aboriginal Heritage Assessment (SAHA) conducted on Gunditjmara Country in southwest Victoria, part of a Victorian government pilot program to map Aboriginal cultural values at a landscape scale. The SAHA showcased innovative new approaches to cultural values and archaeological sensitivity mapping across the world heritage Budj Bim cultural landscape and the adjacent coastal landscapes and Sea Country of Portland Bay. The SAHA aimed to better understand the range of physical and intangible values embedded within Gunditjmara Country so they can be protected and managed more effectively through the adoption of proactive heritage planning, the implementation of new guidelines and potential amendments to regulation.
The paper will outline Gunditjmara perspectives on the management of cultural landscapes on Country, including a strategic aspiration to achieve a ‘Zero Harm’ approach to heritage management. Then we discuss cultural values assessment and GIS methods used to map and visualise the cultural landscape articulated by the Gunditjmara Knowledge Holders. Including innovative approaches to mapping culturally significant viewsheds across Country and the generation of a Topographic Wetness Index to model the hydrology of the landscape prior to the significant modifications that took place after colonisation.
Dynamics of Landscapes Through Time: The Power of Innovative Approaches to Vegetation Modelling on the A14 (UK) Project
Michael Wallace and C. Milton, Headland Archaeology, UK
J. Bunting and Y. van der Berg, University of Hull, UK
A. Smith, Headland Archaeology, UK
The A14 infrastructure project represented the largest commercial archaeological investigation in the United Kingdom, encompassing 228 hectares of multi-period archaeological landscape in rural Cambridgeshire. This project presented an unprecedented opportunity to reconstruct past environmental conditions through integrated palaeoenvironmental and geoarchaeological analyses. Pollen-based modelling techniques, grounded in on-site records, were employed to map transformations in vegetation cover across three critical archaeological periods: the Iron Age, Roman, and Anglo-Saxon periods.
With these models, the next step was developing an interactive StoryMap, which effectively translated complex scientific data into an accessible, engaging narrative format. This visualisation strategy both improved the understanding of the surrounding landscapes for those reporting on the sites and proved a popular public engagement platform. The combination of rigorous data modelling and the engaging presentation led to the work being shortlisted for an Archaeological Achievement Award.
Ecological Approach to Cultural Landscapes: Mapping Pre-colonised Ecological Communities
Mariela Soto-Berelov, Simon Jones and Simon Ramsey, RMIT, Australia
In this study, we illustrate areas of possible ecological value to Aboriginal people before colonisation across Victoria. We do this by digitising a 19th century vegetation map which precedes extensive vegetation clearing following the arrival of Europeans. We illustrate areas of native vegetation loss across the state and according to biogeographic region. Within remaining native vegetation areas, we examine which areas have been impacted by recent disturbance events (e.g., fires, logging). We also present an approach for translating the native vegetation classes from the 19th century vegetation map into modern Ecological Vegetation Classes (EVC). The conversion of vegetation classes will permit a comparison of the past vegetation with current vegetation cover. This will allow for speculation as to where ecological values have been lost over time and where they may survive. In this way, ecological values with a cultural dimension will be able to be expressed.
Features and Distribution of Hunting Blind Sites in Central-western Santa Cruz (Southern Patagonia, Argentina): A Large-Scale Overview
Juan Dellepiane, Universidad de San Isidro “Doctor Placido Marín” (USI)- Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano (INAPL)
Josefina Flores Coni: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA); Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano (INAPL)
Gisela Cassiodoro, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)-Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA); Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano (INAPL)
Hunting blinds constitute a characteristic archaeological record of southern Patagonia. In central-western Santa Cruz province (Argentina), they are mainly located in plateaus and exhibit an outstanding frequency. Research carried out in the region indicates that they were used associated with hunting activities and the processing of faunal resources, under logistical/seasonal strategies in the use of these areas.
This work presents the entirety of hunting blinds recorded to date in central-western Santa Cruz. The sample includes more than 1050 structures located on plateaus and high-altitude sectors, identified both in the field and through remote sensing. Using GIS tools, the aim is to identify archaeological patterns on broad spatial scales, linked to their location, morphology, dimensions, association with other evidence and landscape components. The goal is to conduct a thorough and large-scale study of this record enabling a more profound comprehension of how hunter-gatherers utilised plateau environments.
The results obtained indicate that these structures played a central role in the strategies implemented by hunter-gatherer groups for the occupation of these areas during the Late Holocene. The construction of hunting blinds implied the provisioning and reuse of these landscapes.
Reviewing the Role of Maritime and Aquatic Adaptation in the Neolithisation of the Levant
Chelsea Wiseman, Jana Anvari, Jonathan Benjamin, Archaeology, Flinders University, Australia
This paper aims to analyse maritime specialisation and adaptation during the Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic periods of the Levant, associated with the development of agricultural and sedentary lifeways. The narrative of the development of agriculture is informed largely by terrestrial sites and does not often consider the social and cultural implications of ongoing aquatic resource use. In the Levant, whilst aquatic resource use and aspects of maritime adaptations are relatively well documented in the archaeological record, the extent of this specialisation to aquatic ecosystems and its role in the development of the Neolithic is not comprehensively understood, nor is it widely recognised in models for the development of agriculture. In this paper, we address this research gap by synthesising current information on maritime and aquatic resources during the Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic periods in the Levant (ca. 20,000-6000 BC). Available data is modelled using GIS to gain a greater understanding of maritime adaptation and interactions during the Neolithic, providing a visual synthesis of current archaeological research. Through the establishment of a baseline of research for maritime adaptation in the Levantine Neolithic, areas for ongoing research may be identified to explore this often-overlooked aspect of human history.