The Contribution of Heritage Surveys towards Understanding the Cultural Landscape of the Weipa Bauxite Plateau

Abstract

Five years of intensive cultural heritage surveys conducted as part of Rio Tinto Alcan's cultural heritage management programme on the bauxite plateau at Weipa (Figure 1) have resulted in the recording of several site types not previously reported from the area. Whereas previous archaeological work focused almost exclusively on the shell matrix sites common to the coastal environments bordering the plateau (e.g. Bailey 1975, 1977), surface distributions of stone artefacts, scarred trees and earth mounds have now been identified across much of the region. We report results of the surveys and discuss the implications of these for our understanding of the broader cultural landscape of the Weipa Peninsula. The assemblage of sites from across the plateau indicates a complex, multitemporal cultural landscape that presents further avenues for collaborative research with Traditional Owners.