Old boundaries and new horizons: the Weipa shell mounds reconsidered

Abstract

This paper develops an alternative interpretation of shell mound phenomena at Albatross Bay, near Weipa on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula. Past researchers have interpreted these distinct mounded middens as functional edifices, constructed to enable small family groups to camp closer to resources during the late wet season. Here I propose that the mounds at Weipa were associated with relatively large groups of people intensively exploiting the shellfish <i>Anadara granosa</i>. This argument is based on a range of factors, including the biological characteristics of <i>Anadara</i>, a species that makes up over 90% of the composition of shell mounds, as well as archaeological and ethnographic evidence.