Far Northern Queensland: Cape York and Aboriginal Historical Archaeology.

Summary

This poster outlines the initial findings of the first phase of fieldwork conducted in the central Cape York region of Queensland.

The Cape York region of far northern Queensland has been the focus of intercultural interaction on the Australian continent for many years. It was not until the mid 19th century that colonial expansion in this area flowed up from the south and was the cause of major conflict between Europeans and Indigenous Australians. This history of invasion, genocide, mining and pastoralism has been explored by a number of Australian historians. Very little archaeological work has been conducted in the area of central Cape York, none of which has focused on the Aboriginal inhabitants of the area. The Kuuku I'yu (northern Kaanju) people of Cape York, have provided the impetus for this research.

The themes that will be explored in this study are: the European settlement in Cape York, frontiers and conflict, contact and colonialism, Aboriginal resistance and labour. These themes will be examined through the lens of Aboriginal historical archaeology. The three potential sites under investigation include the Wenlock (Batavia) Goldfields, a Native Police Camp at Clayhole Creek and the remains of the Mien Telegraph Station.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

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