Excavation at the new Brisbane Airport site (LB:C69): evidence for early mid-Holocene coastal occupation in Moreton Bay, SE Queensland

Abstract

In 1980, during excavation of a floodway connected with the construction of the New Brisbane Airport, stone artefacts were observed within the sediments by Mr. Bill Ward, CSIRO Soils Division. His alerting of the state authorities led to further investigations by one of the authors (JH). Such interest was sparked by the fact that, on geomorphic grounds, the site promised an antiquity of at least 4000 years BP. Subsequent test excavation (by JH) in 1984 yielded an in situ stone artefact assemblage with a backed blade component which was associated with an anomalous date of about 1,100 B.P. In order to resolve the problem posed by this association, further excavation was undertaken in July-August 1987 by members of the Field Archaeology class (AY225) of the University of Queensland Department of Anthropology and Sociology under the supervision of Jay Hall and Ian Lilley. This paper is a preliminary report combining findings of both excavations and offers substantive support for an early mid-Holocene Aboriginal occupation of the shores of Moreton Bay.