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This paper is an update of Abbott, I (2002) Origin and spread of the cat, Felis catus, on mainland Australia, with a discussion of the magnitude of its early impact on native fauna. Wildlife Research 29, 51--74. An additional 33 journals of expeditions of exploration or excursions beyond settled areas before 1895 were located, and as expected from the current conceptual model, none of these recorded cats. These accounts of travel through country as yet unsettled or sparsely settled by Europeans necessitate only one small modification (relating to north-east Queensland) to the conceptual model presented previously. In addition, nearly 150 new records of cats were located in other parts of Australia, and all are consistent with the chronology of spread hypothesized in the previous paper. For Tasmania, following their introduction in 1804, cats were first recorded there as feral in the 1840s. Incidental records were found indicating that in parts of Australia the spread of the cat was assisted by their release in regions experiencing their first outbreaks of rabbits, by flood-linked irruptions of the long-haired rat (Rattus villosissimus), and by their release to control rodents destroying sugar cane plantations in northern Queensland. Feral cats of large size were first detected in various regions of Australia some 10--30 years after local settlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a previously undescribed rock art style consisting of large human figures and animals with stroke-line infill is introduced. These depictions have been named Maliwawa Figures. They are primarily found in northwest Arnhem Land and to date have been recorded at 87 sites from Awunbarna (Mount Borradaile area) to the Namunidjbuk clan state of the Wellington Range. There are solitary figures and others arranged in compositions or scenes. We describe the features of this style, its distribution, subject matter and probable age. The results of a detailed analysis of all sites are discussed and a new, refined Arnhem Land rock art chronology is presented. It is concluded that Maliwawa Figures are most likely to date between 6,000 to 9,400 years of age and to be contemporaneous with Northern Running Figures and Yam Figures found at sites to the south. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports new dates for mid to late Holocene occupation of the lower Adelaide River in northern Australia. Earth mounds located on the margins of the floodplains provide a series of radiocarbon determinations that suggest continuous settlement from at least 4000 years BP until recently. During that time the floodplains have undergone a dramatic environmental evolution from extensive mangrove swamps in the mid Holocene, through a variable mosaic of estuarine and freshwater conditions c.3000 years ago, to the freshwater floodplains extant since 2000 BP. These results have implications for the chronology of earth mounds elsewhere in northern Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: By the time Europeans arrived on Australian shores several hundred years ago, the lifestyle of Aboriginal populations across the continent varied from region to region: they spoke many different languages, their social organization differed from one region to another, they partook of varied cultural practices, and they produced material culture which took diverse forms in different places. Taking rock art as an example of this diversity, this paper will describe the chronology and form of late-Holocene rock art from five major painted art provinces and discuss the arguments researchers have proposed for the relatively recent emergence of new regional art styles. Implicated are demographic change, environmental change including rising sea levels, increased social complexity, the introduction of a totemic belief system, territorial change, or the migration of people from outside Australia. Two detailed rock art studies, one from northwest Queensland and one from central Australia will be presented to provide insight into why new art styles were produced. Explanations for the emergence of new distinct rock art styles that differed from previous assemblages within these areas are predicated on an understanding of stylistic behaviour and the circumstances under which groups are likely to feel the need to differentiate themselves from their neighbours. Findings indicate that, rather than a single cause, multiple factors are likely to have played a role in the emergence of new regionally distinct rock art styles. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Lynch''s Crater on the Atherton Tablelands in NE-Australia formed about 230,000 years ago during an explosive eruption, creating a maar more than 80m deep. Since the eruption, the maar has been filled with lake sediments that are topped by peat material. A 64m long core was recovered and an OSL dating project was undertaken to extend the chronology beyond 16m depth, which according to 14C age control represents ∼60ka. The predominantly organic lake sediments contained abundant fine quartz of aeolian origin, and the Single Aliquot Regenerative Method (SAR) provided satisfactory equivalent dose (DE) estimates. However, the determination of the dose rate proved both critical and difficult. Extremely low radionuclide contents led to cosmic radiation being the dominant dose rate contribution for most samples. The OSL chronology presented in this paper thus relies on modelling the changing cover by sediments and lake water over the burial time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper explores the palaeoclimatic significance of a fossil plant and insect record from Yarra Creek, on King Island, between Tasmania and the Australian mainland. The record dates, based upon a thermoluminescence chronology and other evidence, to Marine Isotope Stage 5 (MIS 5); the exact timing is impossible to ascertain given the resolution of the thermoluminescence results and the presence of an unconformity in the dated section. The presence of a cool-temperate rainforest flora, outside its modern range, and other independent evidence, suggest the sequence may represent the last interglacial (MIS 5e) rather than a later MIS 5 substage. Using coexistence methods that compare modern climatic ranges of the taxa in the assemblage we reconstruct independent beetle and plant based annual and seasonal temperate and precipitation parameters. The results imply the assemblage was deposited under a wetter summer climate and suggest conditions of enhanced temperature seasonality. It is probable that enhanced temperature seasonality is a methodological artefact reflecting the rarity of extremely equable climates (like King Island) in modern climate space. This would indicate a limitation of most methods of palaeoclimatic reconstruction that rely on modern datasets – it is only possible to reconstruct past climates as being within the range of values in that currently exist in modern climate space. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Data collected from the Hamersley Plateau over the last four decades are examined for patterns in the archaeological record. Data relating to the timing of the archaeological appearance of backed artefacts, seed-grinding technology and rock art are currently too few to indicate major cultural changes with certainty. Increases in numbers of radiocarbon dates from archaeological sites on the Hamersley Plateau are evident in the late Holocene. This can be interpreted as a pattern of cultural change or natural decay in datable material. 1 conclude that taphonomic bias is the most important variable in the distribution of the radiocarbon date sample from the Hamersley Plateau. That said, further accumulation of dales and data may show archaeological changes in the Hamersley Plateau that represent local expressions of broader trends in the Australian semi-arid and arid zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mangrove trees tend to be larger and mangrove communities more diverse in tropical latitudes, particularly where there is high rainfall. Variation in the structure, growth and productivity of mangrove forests over climatic gradients suggests they are sensitive to variations in climate, but evidence of changes in the structure and growth of mangrove trees in response to climatic variation is scarce. Bomb-pulse radiocarbon dating provides accurate dates of recent wood formation and tree age of tropical and subtropical tree species. Here, we used radiocarbon techniques combined with X-ray densitometry to develop a wood density chronology for the mangrove Avicennia marina in the Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia (WA). We tested whether wood density chronologies of A. marina were sensitive to variation in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation Index, which reflects temperature fluctuations in the Pacific Ocean and is linked to the instrumental rainfall record in north WA. We also determined growth rates in mangrove trees from the Exmouth Gulf, WA. We found that seaward fringing A. marina trees (∼10 cm diameter) were 48±1 to 89±23 years old (mean ± 1σ) and that their growth rates ranged from 4.08±2.36 to 5.30±3.33 mm/yr (mean ±1σ). The wood density of our studied mangrove trees decreased with increases in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation Index. Future predicted drying of the region will likely lead to further reductions in wood density and their associated growth rates in mangrove forests in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terrace remnants on Widden Brook, southeastern Australia, were examined and correlated longitudinally to establish their evolutionary history. Three discontinuous terrace sequences, the Baramul, Widden and Kewarra, were identified in a 26 km reach using sedimentology, topography and chronology. Each terrace sequence occurred within a geomorphically distinct valley setting: an upstream constriction, a valley expansion and a highly constricted downstream section. Radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence ages indicated that each terrace sequence was formed during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene (16.7-0.5 ka cal BP). However, their sedimentology and topography were shown to differ significantly. We present evidence that both climate and the exceedance of intrinsic geomorphic thresholds were major contributing factors responsible for the formation of these terrace sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents events related to feminism from 1973 to 1979 including the National "Women's Liberation and Theory" Conference, Children's Craft Day at Women's Liberation House, and the Spring Festival of Women's Creativity.

Presents a chronology of events which led to the development of women's liberation in Australia. In the earlier part of 1970, Women's Liberation has issued postcards to be signed and sent to the federal government on issues related to tax deductions for childcare and the removal of 27 1/2% luxury sales tax on contraceptive pill, among others. On January 14, 1970, the Sydney Women's Liberation held its inaugural public meeting. Moreover, during that year, several women's groups held various public meetings.

Little Llangothlin Lagoon on the New England Tablelands of northeast New South Wales possesses the most detailed and best verified 210Pb chronology yet available in Australia. Recent criticisms of the length of the record are shown to be based on a faulty understanding of the principles of 210Pb dating. Attempts to revise the chronology of the lower part of the dated sequence by several decades must be rejected given that (a) fundamentally dissimilar chronological models yield ages that are statistically indistinguishable and (b) the most extreme manipulation of the modelling data fails to alter the basal dates in the profile by more than three years. The most telling criticism of the revisionist view, however, comes from the exact concordance between the dates from the basal part of the sequence, the historical date of official European contact and the massive changes in palynology, geochemistry and soil erosion resulting from that contact. The thesis that environmental disturbance immediately prior to the time of official European contact in Australia was the result of human activity is supported by a wealth of documentary evidence revealing the illegal or unsanctioned presence of Europeans throughout much of southern and eastern Australia years before official records began. Likewise, it is clear that many elements of the pre-contact Australian environment, including certain of its soils, were fragile and susceptible to rapid and dramatic disturbance under the impact of European land use. Finally, there is convincing evidence of stable chemical and mineralogical conditions in several southeast Australian lakes throughout the last millennium or more, conditions that were altered catastrophically with the arrival of the first Europeans and their stock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]