Rounded toothed pearl-shell mounds at Elizabeth River near Darwin, Northern Territory

Abstract

As the most visible remains of past coastal economies across the coast of northern Australia, mounds of shell dominated by roughback cockles (Tegillarca granosa) have featured often in explanations for Late Holocene Indigenous subsistence strategies. Recently more detailed local and regional studies continue to build a picture of some variations to this dominance, which demonstrate the breadth of marine species exploited, the extensive ecological knowledge of past economies, and the persistence of cultural traditions in human societies. This paper describes one such study, of mounds composed predominantly of another species of bivalve, the rounded toothed pearl-shell (Isognomon ephippium), found on Larrakia Country near Darwin, Northern Territory.

Keywords:

• Shell mounds
• Late Holocene
• Northern Territory coast

Acknowledgements

We thank members of the Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation and Lorraine Williams for sharing their local knowledge and assistance with surveys, Professor Sean Ulm (James Cook University) for advice on the local Delta R value and NT Heritage Branch for providing resources and maps for fieldwork. We also thank the reviewers, for constructive comments that helped to improve this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.