Distinguishing Middens and Cheniers: A Case Study from the Southern Kimberley, W. A

• Published in: Archaeology in Oceania Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 16 - 28
• Main Authors: O'Connor, Sue, Sullivan, Marjorie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Sydney 01-04-1994
• ISSN: 0728-4896; 1834-4453

A common phenomenon in northern Australia is the geographically
overlapping occurrence of Aboriginal shell mounds or middens, and
cheniers. Cheniers are tropical coastal landforms comprising shell or
shelly-sand ridges, developed on wetlands which are referred to as
chenier plains. Chenier plains are widely distributed along the low wave
energy coastline of northern Australia. The record of prehistoric human
occupation of chenier plains in Australia, although incomplete, is
better than records from elsewhere in the tropical world. The
association of cheniers with shell middens has been described from
several localities in northern Australia. Discriminating between the
different types of shell deposit is difficult and misunderstandings have
occurred. These have resulted in Aboriginal middens mis-identified as
cheniers having been mined for shell grit, and natural shell deposits
having been assigned cultural origins. Recent surveys of a section of
the Kimberley coastline at Roebuck Bay south of Broome identified a
series of shell mounds between 2 and 5km from the coastline, but their
status was equivocai. Field investigation, sampling of a range of shell
deposits, and excavation indicated three types of deposit were present:
chenier mounds, shell middens and middens overlying cheniers. Initial
interpretations of the landscape history and discussion of the problem
of separating middens from cheniers are presented. The area provides an
interesting comparative study for similar sites in prograding landscapes
in other parts of northern Australia, such as the Alligator Rivers area,
where chenier and midden deposits occur in association.