Adapting to rapidly transforming seascapes in the Mid- to Late Holocene, southeastern Australia

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorRogers, A.J.
dc.contributor.authorKennedy, D.M.
dc.contributor.authorDavid, B.
dc.contributor.authorMullett, R.
dc.contributor.authorFresløv, J.
dc.contributor.authorPetchey, F.
dc.contributor.authorArnold, L.J.
dc.contributor.authorDemuro, M.
dc.contributor.authorDrayton, C.
dc.contributor.authorMullett, H.
dc.date.issued2025
dc.description.abstractAquatic environments are highly dynamic. They are characterized by rapid and often unpredictable transformations driven by sea-level fluctuations, climate change, tectonic activity, and anthropic land-and-sea use practices that result in large-scale environmental shifts. Globally, archaeology has documented how people adapt and respond to these changes by altering subsistence strategies, settlement patterns, travel routes, and technologies to meet the challenges of a constantly transforming aquascape. Coastal regions, in particular, have both challenged and sustained human populations, offering abundant resources while also requiring significant adaptability in response to regular and, at times, substantial sea level fluctuations from the terminal Pleistocene throughout the Holocene. Using an interdisciplinary approach that pairs coastal geomorphology and archaeology, we investigated the Mid- to Late Holocene development of a barrier island in southeast Victoria, Australia–the development of which prompted wider inshore ecosystem transformations. Results from archaeological excavations demonstrate that people responded to coastal transformations by flexibly adjusting their lifeways and subsistence strategies over short time-scales and, through firing of the landscape, shaped surrounding ecosystems in return. Understanding how populations navigated these past changes, both through immediate adaptive responses and long-term cultural transformations, provides valuable insights into the resilience and adaptability of human societies in the face of environmental uncertainty.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityAshleigh J. Rogers, David M. Kennedy, Bruno David, Russell Mullett, Joanna Fresløv, Fiona Petchey, Lee J. Arnold, Martina Demuro, GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation, Cheryl Drayton, and Howard Mullett
dc.identifier.citationFrontiers in Environmental Archaelogy, 2025; 4:1548062-1-1548062-19
dc.identifier.doi10.3389/fearc.2025.1548062
dc.identifier.issn2813-432X
dc.identifier.issn2813-432X
dc.identifier.orcidArnold, L.J. [0000-0001-9603-3824]
dc.identifier.orcidDemuro, M. [0000-0002-5799-4216]
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2440/147943
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherFrontiers Media S.A.
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/CE170100015
dc.relation.granthttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/IL240100034
dc.rights© 2025 Rogers, Kennedy, David, Mullett, Fresløv, Petchey, Arnold, Demuro, GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation, Drayton and Mullett. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.3389/fearc.2025.1548062
dc.subjectcoastal geomorphology; barrier island development; island and coastal archaeology; shell midden studies; coastal transformation; Holocene; cultural burning; southeast Australia
dc.titleAdapting to rapidly transforming seascapes in the Mid- to Late Holocene, southeastern Australia
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

Files

Collections

Research Outputs