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Recent excavations at Millukmungee 1, a limestone rock shelter along the upper bank of the Buchan River in GunaiKurnai Country (southeastern Australia), uncovered archaeological evidence of Mid- to Late Holocene occupation spanning c. 5000 years. Here we report on the stone artefacts and faunal remains, especially in light of a paucity of published details on artefact types and technologies for this part of southeast Australia. Results indicate that this part of the site was occupied only rarely from 5590–5050 cal BP (the uncertainty range for the oldest artefact from the excavation) to 2340–2030 cal BP. During this period, most of the artefacts were made from silcrete, quartz, chert, and quartzite. Small backed artefacts are present during this phase, all dating between 4570–1940 cal BP. A single, much larger backed artefact (elouera) dates to later, ≤290 cal BP. After 1960 cal BP, activities focussed on the production of flakes from locally available quartz and, to a lesser extent, hornfels; large pebbles obtained from the nearby Buchan River channel were flaked during this period. Occupation ceased with the onset of settler colonialism in the mid-1800s CE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'direct' dating of rock art has proliferated since the development of accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon, uranium-series and optically stimulated luminescence dating, yet still, most rock art is not directly datable due to the mineral nature of the constituent pigments. Here we present another method: the recovery and dating by stratigraphic association of small buried fragments of ochre and dried paint drops deposited onto soft sediment surfaces as by-products of paint production and use. These finds also give added contextual occupational information for archaeology of painting events. The case is made through the example of Borologa 1, a richly decorated Wanjina rockshelter in the Kimberley region of northwestern Australia that contains buried hearths, grindstones, earth pigments and small fallen spalls of rock containing traces of pigment and paint drops. Results from excavation indicate the beginning of Wanjina motifs and associated painting conventions on Art Panel B1 sometime between 2,080–1,160 cal BP and their proliferation in the past millennium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]