The integrated cultural landscape of North Gidley Island: Coastal, intertidal and nearshore archaeology in Murujuga (Dampier Archipelago), Western Australia

Recent studies conducted in Murujuga Sea Country have confirmed that Indigenous Australian archaeology does not end at the modern shore. Since earliest peopling of continent, sea levels fluctuated significantly, dropping as much 130 m below mean sea-level during Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). During this period, continent (including Australia and New Guinea) represented a landmass one-third larger than present day Australia. As rose following LGM, extensive cultural landscape was inundated. The recent reporting archaeological remains submerged context has enabled an integrated analysis landscape, based on direct evidence from sites were originally formed dry land, but are now located intertidal environments. This study applies centred Cape Bruguieres channel site, Gidley Islands, where submerged, coastal been recorded. Aerial, pedestrian, surveys to investigate onshore offshore providing new with which place stone artefacts into wider context. Rock art engravings, grinding patches, quarries upstanding stones – some zone point use is possibility discovering underwater sites. By integrating subtidal contexts record, we explore above ‘waterline’ continuum.