Earth Mounds in Northern Australia: Archaeological and Environmental Archives of the Mid to Late Holocene

Earth mounds are a unique but little studied archaeological site type on the coastal plains of northern Australia. They provide an excellent opportunity for research into the environmental history and cultural systems of a landscape that has changed dramatically over the last 5000 years. Although earth mounds occur commonly in the archaeological landscape of the north, their relationship to other site types is poorly understood. This research will investigate origins, chronology, morphology and function, as well as economic and social significance. It has wider implications for earth mound studies and Holocene archaeology elsewhere in Australia and the world, and will provide important new data for climate change studies.