1977
Mound Sites
Five mound sites have been excavated in the central Western District. These include three large and two smaller mounds located along the Hopkins River drainage system. Excavations were conducted as part of an intensive site survey of the Willaura 1:100,000 map sheet. Some details of two of the excavations, KP/1 and FM/1, have already been published. Brief descriptions of the sites follow:
Chatsworth (CH/1)
This site is situated on a high rise overlooking the Hopkins River flood plain. The mound is approximately 30 m in diameter and rises about 75 cm above the surrounding terrain at its highest point. 14 m2 were excavated, revealing two major occupation horizons. Excavated evidence includes quartz, diorite, chert and chalcedony flakes, fragments of emu egg shell and fresh-water mussels, ochre, burnt and unburnt animal bones, charred timber, hearth stones and three burials. A very large firepit was uncovered, associated with numerous hearth stones and large chunks of charred timber. Three pit burials were discovered including one which appears to be either a multiple burial or two intercutting burial pits. One of the individuals in this complex had been cremated. The other burials were inhumations. An interesting feature of the site was the discovery of dense flaking floors in an underlying red buckshot layer. Normally the horizons underlying the upper, darker layers in the mounds are sterile. We have interpreted this feature as a fleeting phase of occupation associated with the initial construction of the mound before it was occupied intensively.
The radiocarbon date is not from the earliest occupation context. It dates the last phase of use of the large cooking pit which was 64O±95 B.P.
KP/1
This is another large mound site, situated on a natural rise with good vantage of the surrounding countryside, approximately 1 km from the Hopkins River. It is about 36 m in diameter and 1 m deep at its highest point. 22 m2 were excavated. Its stratigraphy proved to be extremely complex with several phases of occupation and many structural features. The latter included a hearth associated with burnt stone, charred timber, charcoal and bone fragments; ovens associated with burnt stones and charcoal; and three burials. Several flaking floors were identified as well. Burial A was flexed and had been laid out on the ground and covered with earth and rock debris. Burials B and C were pit burials, and burial B was also a cremation. A shallow pit about 45 cm deep and between 70 and 75 cm in diameter had been excavated for the burial. Evidence of charred timber and charcoal was found in the pit and underlying the corpse. After the body had been buried, a small pit was dug into the top of the grave and a fire lit, presumably part of some ceremonial ritual. Later again, the burial site was sealed with a hard clay-like cap.
The excavated inventory included fragments of egg shell, freshwater mussel, burnt and unburnt animal bone, quartz, diorite, chalcedony and chert flakes and other artefacts including bone tools and backed blades.
The charcoal sample was taken from one of the earliest occupation contexts at the site and dated at 744±145 B.P.
Records of the Victorian Archaeological Survey No. 4,
August 1977