Readings: Archaeology at Strangways Springs Sheep Station

In a recent article in Historical Archaeology called "Early Pastoral Landscapes and Cultural Contact", Alistair Paterson (University of Western Australia) describes archaeological investigations into a sheep station in central Australia. Strangways Springs Station, located in the Lake Eyre region of northern South Australia, was placed in the traditional lands of the Arabana and Kujani people by European colonialists about 1860, and was operated as a sheep station—essentially a ranch for breeding and raising sheep—until about 1900.

Using both archaeological excavation and documentary evidence, Paterson traces both European and Aboriginal contributions to the operation at the station at Strangways Springs (called Pangki Warruna in the Arabana language), during the tricky period of cultural contact, when settlement patterns of both were affected by the needs of the station, and by the needs of both groups.

Settlement Patterns in Sheep Stations
Paterson's work is but the latest in a handful of archaeological investigations into sheep and cattle stations in interior Australia, although it is the first in South Australia. In addition to the head station with stone buildings and permanent facilities, early sheep stations (ca 1860-1882) included residential outstations, where in seasons with adequate rainfall, large numbers of sheep could be kept on rainwater; smaller outstations near permanent springs where less-than-ideal rain conditions required smaller groups of sheep; and work camps, for scouring and shearing sheep. Later adaptations included new technologies, such as bores dug into artesian deposits for permanent access to water and the addition of railroad spurs.

Find more information about Paterson's work, including a complete citation, on Strangways Springs Station. The photographs in this blog entry are all courtesy Alistair Paterson (c) 2006. Top: Aerial photograph of Strangways Spring Station. Head station at lower right, stockyards at upper left. Springs are visible as low mounds. Middle: Dune field location of shepherding outstation site N3 and N4, Strangways Springs Station, Australia. Bottom: Aerial view of gibber desert (basically, arid or semi-arid rocky desert) at Strangways Springs, South Australia.

Readings is an occasional series on archaeological studies that don't normally make it into the mainstream popular press but are nevertheless interesting to read and think about.