Box Gully is the name of a very old (by Australian standards) archaeological site located on saline Lake Tyrrell, in the Mallee region of northern Victoria, Australia. The site consists of the remains of a small hunting camp, with dates ranging between 26,600 and 32,000 years before the present, thus making Box Gully one of the earliest known occupations of the region. The site is important to understanding the population of Australia at the end of the Upper Paleolithic period.
The site assemblage included hearth features, stone chipping debris, and butchered faunal remains. Animals represented at the site include bettong, hare-wallaby, shingle-backed lizard, emu, and freshwater mussel. Researchers suggest that the site was a short term, late autumn-winter occupation or multiple occupations, where the inhabitants used open hearths for warmth and cooking purposes.
Source
Richards, Thomas, Christina Pavlides, Keryn Walshe, and Harry J. R. Webber 2007 Box Gully: new evidence for Aboriginal occupation of Australia south of the Murray River prior to the last glacial maximum. Archaeology in Oceania 42:1-11.
Stone, Tim 2006 Last glacial cycle hydrological change at Lake Tyrrell, southeast Australia. Quaternary Research 66:176–181.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
