Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00408:front:0:p189
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00408
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 604649–607839

AWM Campbell Precinct.

       This report was prepared by Rebecca Yit.

          3.4  Recording Parameters

       The archaeological survey aimed at identifying material evidence of Aboriginal occupation as revealed by surface artefacts and areas of archaeological potential unassociated with surface artefacts. Potential recordings fall into three categories: isolated finds, sites and potential archaeological deposits.

       Isolated finds

       An isolated find is a single stone artefact, not located within a rock shelter, and which occurs without any associated evidence of Aboriginal occupation within a radius of 60 metres. Isolated finds may be indicative of:

            * Random loss or deliberate discard of a single artefact;

            * The remnant of a now dispersed and disturbed artefact scatter; and

            * An otherwise obscured or sub-surface artefact scatter.

       Except in the case of the latter, isolated finds are considered to be constituent components of the
       background scatter present within any particular landform.

       The distance used to define an isolated artefact varies according to the survey objectives, the incidence of ground surface exposure, the extent of ground surface disturbance, and estimates of background scatter or background discard densities. In the absence of baseline information relating to background scatter densities, the defining distance for an isolated find must be based on methodological and visibility considerations. Given the varied incidence of ground surface exposure and deposit disturbance within the study area, and the lack of background baseline data, the specification of 60 metres is considered to be an effective parameter for surface survey methodologies. This distance provides a balance between detecting fine scale patterns of Aboriginal occupation and avoiding environmental biases caused by ground disturbance or high ground surface exposure rates. The 60 metre parameter has provided an effective separation of low density artefact occurrences in similar southeast Australian topographies outside of semi-arid landscapes.

       Background scatter

       Background scatter is a term used generally by archaeologists to refer to artefacts which cannot be usefully related to a place or focus of past activity (except for the net accumulation of single artefact losses).

       However, there is no single concept for background discard or 'scatter', and therefore no agreed definition. The definitions in current use are based on the postulated nature of prehistoric activity, and often they are phrased in general terms and do not include quantitative criteria. Commonly agreed is that background discard occurs in the absence of 'focused' activity involving the production or discard of stone artefacts in a particular location. An example of unfocused activity is occasional isolated discard of artefacts during travel along a route or pathway. Examples of 'focused activity' are camping, knapping and heat-treating stone, cooking in a hearth, and processing food with stone tools. In practical terms, over a period of thousands of years an accumulation of 'unfocused'