Thesis abstract: An Archaeological Approach to Quarry Studies: A Technological Investigation of the Ironbark Site Complex, Southern Curtis Coast, Australia

Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of Queensland; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, University of Queensland

This thesis presents the results of an analysis of a sample of the lithic material recovered from the Ironbark Site Complex, located on the southern Curtis Coast, central Queensland, excavated under the auspices of the Gooreng Gooreng Cultural Heritage Project. The aim of the study was to determine a possible site function for the complex. This was achieved through a combination of technological and descriptive investigation techniques. I demonstrate that a level of standardisation of the reduction sequence is evident at the site in several technological and descriptive indices. Based on this evidence, a possible use of the site was established as the manufacture of edge-ground axes. This evidence is then evaluated in terms of exchange and social significance and more generally in terms of archaeological approaches to quarry studies.