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Extracting new information from old stones: An analysis of three quarries in the semi-arid Pilbara region, northwest Australia

Abstract Quarries are important archaeological sites in Australia. They represent the starting point for conditioning variability in stone artefact assemblages (e.g. raw material availability, accessibility, quality, size and shape) and serve as a basis to track human movement from source to discard. Despite this, there is relatively little published research on quarries. For example, in the Pilbara, Western Australia, where stone artefact assemblages are ubiquitous, the paucity of published quarry research makes it difficult to accurately reconstruct patterns of past human behaviour. This research begins to address these issues through the application of a suite of analytical techniques to three quarry sites located in Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) Country in the inland Pilbara. Some variability in site use and reduction occurs between the three quarries. However, a clear pattern of assemblage formation involving natural heat fracture, non-intensive reduction, core transport, high proportions of non-intensively used tools and non-economic tool selection, was identified at all sites. The results demonstrate clear planning and manipulation of stone resources by Aboriginal people in the raw material rich Hamersley Range and demonstrate the vital importance of quarries as multi-functional locations in understanding wider systems of Aboriginal interaction with the Pilbara landscape.