A report on archaeological investigation of open hearth sites in southwest Queensland

Abstract

This paper presents the results of test excavations on nine open hearth sites in the vicinity of the Currawinya Lakes, southwest Queensland. The hearths were all surface features constructed from silcrete cobbles, lumps of hardpan or a combination of both.  The ages of six dated hearths ranged from c.1700 BP to c.400 BP.  This research demonstrates the potential for hearths to contribute to regioinal archaeological studies in Australia.