A mid- to late Holocene sequence from Weld Range, Mid West Western Australia, in local, regional and inter-regional context

The late Holocene Aboriginal archaeology of the inland Mid West region of Western Australia remains poorly synthesised. In this paper a mid-to late Holocene sequence excavated at rockshelter Weld-RS-0731 is considered in the local context of surface archaeology and other excavated sites. The site's lithic assemblage is distinct in terms of artefact size, technological types and lithologies, pointing to repeated patterns of site function and specialist task activities. At the inter-regional scale, a paucity of data means that models of late Holocene cultural and linguistic shifts have inadequately considered the role of the inland Mid West, despite the occurrence of some highly significant sites, such as Walganha, and Wilgie Mia and Little Wilgie ochre mines. A fragment of ochre excavated at Weld-RS-0731 and geochemically provenanced to Little Wilgie dates to approximately 2500 cal. BP, providing the earliest absolute age estimate for use of that mine. The possible role of the inland Mid West in late Holocene inter-regional relations and the resultant cultural and linguistic shifts is discussed.