Radiocarbon Dating Visualisation Project: Compiling, Verifying and Visualising Radiocarbon Determinations for Aboriginal Cultural Heritage places in Victoria

Rebekah Kurpiel
La Trobe University

Co-Author/s
David Thomas, Aboriginal Victoria
Caroline Spry, La Trobe University
Jacqui Tumney, La Trobe University
Matthew Coller, La Trobe University/Temporal Earth

The Radiocarbon Dating Visualisation Project was undertaken by La Trobe Archaeology Research Partnerships in collaboration with Aboriginal Victoria, to compile and verify as complete a list as possible of radiocarbon determinations from Aboriginal places in Victoria. The project builds on previous lists compiled by numerous other researchers, adding over 400 radiocarbon age determinations, primarily from the ‘grey’ literature. Data verification involved consulting primary source materials to obtain or confirm details about the context and project from which the sample derived and the laboratory analyses that produced the age estimate. An assessment of the reliability of each radiocarbon determination was also undertaken. The verified list is available to Traditional Owners, Heritage Advisors and researchers with access to the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Register, and to a more general audience through an interactive digital visualisation. This poster, which provides an overview of the verification method and basic summaries of the dataset and outcomes, is the first of three relating to this project.