This is what I was doing in the lab this week — working through the MNI counts for chitons as part of my reanalysis of the marine invertebrate assemblage from Haynes Cave. Applying a method that is more accurate.
#archaeomalacology #zooarchaeology #chiton #australianarchaeology #MontebelloIslands

Using archaeological, ethnographic & experimental datasets, we establish a full chaîne opératoire for Melo shell knives—proving manufacture began 46,000 years ago in northern Australia. doi.org/10.1016/j.ja... #zooarchaeology #archaeomalacology #australianarchaeology #experimentalarchaeology

The reduction sequence of a juvenile Melo into a knife followed a set process. The same as technique observed by Tindale in the 1960s in the gulf of Carpentaria. Which is 2,452 km away from Boodie Cave! #archaeomalacology #experimentalarchaeology #australianarchaeology #shelltools

Part of my PhD research looked at shell knives from Boodie Cave, Barrow Island (Hook et al. 2024). We found a 46,000-year tradition of Melo shell knife production—some of the earliest known shell tools made by Homo sapiens.
#archaeomalacology #australianarchaeology #experimentalarchaeology

Been a bit quiet—waiting on TO approval for my final PhD paper. I’ve moved into my own lab in the Peter Veth Arch Lab + kicked off archaeomalacological reanalysis of the late Pleistocene and early Holocene Haynes + Noala Caves, Montebello Islands, 1980s digs

#shellfish #uwa #australianarchaeology

The use wear experiments showed that the Boodie Cave beads were strung with their narrower apical ends and wide ends alternating against each other, rather than nested in concatenated style as seen in historical examples.

#experimentalarchaeology #archaeomalacology #ancientbeads

My latest paper details how tusk shell beads were strung and tested on a wear machine simulating 10 hours of vigorous wear: 300 RPM, 1.5 agitations/sec, totaling 54,000 agitations—like wearing a necklace during intense activity.

#experimentalarchaeology #archaeomalacology #australianarchaeology

Based on experimental archaeology, we’ve shown that 11,000-year-old scaphopod shell bead production from Boodie Cave (NW Australia) matches how Aboriginal communities in the Kimberley make them today! This the first study of its kind in Australian archaeology. #archaeomalacology #iceage

It’s now officially officially Dr Hook! Graduated my PhD last night at UWA in Australian archaeology. Thesis is titled Early archaeology of the mangrove highway: 50,000 years of Aboriginal marine adaptations from Barrow Island, northwest Australia. #archaeomalacology #experimentalarchaeology

Tomorrow I’ll be presenting my PhD results at the Australian Archaeology Conference in Cairns, showing the consistent harvesting of subtidal sea grass shellfish from 51-36 to 18-6.5 ka at Boodie Cave

#australianarchaeology
#archaeomalacology
#iceage #pleistocene #ancientmaritimity
#zooarchaeology

At AAA next week I’ll present the result that the Boodie Cave shellfish record is currently the oldest evidence in Australia of Aboriginal people harvesting shellfish 50,000 years ago.

#australianarchaeology
#archaeomalacology
#pleistocene #ancientmaritimity
#archaeomalacology #zooarchaeology

On Wednesday morning I’ll be presenting results of my quantitative analysis of the 50,000 year old marine invertebrate record from Boodie Cave, NW Australia at the Australian Archaeology Conference in Cairns.

#australianarchaeology
#archaeomalacology
#shellfish #ancientmaritimity
#zooarchaeology

For the first time in Australian archaeology, using experimental studies and comparisons with historical necklaces, we analysed tusk shell bead manufacture, use-wear, and breakage, revealing insights into late Pleistocene bead crafting, symbolic use, and placement patterns. #AustralianArchaeology

Part of my research has been to identify and describe one of the oldest continuous Aboriginal shell tool traditions identified in Boodie Cave, Barrow Island commencing 46,000 years ago and still in use until the recent past by Thalanyji people.

#australianarchaeology #archaeology #shellbeads #personaloramentation