The Pike River is an anabranch and palaeochannel of the Murray River located in South Australia's Riverland region, in the southwestern part of the Murray-Darling Basin. The floodplain contains abundant and varied archaeological evidence of Aboriginal life, including extensive deposits of shell midden exposed along the high cliff-line bounding the southeastern margin of the floodplain. The oldest of these deposits has been securely dated, so far, to ∼29 ka cal BP. This article presents the results of chronological, micromorphological and sedimentary analyses of a combustion feature also located on this cliff-line. Based on our analysis and interpretation of the feature's stratigraphic context, in combination with 14C and OSL dating, we argue that the feature is ∼43 ka old. Whilst the combustion feature contains no associated cultural material (e.g. stone artefacts or faunal remains) we argue that a cultural origin is, nonetheless, supported given the feature's geometry, sedimentary structures, geochemistry and magnetic response. As such, we argue that the feature provides a rare glimpse into the earliest peopling of the Murray River corridor. Further, the feature is amongst some of the earliest pieces of evidence for human pyrotechnology in the Australasian region and only one of a few examples from an open-air site that is microstratigraphically (micromorphologically) contextualised. The preservation of combustion features of this antiquity in open-context sites is extremely rare, both in this region and globally.

中文翻译：

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湖泊以外的生命：南澳大利亚派克河更新世燃烧特征的分析和影响

派克河是墨累河的一条河支和古河道，位于南澳大利亚州的河地地区，位于墨累-达令盆地的西南部。洪泛区包含丰富多样的原住民生活考古证据，包括沿着洪泛区东南边缘边界的高悬崖线暴露的大量贝壳沉积物。到目前为止，这些矿床中最古老的矿床已被确定为 ∼29 ka cal BP。本文介绍了同样位于这条悬崖线上的燃烧特征的年代学、微形态学和沉积学分析结果。根据我们对该特征地层背景的分析和解释，结合 14C 和 OSL 测年法，我们认为该特征的年龄约为 43 ka。虽然燃烧特征不包含相关的文化材料（例如石制品或动物遗骸），但我们认为，鉴于该特征的几何形状、沉积结构、地球化学和磁响应，文化起源是有支持的。因此，我们认为该特征为了解墨累河走廊最早的人口提供了难得的一瞥。此外，该特征是澳大利亚地区人类烟火技术最早的证据之一，并且只是来自微地层学（微形态学）背景的露天遗址的少数例子之一。在开放环境遗址中保存这一古物的燃烧特征在本地区和全球都极为罕见。