Annual Report-2000-2001 - Western Australian Museum - The ...

33
Smith. This valuable addition to the Museum’s
collection contains several thousand specimens from
many parts of Australia, but mostly from the Western
Australian Wheatbelt.
Terry Houston undertook two insect collecting
expeditions: one to the Cooloomia Nature Reserve
between Kalbarri and Shark Bay; the other to various
localities between Perth and the Murchison Region.
The objective was principally to obtain additional
specimens of various undescribed native bees and
spoon-winged lacewings, but the expeditions also
provided an opportunity to make general insect
collections.
Argyle Diamonds donated a substantial collection of
insects from its Argyle mine site.
Bill Humphreys conducted major surveys of
stygofauna (animals confined to groundwater) in the
Fortescue Valley, the northern goldfields (with the
South Australian Museum) and the Northern Territory
(with the Northern Territory Department of Lands,
Planning, Environment and Water Resources).
Terrestrial Vertebrates
In order to accommodate concerns regarding onsite
storage of alcohol, the Terrestrial Vertebrates
Department relocated off site more than 700 drums,
comprising nearly 7,000 specimens of larger
vertebrates. A major reorganisation of the tissue
collection (stored as both ethanol and ultra-frozen)
was completed. Technical Officer Brad Maryan
conducted an audit of the herpetological collection,
with major changes being made to the digitised
databases in all sections to accommodate off-site
storage of specimens.
Collections in all areas continue to expand as a result
of material and vouchers supplied by the public,
government departments and consultants. A
particularly valuable collection of voucher specimens,
Western Australian Museum Annual Report 2000–2001
Western Australian Museum–
Science and Culture
covering a large area of the central Pilbara, was
received from Biota Environmental Sciences Pty Ltd.
The CALM study of the Kingston Block in the Jarrah
forest continued to provide important specimens.
Specimens were also received from Honorary
Associate Peter Kendrick, from CALM in Karratha.
KNOWLEDGE GENERATION
Anthropology
Extensive research was focused on developing
exhibitions, and there were major outcomes for
several ongoing research projects during the year.
Charles Dortch was awarded his doctorate on a thesis
exploring part of his long-term research into South-
West prehistory. His dissertation, which deals with
territorial organisation and specific aspects of huntergatherer
economy in the estuarine lower South-West,
is a welcome contribution to a topic that otherwise
has received little attention in the region.
The Museum, led by Charles Dortch, has pursued
research at Devils Lair, a cave in the South-West of
the State, for more than 30 years, making it among
the best studied prehistoric sites in Australia. Because
of many advances in dating technology, a series of
new samples from Devils Lair were submitted for
analysis. Employing Accelerator Mass Spectrometry
Carbon 14 dating with new sample preparation
techniques, recently published results have now
pushed the age of the deposit back to more than
50,000 years BP. The first traces of human occupation
appear at about 48,000 BP. These dates have been
further verified by complementary ages for samples
dated by Optically Stimulated Luminescence, Electron
Spin Resonance, Uranium Series dating of flowstones,
and Carbon 14 dating of emu eggshell carbonate.
Moya Smith provided an expert witness report on
Bardi ethno-archaeological evidence from the
Dampierland Peninsula.