Orientations of linear stone arrangements in New South Wales

TL;DR

This study investigates whether Aboriginal stone arrangements in New South Wales are deliberately aligned to cardinal directions, confirming a non-random pattern through measurements and surveys, and discusses potential cultural reasons.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence that Aboriginal stone arrangements are intentionally aligned to cardinal directions, combining site card analysis and field surveys with statistical validation.

Findings

Site cards indicate a preference for cardinal orientations.

Field surveys confirm site card accuracy but show no correction for magnetic declination.

Statistical analysis demonstrates orientations are non-random and deliberate.

Abstract

We test the hypothesis that Aboriginal linear stone arrangements in New South Wales (NSW) are oriented to cardinal directions. We accomplish this by measuring the azimuths of stone arrangements described in site cards from the NSW Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System. We then survey a subset of these sites to test the accuracy of information recorded on the site cards. We find a preference recorded in the site cards for cardinal orientations among azimuths. The field surveys show that the site cards are reasonably accurate, but the surveyors probably did not correct for magnetic declinations. Using Monte Carlo statistics, we show that these preferred orientations did not occur by chance and that Aboriginal people deliberately aligned these arrangements to the approximate cardinal directions. We briefly explore possible reasons for these preferred orientations and highlight the need for future work.