Ochre, flint and violence: an Aboriginal history of the Ma:ko region (Overland Corner)

Abstract

This paper examines the Aboriginal history of the Ma:ko region (Overland Corner). Our exploration of the region includes a consideration of the archaeological record via fieldwork undertaken with traditional owners, an ethnohistorical investigation of the area’s traditional significance as well as a consideration of the effects of European invasion and settlement. Together the records reveal the Ma:ko region to be a highly significant node in the Riverland’s cultural landscape. The Ma:ko region’s cultural significance (inclusive of its ochre and chert/silcrete resources) likely contributed to the area becoming a site of ongoing cross-cultural conflict in the colonial period.