Heard Island Sealing Site Archaeological Survey and Report

ASAC project 380 produced a report and images from an archaeological investigation of sealing sites at Heard Island. The Australian Antarctic Division (AU_AADC) organized the expedition from November 1986 to January 1987. The work involved surveying, inventorying, and salvaging artifacts from historic sealing-era sites.

Use Cases

• Classify sealing sites into the five documented structural types: stone platforms, hut footings, occupied caves, barrels, and graves using site descriptions. Analyze the geographic distribution of site types, noting that stone platforms are confined to southern beaches. Assess site significance and risk for conservation planning based on the recorded inventory and salvage recommendations. Study the layout and features of the historic ANARE station at Atlas Cove from site records.

Strengths

• Report documents a systematic survey and inventory of sites from a dedicated expedition. Data categorizes sites into five distinct functional and structural types.

Limitations

• Dataset size, row count, and specific file formats are unknown. The data is temporally stale, with the last update recorded in January 1987. The sample data and specific columns are unavailable, limiting detailed analysis.

Provenance

Source

Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AU_AADC) via NASA Earthdata.

Collection Method

Field survey and recording during the ANARE expedition to Heard Island.

Time Range

Expedition conducted from November 1986 to January 1987.

Freshness

1987-01-21

Geography

Heard Island, specifically various beaches and the Atlas Cove station site.