ASDST Artefacts Pre1750 Model: Predictive Likelihood of Aboriginal Site Features in NSW

The ASDST Artefacts Pre1750 Model is a suite of geospatial raster layers predicting the likelihood of Aboriginal site features across New South Wales, Australia, prior to European colonization. It was developed by the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, with the current version 7.5 produced in 2020 at 50-meter resolution. The model covers ten distinct feature types, including stone artefacts, rock art, burials, and scarred trees, with cell values ranging from 0 to 1000 indicating relative likelihood.

Use Cases

• Assess landscape planning risks for Aboriginal heritage based on predicted likelihood of site features.
• Compare pre-colonisation and current landscape likelihoods for impact analysis using the 'p1750XXX' and 'curr_XXX' model forms.
• Identify areas of high accumulated impact on Aboriginal heritage using the derived 'drvd_imp' layer.
• Prioritise field survey locations by integrating model reliability ('drvd_rel') and survey priority ('drvd_srv') layers.

Strengths

• Covers the entire state of New South Wales at a 50-meter spatial resolution.
• Models ten distinct Aboriginal site feature types, including artefacts, rock art, and burials.
• Provides both pre-colonisation ('p1750XXX') and current landscape ('curr_XXX') predictive layers for comparative analysis.
• Includes derived products for accumulated impact ('drvd_imp'), model reliability ('drvd_rel'), and survey priority ('drvd_srv').

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to data_gov_au, being specific to NSW.

Provenance

Source

NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (formerly Department of Planning, Industry and Environment).

Collection Method

Derived from the Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System (AHIMS) using predictive modelling for landscape planning.

Time Range

Models pre-1750 conditions (pre-colonisation) and the current landscape (as of 2020).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-12 20:35:51.808896; freshness should be verified.

Geography

State of New South Wales, Australia.