ASDST Burial Sites Pre1750 Model: Predictive Likelihood of Aboriginal Burial Sites in NSW

A 2020 predictive model from the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment estimating the likelihood of Aboriginal burial sites across New South Wales prior to European colonization. The Aboriginal Sites Decision Support Tool (ASDST) suite includes raster layers for multiple site feature types, with cell values ranging from 0 to 1000 indicating relative likelihood. The data is provided in Esri GRID format at 50-meter resolution.

Use Cases

• Assess landscape sensitivity for Aboriginal burial sites based on predictive likelihood scores.
• Compare pre-colonization and current landscape predictions for impact analysis.
• Prioritize field survey areas using the survey priority map derived from model reliability.
• Support planning decisions by visualizing the potential distribution of cultural heritage features.

Strengths

• Provides a specific predictive layer for burial sites (BUR) among 10 distinct feature types.
• Offers models for both pre-colonization (p1750XXX) and current landscape (curr_XXX) conditions.
• Covers the entire spatial extent of New South Wales at a 50-meter resolution.
• Includes derived products for accumulated impact (drvd_imp) and model reliability (drvd_rel).

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 and temporal bias inherent to the source Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System (AHIMS).

Provenance

Source

NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (via data_gov_au).

Collection Method

Derived from the Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System (AHIMS) using predictive modeling techniques.

Time Range

Models predict likelihood prior to European colonization (pre-1750) and for the current landscape (circa 2020).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-12 16:56:59.655768; freshness should be verified.

Geography

State of New South Wales, Australia.