ASDST Western Mounds and Shell Pre1750 Model

A geospatial predictive model estimating the likelihood of pre-European colonization Aboriginal site features, specifically western mounds and shell deposits, across New South Wales. The model is part of the Aboriginal Sites Decision Support Tool suite produced by the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment in 2020. It uses a relative likelihood scale from 0 to 1000 at a 50-meter resolution in a Geographic Coordinate System.

Use Cases

• Assess landscape planning risks based on predicted likelihood of Aboriginal site features.
• Prioritize field survey areas based on model reliability and data gaps.
• Analyze accumulated impacts on Aboriginal heritage by comparing pre-colonization and current landscape models.
• Support decision-making for development projects by visualizing potential site feature distributions.

Strengths

• Model covers the entire state of New South Wales.
• Provides a specific likelihood scale from 0 to 1000 for relative comparison.
• Part of a larger, versioned suite (Version 7.5) produced by a government department in 2020.
• Includes a derived model for assessing accumulated impacts on heritage sites.

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.
• The model predicts likelihood, not probability, which requires careful interpretation.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

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

Time Range

Predicts likelihood prior to European colonization (pre-1750).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-12 16:16:37.793963; freshness should be verified.

Geography

State of New South Wales, Australia.