A Cultural Heritage Management Plan was prepared in 2016 (amended 2019) for a wetlands area to service the new Atherstone housing estate in Melton South, Victoria. Field investigations, including large-scale salvage, have recovered over two thousand lithic artefacts, relating to both existing and new Aboriginal Places on the volcanic plain and alluvial terrace adjacent to Toolern Creek.
Radiocarbon dates suggest Aboriginal occupation here extends over 17 millennia, from the end of the last Ice Age (LGM) and through the Late Holocene. In particular, the site provides valuable information on Aboriginal occupation during the Late Pleistocene–Early Holocene transition in Victoria.
Reference:
Watson, B. and S. Crooks. 2019. Wilton Fields Wetlands Area, Atherstone, Melton South. CHMP 13558, Report to Lend Lease Communities (Atherstone).
Crooks, S, A. Donald and S. Cath-Garling (in prep.). Wilton Fields Wetlands Area, Atherstone, Melton South, CHMP 13558 Amendment Salvage Report. Report to Lend Lease Communities (Atherstone).