Appendix C - Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment - Peabody Energy

Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment
North Wambo Underground Mine Modification
The Project is located in the Singleton area which is situated in the Hunter region. The Project Area has a
temperate climate that is affected by its proximity to the mountain ranges to the south west. Summer and
autumn are the wettest seasons with an average rainfall of approximately 720 mm and the temperatures
averaging between 12 degrees and 24 degrees Celsius (Australian Bureau of Meteorology 2010). The
temperate climate would be suitable for occupation for the majority of the year providing suitable shelter
could be obtained during the wet periods.
3.5 Flora and Fauna
The historic settlement of the Hunter Valley included modification of the original vegetation communities,
particularly through clearing for pastoral land uses. Broad scale vegetation mapping for NSW (Keith 2002)
indicates that, prior to such modifications, the project area was dominated by two vegetation communities,
the Hunter-Macleay Dry Sclerophyll Forests and the Sydney Hinterland Dry Sclerophyll Forests.
The Hunter-Macleay Dry Sclerophyll Forests are characterised by an open canopy with trees up to 30 m tall,
including spotted gums, iron barks, grey gums, boxes and turpentine. The understorey consists of a sparse
layer of shrubs and a semi-continuous cover of grasses (Keith 2006:124). The Sydney Hinterland Dry
Sclerophyll Forests occur throughout the Sydney sandstone basin below elevations of 600 m. The trees vary
in size from 10 m tall on ridges and dry slopes, up to 25 m tall in gorges and sheltered slopes. The shrub
understorey is more open and less diverse than that of the coastal dry sclerophyll forests (Keith 2006: 148).
The large array of resource plant species available in the area indicates that the region could have also
supported a rich variety of fauna species (National Parks and Wildlife Service NSW 2003) which Aboriginal
people may have used for sustenance, tools, and clothing. In the past, these vegetation communities would
likely have supported a range of fauna such as macropods, koalas, possums, gliders and a range of reptile
and bird species. Evidence for the consumption of such faunal species has been recovered from Aboriginal
archaeological excavations in the Sydney basin region (Attenbrow 2006:72-73).
It is considered that the area would have been well resourced in terms of water and food with a wide diversity
of fauna and flora available in the local and regional area, although today the landscape has been highly
disturbed by extensive clearing and previous farming practices.
3.6 Synthesis
A review of the environmental context of the region indicates that the probability of identifying sites in the
project area is high. The geology underlying the project area would have provided raw materials suitable for
the manufacture of stone tools and the proximity of the project area to Wollombi Brook, Stony Creek and
South Wambo Creek suggests that the area would have been largely suitable for occupation.
Previous disturbances in the area include farming related practices such as clearing, grazing and slashing.
Despite these modifications to the land, the soil landscape suggests that the project area has the potential to
contain in situ subsurface artefact deposits where the soils remain deep. Additionally, the vegetation (where
not completely cleared) may possibly contain scarred trees.
An overview of the environmental context of the project area indicates that there are rich food and raw
material sources available. It would, therefore, have been a favourable area for Aboriginal occupation.
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