The art of the Marra Wonga Rockshelter, Queensland.

The Marra Wonga Rockshelter is a sandstone escarpment on the Turraburra Station in Jericho Shire, Queensland, Australia, roughly 890 km to the northwest of Brisbane. The site is covered with an extensive network of art, with about 15 000 petroglyphs (rock carvings), and 111 stencil paintings over an area of about 160 m. The area is located on traditional Iningai land, and an Aboriginal-led tourism destination, with the local community playing an active role in research at the site.

In a paper published in the journal Australian Archaeology on 24 June 2022, Paul Taçon of the Place, Evolution and Rock Art Heritage Unit, Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, and Australian ResearchCentre for Human Evolution, at Griffith University, Suzanne Thompson of the Yambangku Aboriginal Cultural Heritage and Tourism Development Aboriginal Corporation, Kate Greenwood, also of the Place, Evolution and Rock Art Heritage Unit, and Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research at Griffith University, and the Greenwood Consultancy, Andrea Jalandoni, again of the Place, Evolution and Rock Art Heritage Unit, Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, and Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, at Griffith University, Michael Williams of GBA Consulting Engineers, and Maria Kottermair of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Queensland, discuss the Marra Wonga artwork and its significance.

The location of Turraburra and neighbouring Grey Rock. Maria Kottermair in Taçon et al. (2022).

The site is located in an area of desert uplands, with loamy, sandy plains and plateaus, Cainozoic duricrusts, and sandstone ridges. The area has sandy red and yellow soils, with some clay and siliceous sands, with a vegetation dominated by Eucalypt trees with an understory of Spinifex. Rainfall occurs mostly in the summer months, peaking during cyclones. The area immediately surrounding the rockshelter is an open woodland of Lancewood, Wattle, Mulga and Ironbark.

The first non-indigenous record of the Iningai People was made by the Scottish explorer Thomas Mitchell, who visited the area in 1846, noting the people were a 'very numerous tribe' constructing lean-to huts with roofs of bark tiles, as well as large, permanent huts connected by well beaten paths. For the most part, Mitchell tried to avoid contact with the local peoples of the areas he was mapping, but recalled encountering a large group of Iningai digging for mussels in a lake, who shouted at him angrily.

The first farming station in the region was established by Robert Christison (another Scott) in the 1860s, at Lammermoor, about 200 km to the northwest of Turraburra. Christison appears to have enjoyed better relations with the Daleburra/Iningai people of the region, employing many and writing extensively about their language and culture.

The settlement at Grey Rock dates from 1877, when the Greyrock Hotel was opened there, and Turraburra Station was first granted as a farming concession to George Porter under the name 'Charlie's Creek No. 5'. Porter's son, also George, again wrote about the Aboriginal people of the area, but this was a less happy story, recording massacres and forced relocations to mission stations. By 1902 there were only 37 Iningai  adults and three children remaining who were not living on stations, most at a camp at Lake Dolly. 

Turraburra passed through 17 different owners between 1882 and 2019, when it was acquired by the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation and leased to the Yambangku Aboriginal Cultural Heritage and Tourism Development Aboriginal Corporation, during which time it's name was changed four times. The site is now being developed as a heritage and cultural tourism centre.

The oldest archaeological evidence for Human settlement in the highlands of central Queensland is at Kenniff Cave, a site dated to about 19 000 years before the present. Rock art in the area has been divided into three phases, with the oldest, identified as Central Queensland Phase 1, dated to more than 5000 years ago, and comprising pecked engravings into hard rock surfaces, forming complex patterns. Rock art of the Central Queensland Phase 2 is dated to between 5000 and 36 years ago, and includes pecked and abraded engravings, as well as red paintings, including stencils. Central Queensland Phase 3 dates from between 140 and 36 years ago, and shows an increased use of white paint, combined with the appearance of Lizard, Tortoise, and grid motifs. 

Iningai Country is host to a wide range of Aboriginal cultural herritage sites, including rock art sites as well as native wells, artefact scatters, stone arrangements, scarred and carved trees, a midden, contact sites, quarries, hearths, ovens and story places. There are eight registered cultural heritage sites within 40 km of Turraburra, divided into seventeen components, eight of which are rock art. 

The Marra Wonga site is first known to have been photographed in 1958, with those photographs being used to illustrate an article about the site by Fred McCarthy, an archaeologist at the Australian Museum, although McCarthy never visited the site himself. The first visit to the site by an archaeologist was made by Robert Neal of the University of Queensland in 1987, who noted that the site had become a local tourist attraction, albeit without any organised tours of the site being run.

Marra Wonga was formally opened as a tourist attraction in 1996 by the Dyer family, who owned the site at the time, with tours being run by one Tom Lochie, who later installed toilets and a picnic area close to the site. The first moves to have the location designated a protected site stem from this time. Lochie continued to run tours to the site until 2017; he passed away in January 2018.

Taçon et al. visited the Marra Wonga site in September 2020 and June/July 2021. They photographed the site extensively, as well as taking notes and making accurate location measurements with a GPS unit. Other sites in the immediate locality were recorded, including scatters of stone tools and native wells.

The central portion of Marra Wonga with an extensive wall of petroglyphs and stencils. Andrea Jalandoni in Taçon et al. (2022).

The site comprises an 160 m long, east-facing rockshelter, with art panels across the back wall to a height of 3 m as well as part of the floor. At the southern end of the site, the artwork starts with a row of 13 Birds-track peteroglyphs, overlain by at least eight Macropod (Kangaroo or Wallaby) tracks, then a small, stencil of a child's hand. Two metres further to the north are a pair of larger Macropod track petroglyphs, followed by an anthromorphic figure, after which the wall becomes covered with a much denser collection of art, some of it spreading onto the ceiling.

The actual number of petroglyphs at the site, but it is calculated that there are at least 15 000, based upon the decorated section of the wall being 160 m long, and on average 1.8 m high, with at least 50 petroglyphs per square metre. Petroglyphs are also present on nearby boulders, as well as parts of the ceiling and floor of the rockshelter.

The wall is covered with both natural and drilled holes, with some of the drilled holes cut in lines. Many of the peck-holes overcut designs pounded into the rock. Bird and Animal track designs are very common, with the Macropod tracks being the most common Animal tracks. A smaller number of Possum-like tracks are present, as well as one set of Dingo-tracks.

A portion of Marra Wonga with hundreds of petroglyphs including lots of macropod tracks. Paul Taçon in Taçon et al. (2022).

The site's single anthromorphic figure, towards the southern end of the wall, is 94.3 cm high and carved onto a projection from the wall. This figure is depicted with its arms bent at the elbow and five-fingured hands hanging down. The legs are spread wide, with the feet pointing outwards, and lacking toes. Between the legs is a long penis.

A photograph (A) and digitally manipulated image (B) of the Marra Wonga anthropomorph, enhanced using 3D modelling and Topographic Position Index. The anthropomorph (at the southern end of the site) is interpreted by Aboriginal community members as Ancestral Being Wattanuri. Paul Taçon in Taçon et al. (2022).

A large Snake, 2.28 m long and 28.8 cm high, with one end disappearing into a hole, is depicted on the wall a few metres to the north of the anthropomorph. The outline of the Snake has been marked out with lines of drilled holes, and is bulbous in the middle, tapering towards each end. This figure has been crosscut by numerous other petroglyphs, mostly Bird tracks, but also some paired boomerangs.

Engraved snake-like design on the wall between the anthropomorph and the cluster of engraved feet. Paul Taçon in Taçon et al. (2022).

There are a few engraved feet on the walls and a nearby boulder, although these are far more common on the remains of a sandstone platform abutting the wall. This area has 19 foorprints, including two large, six-toed footprints heal-to-heal at the bottom of the wall. the other feet on the platform have four, six, or eleven toes. At the northern end of the platform are a set of Bird tracks, two arcs and an abraded edge.

Case-hardened floor surface with 19 engraved human-like feet with varying numbers of toes, along with other designs. Paul Taçon in Taçon et al. (2022).

At the northern end of the site is a section of wall and a boulder with five Human feet, one six-toed and one four-toed, and a set of Dingo tracks, the only such set at the site.

A pair of large six-toed human-like engraved feet positioned heel to heel on a case-hardened floor area with 17 other engraved feet with varying numbers of toes. Paul Taçon in Taçon et al. (2022).

High  on the wall to the north of the platform of feet is a distinctive phallus, 24.6 cm high and 16.5 cm wide, with a red ochre outline. To the right of, and slightly below this, are a pair of stencilled hands, one red and one purple. Seven small boomerangs, depicted as if in flight, lead from the phallus to a series of seven star petroglyphs to the right of it.

Engraving of a Dingo paw print. Paul Taçon in Taçon et al. (2022).

The seven stars are formed by pits surrounded by radiating lines. They form three rows, with three stars in the top row, and two in each of the two rows beneath this. The three largest stars are those at either end of the top row, and the left star in the bottom row, the smallest star is the right star in the middle row. These stars are surrounded by Macropod and Bird tracks, a Possum hand, two feet, a vertical row of six pits, and some other less clear designs.

Engraved penis and boomerangs to the immediate left of the seven star-like designs interpreted as the Seven Sisters. The penis, outlined in red ochre, is interpreted by community Elders as referring to Wattanuri. Paul Taçon in Taçon et al. (2022).

An eighth star at the northern end of the rock shelter was discovered during fieldwork in September 2020. Unlike the other stars, which were clearly intended to be seen from a distance, it is in a hidden corner of the site, pointing towards the northwest rather than the east.

The seven star-like design cluster enhanced with DStretch and with star design locations indicated with numbers. Paul Taçon in Taçon et al. (2022).

To the north of the stars is another Snake, which extends for another 11.22 m, with its head facing away from the stars. This Snake is made up of two long lines with linear patterns between them, and is thickest at its middle section. 

The eighth star-like design at Marra Wonga near the northern end of the rock art panel just above the floor. It has been interpreted as a Seven Sister representation on Earth. Paul Taçon in Taçon et al. (2022).

Hand stencils are among the most common rock paintings at Marra Wonga, with 100 counted to date, including five interpreted as children due to their small sizes. The majority of these are red, although 22% are purple, 10% white, and 9% yellow. The majority (74%) of the hand stencils are of the left hand, although with the yellow stencils this trend is reversed, with five of the nine yellow stencils being of right hands. The oldest stencils appear to be the purple ones, which are always overlain by the other colours where they intersect, these are followed by red stencils, then yellow, then the white stencils, which always overlay any other colour. 

Suzanne Thompson in front of the engraved snake-like design, interpreted as a ‘Rainbow Serpent’ depiction (with black line showing its position). Thompson is explaining the significance of the rock art. Paul Taçon in Taçon et al. (2022). 

Object stencils are also common, and include boomerangs, digging sticks, and a purple ring which might be a ring pad used by women to carry heavy objects on their heads. No other site close to Marra Wonga has any object stencils.

Two red boomerang stencils and a red fist stencil on the ceiling of a low wall concavity. Paul Taçon in Taçon et al. (2022). 

Two long boomerang stencils within a concavity on the wall's surface form a clear pair, something not known at any other site in the vicinity. To the right of this is a fist stencil. Further to the right of this are several red hand stencils, then a digging stick stencil within another concavity, with a yellow boomerang stencil beneath it. Digging stick stencils are extremely rare across Australia, although a partial ceiling panel close to the digging stick stencil, shows parts of another five digging sticks, with more potentially having been lost by the rock crumbling away. Close to this is the stencil interpreted as a ring pad. 

Rare red stencil of a digging stick, the only one at Marra Wonga. Paul Taçon in Taçon et al. (2022). 

Excluding stencils, Marra Wonga has only a single painting, the track of an Emu, realised in short red lines, and running across a wall panel, with one footprint on a boulder which also has petroglyphs. Many of the natural features of the site, such as cavities, holes, and depressions, have been worked into the art, and used to help place or orient the petroglyphs and stencils.

The site is also home to some modern graffiti, with inscriptions reading 'N. MELVILLE', 'TMcK', 'H. HALAM', and 'PEARL'. The oldest graffiti that can be dated was left by T. Smith in 1913.

A small scattering of stone tools has also been found close to Marra Wonga, although none actually next to the art site; it is possible that tools left closer have been removed, as the site has been visited by tourists in an unregulated way since the late 1800s. The closest cluster of tools to the site is 120 m to the south, possibly suggesting people stating close to the rockshelter, but only directly approaching to perform some ceremony.

Twenty three further rock art sites have been found in the vicinity of Marra Wonga, although the artworks found at these are both smaller and less numerous. A quarry site from which pigments have been extracted was also located nearby. One site, a few hundred metres to the south of Marra Wonga, has an adult hand stencil executed in a black pigment (not seen at Marra Wonga). Another nearby site has Bird tracks and stars scattered over a wall 15 m long. At Grey Rock station, 11 km to the west, a wall has a series of adult and child hand and foot stencils executed in red and yellow.

Gray Rock Historical Reserve, the site of the Greyrock Hotel, has a wall with four anthromorphic figures, two Human feet, and what appears to be a Possum hand, as well as a large amount of graffiti. The figures are executed in a similar style to the one at Marra Wonga, which, given the rarity of Human figures in the rock art of the Queensland Highlands, probably implies that they were made by the same group or even individual artist, and may indicate a connection between the two sites.

The art at Marra Wonga has never been dated, and was probably made over a long period of time. Some of the art is overlain by fossil Wasp's nests, giving the potential for a minimum age to be established. Some of the pecked designs are likely to be over 5000 years old, with others along with the other petroglyphs and the red and purple stencils are likely to be between 5000 and 36 years old. Yellow and white stencils are generally considered to be much younger, and since the yellow stencils at Marra Wonga overlay all other art, it is reasonable to assume that they are less than 140 years old.

The art at Marra Wonga can be divided into 10 clusters, which appear to be ordered from south to north, although they were likely to have been made at different times. The modern Aboriginal community of the area interpret these panels as telling a Seven Sisters (Kungkarrangkalpa ) Dreaming Story.

The anthropomorphic figure at Marra Wonga is interpreted as being a representation of Wattanuri, an Ancestral Being known by a variety of names across Australia, and associated with the constellation of Orion and the Morning Star. The anthropomorphic figures at Grey Rock are also interpreted as Wattanuri. Wattanuri is a shape-shifting Clever Man who pursues the Seven Sisters in most variants of the story.

The Snake figure is generally accepted as Wattanuri shapeshifted into the form of a Snake, although sometimes another mythical or extinct Animal. The footprints are also those of Wattanuri, who must regularly check the number of toes he has in order to see if his magic is going out of control. The phallus is another representation of Wattanuri, while the boomerangs are carried by him and thrown at the Seven Sisters. 

The seven stars are representations of the Seven Sisters, who are linked to the constellation of the Pleiades. Most variants of the story tell that early in the history of the world the Seven Sisters came down to Earth, where they were chased by an old (and possibly evil) man with a large penis who wanted to make them his wives. All of the stories tell of different incidents as the Seven Sisters try to get away and the Man pursues them. These incidents happened at distinctive locations, such as hills, waterholes, and sometimes rock art sites, and each story has a moral lesson. In some variants the Old Man captures the Oldest Sister and rapes her, requiring the other Sisters to heal her, and includes information about healing plants. The long Snake is a representation of the Rainbow Serpent, another manifestation of Wattanuri.

One version of the story holds that the Seven Sisters travelled westward to a sacred place called Kuru Ala. Here Wattanuri captures and hurts the oldest sister, and the Sisters gather healing plants and food. While they do this Wattanuri turns his phallus into a Carpet Snake, and sends it down through the rocks to spy on them. The Sisters capture the Snake and throw it away, causing it to shimmer like a rainbow as it flies through the air. The Sisters then capture, cook, and eat the Snake, before realising that it is part of Wattanuri, The Snake makes them ill, they vomit and return to the sky.

The boomerangs at Marra Wonga are interpreted as signs of a male presence, and associated with Warranuri, while the digging sticks and ring pad are feminine objects associated with the Seven Sisters. The digging sticks may, in stories, be used to carry fire, capture the Sisters, beat of Man attacking the Sisters, or dig for food and medicinal Plants. 

The Dingo track may also relate to the Severn Sisters story, as in variants of the story a Dingo either helps to protect the Sisters or is used to hunt them. The single star on its own on the ground may represent a Sister on Earth hiding from Wattanuri, with the nearby tracks representing a Dingo protecting her. 

Rock art associated with Ancestral Beings is found across Australia, with some sites even reputed to have been created by them. This rock art often takes advantage of natural features of the sites, such as cavities, holes, cracks, and changes in orientation, as well as incorporating adjacent rocks, boulders and natural rock platforms, to emphasise and orient the artwork.

The Marra Wonga site has been recognised as being archaeologically important since at least 1960, but has not received the protection of sites such as The Palace in Central Western Queensland, despite its rock art being at least equally impressive and very different. As well as being exceptional from an archaeological perspective, the art is still very important to the local Aboriginal community.

There are at least 83 sites across Australia associated with the story of the Seven Sisters, although Marra Wonga is one of only four with artwork, and these are widely scattered across the continent. Besides Marra Wonga, there is artwork associated with the Seven Sisters to the north of Karlamilyi in Western Australia,  in South Australia near the Northern Territory border, about 100 kilometres south of Uluru, and at a site south of Lake Eyre, also in South Australia.

Preserving such sites both protects the traditional religion and culture of the Aboriginal people, it created economic opportunities in the form of tourism which remote communities can take advantage of.

The story of the Seven Sisters varies across Australia, but always contains morals, and important information about the local environment. The Sisters are always pursued by a shape-shifting Clever Man, who can turn into a variety of Animals and other objects. The need of this individual to test his footprint and count his toes is found in many of these stories, as is the Sisters being made ill by his magic and needing to return to the sky.

Petroglyphs depicting Human feet with varying numbers of toes are surprisingly widespread, with a recent global survey of sites with petroglyphs depicting feet with six toes uncovering 21 in Australia, ten in the United States of America, four in Argentina, three in Chile, two in Namibia and New Zealand, and one each in Angola, Botswana, Egypt, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), South Africa and the United Kingdom. Of the 21 sites in Australia, nine are in Queensland (and eight of those in the Central Highlands), three are found in the Northern Territory, three more in South Australia, and  two each in New South Wales, Tasmania and Western Australia. Another 64 sites in Australia and 209 globally have feet with different numbers of toes. Of these sites, 44 are in Sweden, followed by 26 in the United States of America and 18 in Norway. Twenty four of the Australian sites are in Queensland, 18 in New South Wales, 13 in South Australia, four in both the Northern Territory and Western Australia and one in Tasmania.

In Queensland six-toed foot petroglyphs are particularly common in Bidjara Country to the southeast of Turraburra. Six toes and six finegers are fairly common among the Bidjara people. Six-toed petroglyphs (including the largest foot petroglyphs at Marra Wonga) are typically much larger than Human feet, and are considered by the Bidjara people to represent one of their Dreaming ancestors. 

Rainbow Serpents are also extremely common across Australia, with the oldest thought to be over 6000 years old. However, almost all of these are painted, rather than engraved like the one at Marra Wonga. As with other important ancestral figures, Rainbow Serpents are sometimes credited with placing their own images onto the rocks, without the need for a Human artist.

The size, large amount of artwork, and presence of a number of rare symbols and themes, at Marra Wonga may suggest that it was once an aggregation site, i.e. a site at which different bands of hunter-gatherers came together to meet at seasonal events. Marra Wonga is the largest rock-art site in Queensland, with over 15 000 (more pertoglyphs on a wall than any other site in Australia) and 111 stencils. It is also the second most diverse rock-art assemblage in Queensland, after The Palace. Most of the symbols at Marra Wonga are widespread, such as the hand stencils, which are found throughout Central Queensland, but others are rare or even unique, such as the cluster of stars, the phallus, the digging sticks, or the 11 m long Snake. However, other features common at Australian rock-art sites, such as naturalistic depictions of Animals and painted grids, are absent.

The Marra Wonga site has clearly been worked upon by rock-artists for a very long time. Given the length of the site's use, it is possible that the both the people using it and their interpretation of its meaning has changed over this time. The site is home to a diverse range of images, many of which are unique or very rare. These images are used today, and presumably been used in the past, to assist with the telling of important tales about the origin of the people and their culture, and their relationship with the world around them. The diversity of the images at the site may indicate that it was used as an aggregation site, with peoples from across a wide area meeting up their and bringing elements of their own culture to the site.

Taçon et al. consider that the unique nature and cultural importance of Marra Wonga make it worthy of special protection, and will concentrate future research both on the conservation of the site and the better documenting and understanding of its many features.

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Striped Hyenas spotted in the Dghoumes National Park, Tunisia, and the Moroccan High Atlas for the first time in decades.

Striped Hyenas, Hyaena hyaena, are medium-sized Carnivoran Mammals with a wide distribution from North and West Africa, through East Africa and the Middle East to the Caucasus region and South and Central Asia. They mate for life, with both members of a pair partaking equally in the raising of the young. Spotted Hyenas are primarily carrion feeders, although they will hunt small prey, and can be found in wide range of habitats. They are, however, seldom tolerated around farmland, because of their perceived threat to livestock, and have become locally extinct across parts of their range, while suffering major declines in population in others. As such they are currently classified as Vulnerable under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.

A Striped Hyena, Hyaena hyaena, in the Jebel Akhdar uplands of northeastern Libya. Rushikesh Deshmukh/Wikimedia Commons.

The expansion of agriculture in Tunisia, and in particular the farming of livestock, has fuelled conflicts between Humans and carnivores, with only the African Wolf, Canis lupaster, and the Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes, remaining in many areas. The Striped Hyena is thought to have disappeared from most of Tunisia in the twentieth century, with the only twenty-first century records coming from camera traps in the Jebel Serj National Park in the north of the country.

In a letter to the journal Orynx published on 30 August 2022, Mohamed Khalil Meliane and Amira Saidi of Marwell Wildlife and the Research Laboratory of Biodiversity, Management and Conservation of Biological Systems at the University of Tunis El Manar, Marie Petretto and Tim Woodfine, also of Marwell Wildlife, and Philip Riordan and Tania Gilbert, again of Marwell Wildlife and of Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton, report camera trap observations of the Spotted Hyena in the Dghoumes National Park in southern Tunisia.

The observations were made as part of an assessment of biodiversity in the park following the re-introduction of the Scimitar-horned Oryx, Oryx dammah, Dorcas Gazelle, Gazella dorcas and North African Ostrich, Struthio camelus camelus. A total of 30 camera traps were deployed along Animal trails between April 2018 and March 2022. Striped Hyenas were spotted only during one month each during 2018 and 2019, but were spotted during six months each in 2020 and 2021. During this time 20 observations were made of at least two individual Hyenas. Camera traps placed in the Jbil National Park and Sidi Toui National Park in southern Tunisia failed to record any Spotted Hyenas.

In a second letter published in Orynx on the same day, Abderrazak Ek Alami and El Mustapha Bouzid of the Moroccan Ministry of National Education, and Abderrazak Fattah of the University of Hassan II in Casablanca, confirm the first observation of a Striped Hyena in the Central High Atlas Mountains of Morocco since 2000.

El Alami et al. were engaged in surveying the area for Carnivores between 2019 and 2022, although they did not observe any Striped Hyenas during this survey. However, on 20 April 2022 a Hyena was shot and killed by a local resident in the Faryata region north-east of the town of Beni Mellal, with photographs of the dead Animal being subsequently posted to social media, prompting local authorities to investigate, as the species is protected under Moroccan law.

This (unfortunate) incident confirms that Striped Hyenas are still present in the High Atlas, although the fact that the species was not detected by a survey which was able to located other elusive species suggests that their numbers are very low, leading El Alami et al. to conclude that more efforts are needed both to protect Carnivores in this region, and to promote education about conservation in order to reduce Human-wildlife conflicts.

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Ctenostegus hansoni: A new species of Spider Wasp from Lord Howe Island.

Spider Wasps, Pompilidae, are a large and diverse group of (usually) solitary Wasps with a global distribution. They get their popular name from their habit of capturing live Spiders to bury with their young as a food source. Spider Wasps are generally strong flyers with large wings, fused thorax segments, and spiny legs. Each species of Spider Wasp tends to prey on a different species of Spider, or sometimes a few closely related species, with the targeted Spiders often being large species such as Tarantulas, Huntsmen, or Baboon Spiders.

Lord Howe Island is a volcanic island in the Tasman Sea, 600 km of the coast of New South Wales. It has a high proportion of endemic species, although in the 250 years since it was discovered it has been colonised by a wide range of Plants, Vertebrates, and Invertebrates brought in by Humans, either deliberately or by accident.

Despite's the island's high rate of endemism, and the threat presented by introduced species such as Rats, relatively few studies of Lord Howe Island's invertebrate fauna have been made, which presents serious problems for conservation efforts there.

Lord Howe Island is currently known to be home to 318 species of Wasps, 36% of which are endemic to the island. This includes two species of Spider Wasps: the endemic Sphictostethus insularis, and Ctenostegus murrumbidgee, a species widely distributed in Australia, although this species has been identified there on the basis of a single male specimen only. There are also four specimens of unidentified Spider Wasps from Lord Howe Island in the collection of the Australian Museum.

In a paper published in the journal Austral Entomology on 26 August 2022, Juanita Rodriguez and Olivia Evangelista of the Australian National Insect Collection, describe a new species of Spider Wasp from Lord Howe Island.

The new species is described on the basis of a two citizen science expeditions to Lord Howe Island organised by the Australian Geographic Society in October 2017 and October 2018. The new species is placed in the genus Ctenostegus, and given the specific name hansoni, in honour of Luke Hanson of the Australian Geographical Society, for his role in helping to put together the expeditions to Lord Howe Island. The male specimen previously assigned to Ctenostegus murrumbidgee is also considered to be a member of the new species, with the implication that that species should not be considered to be present on the island.

Distribution map of the species included in the Ctenostegus immitis species-group in Australia (left), and Ctenostegus hansoni in Lord Howe Island (right). Rodriguez & Evangelista (2022).

Females of Ctenostegus hansoni are 6.9-8.04 mm in length, while males are smaller at 4.53-6.28 mm, but otherwise vary little in general morphology. Both sexes are essentially black in colour, with some dark brown, white, and silver markings. Like all species of Ctenostegus, much of the body of Ctenostegus hansoni is covered by silvery hairs. However, in Ctenostegus hansoni these are much less dense than in other species, giving this Wasp a darker appearance.

Ctenostegus hansoni, holotype female (ANIC 32-111497) in (a) frontal, (b) lateral, and (c) dorsal view, (d) close-up of head in frontal view. Rodriguez & Evangelista (2022).

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Magnitude 5.2 Earthquake to the northwest of the island of Samos.

The Geodynamics Institute of the National Observatory of Athens recorded a Magnitude 5.2 Earthquake at a depth of 12.8 km, beneath the Aegean Sea, about 15 km to the northwest of the island of Samos, at about 1.10 pm local time (about 11.10 am GMT) on Wednesday 31 August 2022. No damage or injuries have been reported following this event, but people have reported feeling the event across much of the Aegean region, the eastern Greek mainland, and western Anatolia.

The approximate location of the 31 August 2022 Samos Earthquake. USGS.

The Aegean Sea is underlain by the Aegean Sea Plate, a small tectonic plate caught between the African Plate to the south, the Anatolian Plate to the east and the Eurasian Plate to the northwest. The Anatolian Plate is being pushed to the west by the northward movement of the Arabian Plate to the east, pushing the Aegean Plate south and west into collision with the northward moving African Plate. Part of the African Plate is being subducted beneath the Aegean Plate along the Hellenic Trench, which runs to the south of the Greek Islands from Cyprus to Crete then northwest under the Ionian sea parallel to the Peloponnesian Coast. This is not a smooth process, as the plates frequently stick together then break apart once the pressure has built up sufficiently, leading to (fairly frequent) Earthquakes.

Simplified map of the plate movements of the eastern Mediterranean. Univeriteit Utrecht.

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Understanding the Roman-style forts of Upper Nubia.

The term Upper Nubia is used to identify the area along the banks of the River Nile between the Third Cataract and the confluence of the White and Blue Niles, and the areas of desert and semi-desert that surrounds it. This area is covered by a huge array of defensive structures, mostly dating to the medieval and post-medieval periods; the exact number of these structures is unclear, although it is probably over 300. Some of these structures have been extensively explored by archaeologists, but most have been only briefly surveyed, if at all. As a result of this, the origin of most of these forts is unclear, with estimates based upon surface materials recovered from the sites or just the general shape of the fortifications. 

The largest of these structures, such as Old Dongola and Bakhit, are still the largest structures ever built in this region, but many are much smaller, representing little more than military towers or fortified houses. Among these varied structures, one group stands out for their similarity, a group of small forts with quadrilateral structures resembling Late Roman fortlets. 

In a paper published in the journal Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa on 2 February 2022, Mariusz Drzewiecki of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw, and Aneta Cedro of the Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures of the Polish Academy of Sciences, examine the origins of these forts and try to understand who built them and why.

Map of the Upper Nubia region of Sudan showing the locations of places mentioned in the text. Black squares mark quadrilateral forts, red squares potential forts. Mariusz Drzewiecki in Drzewieki & Cedro (2022).

Drzewieki and Cedro were able to identify nine Roman-style forts in Upper Nubia, spanning about 550 km of the Nile Valley. These are presumed to have been built during Late Antiquity (the second to seventh centuries AD), a time of significant political change in the region. By the second century AD the Kushite Kingdom of Meroe was beginning to break apart into smaller states. In the fourth century, when the Axumite King Ezana sent an army to conquer the region. By the fifth-to-sixth centuries the region was divided into three kingdoms, Makuria, with its capital at Dongala, Nobadia, with its capital at Faras, and Alwa, with its capital at Soba, which, by the late sixth century, were at war with one-another, having converted to different branches of Christianity; the Makurians having adopted Melkitism, and the other two kingdoms having converted to Monophysitism.

The quadrilateral fort at the top of Jebel Umm Marrahi. Mariusz Drzewiecki in Drzewieki & Cedro (2022).

Drzewieki and Cedro consider that three possible explanations for the forts are plausible. 

Firstly, the forts could have been built by the Kingdom of Meroe towards the end of its existence; this is supported by the locations of the forts, which span the final area which the Kingdom was able to hold onto before its eventual collapse. 

Secondly, the forts could have been built by one of the successor kingdoms which emerged in the fifth-to-sixth centuries. A number of forts between the Third and Fourth Cataracts (further downstream) are considered to have been built by the Kingdom of Makuria, though these are less regular in form than the Upper Nubian forts, being moulded to the local topography. All of the Roman-style forts lie within the boundaries of the historic Kingdom of Alwa, with the most southerly fort, Jebel Umm Marrahi, being only 50 km to the north of the city of Soba, which has led to the suggestion that the forts might have been built by the Alwans.

Finally, Drzewieki and Cedro hypothesise that the first of the forts could have been built by Meroe, but then integrated into the defence system of one of the later states and used as a template for the construction of more forts along the same lines.

The nine forts are remarkably similar in construction. The largest, Hosh el-Kab, is only four times the size of the smallest, Wad Mukhtar. The corners of the forts are reinforced by bastions, and most were built using a vertical masonry technique absent from other sites in the area, including the Makurian forts. 

The Middle Nile forts. Mariusz Drzewiecki in Drzewieki & Cedro (2022).

In order to establish who built the forts, Drzewieki and Cedro reason, it would first be necessary to establish precise dates for their construction. Such dates can be obtained from a range archaeological material, but, for the dating of the construction times, only material from the lowest layers within the forts, and the layers immediately beneath their foundations, should be used. Material obtained from the cores of curtain walls or from higher layers within the forts may also prove useful, but their context must be evaluated very carefully.

Vertical masonry in the fort at Mikeisir. Urszula Stępień in Drzewieki & Cedro (2022).

Examination of material from the lowest layers within the forts can also shed light on the lives of the original occupants of the forts, which in turn may help to understand why the forts were built. Items such as ceramics or organic material can reveal a lot about the daily lives of the people who deposited them, as can presence or absence of luxury items, combined with analysis of any food remains. Were the fortified structures intended to house garrisons, act as storehouses, or as fortified dwellings for whole communities? Were they used over a long period of time, or did their construction relate to some specific threat, after which they were abandoned?

Although the forts are very regular in construction, their distribution is very uneven. As mentioned previously, the southernmost fort, Umm Marrahi, lies only 50 km to the north of the Alwan capital Soba. Three kilometres to the north of this lies the fort of Hosh el-Kab, while 500 m to the east of Hosh el-Kab is the fort of Abu Nafisa. This clustering seems to make it unlikely that all three of these forts were in use at the same time, which prompted  a team from the Polish Academy of Sciences to investigate these sites directly.

The location of Abu Nafisa, Hosh el-Kab and Umm Marrahi. Włodzimierz Rączkowski & Mariusz Drzewiecki in Drzewieki & Cedro (2022).

The fort at Umm Marrahi was surveyed by the British archaeologist Osbert Crawford in the 1950s, and some test excavations were carried out there by a team from Khartoum University in the 1970s. The Khartoum team recovered pottery fragments from the fort and from a nearby cemetery, which were of similar manufacture. Based upon this, it was calculated that the fort was in use at some time between the Late Meroitic and Early Christian periods, between about 325 and 650 AD. A radiocarbon date was established for a piece of pottery, which placed it at between 675 and 975 AD, with a confidence level of 94%, but this cannot realistically be extrapolated to a construction time for the fort. Further investigations in the area in the 1980s shed no further light upon the age of the fort. Neither of the other forts has been formally investigated, though some speculation about their origin has appeared in research publications about the area, with suggestions including Meroitic, Makurian, and Early Medieval.

The Polish Academy of Sciences team carried out fieldwork at Hosh el-Kab and Abu Nafisa in 2018, and at Umm Marrahi in 2019. Initial surveys of the sites, combined with interviews with local residents established that many of the structures visible within the forts were of much later origin than their construction, often dating to the Islamic Period. Umm Marrahi contains a mosque, and several associated buildings, which was constructed by a local Sufi brotherhood, while Abu Nafisa contains the tomb of an Muslim Holy Man, Sheikh Abu Nafisa.

The only structures that could be confidently associated with the construction of the forts are their walls. With this in mind the Polish team dug two excavation trenches along the insides of walls at each fort, where possible doing so at the sites of gates or the corners of the forts. Before doing this a careful surface survey was carried out, and previous excavations left by looters, or where paths or irrigation channels had been cut, were inspected.

The fort at Umm Marrahi showing the location of archaeological trenches. Mariusz Drzewiecki in Drzewieki & Cedro (2022).

Before any excavation work was undertaken, a geophysical survey was carried out at each fort, in order to better understand the organisation and state of preservation of the buildings within them. At Abu Nasifa, an area of 7400 m² was surveyed, with the southeastern corner being excluded from the survey in order to avoid disturbing the tomb of the Holy Man. At Hosh el-Kab an area of 13 300 m² was surveyed, excluding only an area where the site had clearly been damaged beyond the usefulness of such surveys by modern irrigation work. At Umm Marrahi an area of only 1600 m² was surveyed, as the bedrock was exposed in many places at this fort.

The fort of Abu Nasifa is the closest of the three sites to the Nile, and has clearly been flooded on several occasions since it was in use. Both the excavations and the geophysical survey carried out here uncovered massive alluvial deposits, with little archaeological evidence from the time of the fort's use remaining. However, the remains of a settlement pre-dating the fort were uncovered, and a number of potentially datable fragments of charcoal collected, potentially providing a maximum age for the fort.

The fort at Abu Nafisa fort showing the location of the archaeological trenches. Mariusz Drzewiecki in Drzewieki & Cedro (2022).

The walls of Abu Nafisa were worn down to their foundation, although it was possible to confirm that these walls were made using a vertical masonry technique. Most of the material collected here came from the surface or upper layers within the trenches, and could be dated to the Funj period (1504-1821 AD). However, a few fragments of older pottery and some beads were recovered from the lowest layers of the fort settlement, these being referable to the post-Merotic/Christian transition period (fifth-to-sixth centuries).

Samples of pottery associated with the beginning of the forts at Abu Nafisa (a)–(c) and Hosh el-Kab (d)–(f). Aneta Cedro in Drzewieki & Cedro (2022).

The largest of the forts surveyed was Hosh el-Kab, which is also distinctive in having thirteen bastions strengthening its corners and curtain walls. It is close to Abu Nafisa, but further from the river, towards the edge of the desert. The site was badly damaged in 2013-4, when a 10 m wide irrigation trench was cut through it. The walls remain to a height of about 70 cm, and are made of irregular stones, bound with mortar, with no signs of vertical masonry ever having been present. 

The fort at Hosh el-Kab with the remains of a church shown by an arrow. Mariusz Drzewiecki in Drzewieki & Cedro (2022).

Geophysical surveys within Hosh el-Kab suggested that most of the buildings that had stood there were made from mud bricks. As with Abu Nafisa, most of the material found within the fort was close to the surface, and dates from the Funj period or later. Some pottery fragments dating to the post-Merotic/Christian transition period were found in the deeper layers of the trenches, and in the area around a former church within the fort.

The fort at Hosh el-Kab in 2018. Mariusz Drzewiecki in Drzewieki & Cedro (2022).

Unlike Abu Nafisa and Hosh el-Kab, the fort at Umm Marrahi is located on top of a hill, and contains numerous stone-built buildings, although investigation of these suggests that all are quite recent in origin. The fort is built directly onto the bedrock, which is still very close to the surface at the centre of the fort. Around the walls, however, a sediment layer was present, up to 1.4 m in depth. Excavations produced material dating to the early Holocene, post-Meroitic, early Christian, Funj and modern eras, with the earliest layers within the walls yielding fragments of cooking and storage vessels, as well as pieces of thin, black-burnished handmade bowls of post-Meroitic origin. No pottery of Merotic origin was found anywhere within the fort, which Drzewieki and Cedro take as evidence that the fort post dates the Kingdom of Meroe.

A total of 22 organic samples were recovered during the excavations, of which 19 yielded radiocarbon dates. The earliest of these dates are from the first half of the fifth century AD, roughly 70 years after the Axumite King Ezana's invasion of the area. Based upon the dates recovered, the most likely origin of all the forts was in the late sixth or early seventh century AD.

The best dated site is Abu Nafisa, the construction of which can be placed between 561 and 574 AD, based upon both material from below the fort and material from the lowest level within the fort. Hosh al-Kab is probably slightly younger, with the lowest layers here dated to between 571 and 604 AD. Umm Marrahi is the least well constrained, but was probably built between 536 and 564 AD. All of these dates are around 200 years after the fall of Meroe, ruling out a Meroitic origin of the forts.

At Hosh el-Kab and Umm Marrahi, the forts appear to have remained in use into the Early Christian era, but then to have been abandoned until the Funj period, with no material dating from the Classic and Late Christian periods present. Abu Nafisa appears to have been abandoned earlier, with no Early Christian material present. 

This suggests that all the forts were only in use for a short period of time, and that Abu Nafisa was abandoned quite soon after its construction. This may relate to the site's vulnerability to flooding; considerable amounts of alluvial sediment were found within the walls of the fort, and the site was inundated during the floods which hit Sudan in 2019. If this was also the case in the sixth century, then it is quite possible that the fort was abandoned in favour of the dryer site at Hosh el-Kab, which would also explain why the two sites were so close together. This larger fort was at the edge of the water in 2019, suggesting that its builders had taken the likely extent of flooding into account when building it.

Google Earth images of Abu Nafisa and Hosh el-Kab during the flood of 2019. Drzewieki & Cedro (2022).

While vertical masonry was used at Abu Nafisa, it is absent at Hosh el-Kab and Umm Marrahi. If Abu Nafissa does predate Hosh el-Kab, this may indicate that Umm Marrahi was built at roughly the same time as the latter; since it was only half the side of Hosh el-Kab it may have been an auxiliary post intended to work in conjunction with the main fort in some way. Whatever the precise relationship between the forts, they clearly point towards the area being a site of strategic importance in the second half of the sixth century AD.

The material recovered from the lower layers within the forts was remarkably uniform across all three sites, with the smallest civil sites in the Middle Nile Valley producing a much more varied range of material, including luxury items and goods brought in from long distances away, all of which were missing from the forts.

The geophysical survey carried out at Hosh el-Kab found traces of mud-brick buildings along the southern and parts of the northern walls of the city, as well as free-standing buildings, including a church, throughout the enclosed area. This was confirmed by a small trench on the northern wall, which uncovered the remnants of a mud-brick structure. Early Christian pottery and other material were found in the area around the church. 

Most of the original structures within Umm Marrahi appear to have been demolished in the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty first centuries, to make way for newer construction. The buildings of Abu Nafisa appear to have been almost totally eroded away by the action of repeated flooding, although a few places may show the remains of stone floors of buildings.

Pottery is the most common material at all three sites, with a total of 1554 fragments collected in total. The distribution of this pottery was not even; Abu Nafisa, having apparently been used only briefly and then subjected to repeated flooding events, unsurprisingly yielded little pottery. Hosh el-Kab had apparently been the subject of numerous excavations in the post-medieval and modern periods, during which much material had been removed, probably for construction purposes in local villages. Umm Marrahi became a centre of religious activity in more recent times, and as such had been relatively undisturbed by local villagers. Excavations here yielded a range of pottery from different periods. However, none of the sites was completely excavated, and it is likely that the discovered pottery represents only a fraction of the total amount present.

The most distinctive feature of the pottery from the lowest layers at Umm Marrahi is that none of it is wheel-made. All of the pottery is hand made, and though it can be divided into coarse ware with thick walls and crude outer surfaces, and finer ware with smoother surfaces, the difference between the two appears to be purely functional. The finer ware, which is usually covered by a slip, generally black in colour, and burnished or polished, and occasionally decorated, is used exclusively for the production of small bowls or dishes. The cruder pottery, which lacked any slip or burnishing, and often preserved the fingerprints of its makers, was used for making larger bowls.

Black-polished bowls from the earliest phase of the Umm Marrahi fort. Aneta Cedro in Drzewieki & Cedro (2022).

One distinctive group of larger bowls have a shallow, open shape with vertical or steeply sloping walls. The upper parts of these walls are typically thicker, and have a pattern of fingerprints or diagonal cuts along their rims. Fragments of these bowls were found at Umm Marrahi, Abu Nafisa, and Hosh el-Kab, and are also known from Soba. Some of these bowls have soot on their outsides, suggesting that they may have been used for cooking. Fragments of a type of bowl known as a doka, used for the baking of flatbread, were also found, as were pieces of what appear to be storage vessels, including short, wide-mouthed bottles, plain neckless jars, and 'beer jars' which have globular bodies and slender necks.

Examples of coarse ware pottery from the earliest phase of the Umm Marrahi fort. Aneta Cedro in Drzewieki & Cedro (2022).

A lot of the pottery from the lowest layers at Umm Marrahi is very similar to pottery previously recovered from the city of Soba. Notable example of this are the presence the black slip-ware and of a type of thin-walled bowl with carinated (ridged) walls and either a black or red slip. Examples of this sort of bowl, with both black and red slips, have also been recovered from Soba.

Examples of bowls from the Umm Marrahi fort (left) and their parallels from Soba (right). Aneta Cedro and Ewa Czyżewska-Zalewska in Drzewieki & Cedro (2022).

While the lowest layers at Umm Marrahi produced only hand-made pottery, the higher layers did produce wheel-made pottery. All of this could be dated to the Early Christian period, although some of it was clearly inspired by Late Roman patterns. Again, this was similar to material found at Soba, and likely to have been made in the same workshops.

Some of the pottery items found at Umm Marrahi showed signs of repair, including items which would normally have been considered to have been of low value, such as course bowls and storage jars, but which were apparently worth having their lives extended here. Also found were two potsherds which had been polished and cut into circular shapes, which Drzewieki and Cedro take as evidence that they had been used as spindles, thus providing evidence of yarn production.

The excavations carried out at Umm Marrahi by a team from Khartoum University in the 1970s also uncovered ceramics, including two complete vessels, a small bowl and a cooking pot. All of this pottery conformed to the same types recorded by the Polish team. Evidence of the repair of pottery was also present in this sample.

The pottery from Umm Marrahi is remarkably functional, with no examples of 'luxury' items, or anything else that might be used to denote social status. Even the best made bowls, while well executed, are strictly functional in form, and were probably made at local workshops. No amphorae, or other objects which might be associated with long-distance trade were found.

After pottery, the most common finds at the sites were Animal remains, comprising a collection of 562 bones, teeth, and fragments. The majority of the material from the lowest layers can be assigned to Sheep and/or Goats, with a smaller amount of Cattle remains. Also present were pieces of bone from a Rodent and a Hippopotamus. Notably absent were the remains of any non-consumed domestic Animals (such as Dogs, Cats, Donkeys, or Camels), or bones from parts of Animals not typically consumed (such as the phalanges), suggesting that all the Animal remains originally came to the site as meat for consumption, not live Animals.

The preponderance of Sheep/Goat remains, particularly in comparison to the number of Cattle remains, is puzzling, as at other sites in the area, including Soba and Makurian sites, the reverse is true, with Cattle remains being the most abundant. At Soba, the remains of Pigs are also quite common, but these are absent at the forts.

A very small number of other items were uncovered at the forts, including nine beads, eleven stone tools (grinding stones and pestles), and a piece of copper. The complete lack of luxury goods at the sites suggests that the inhabitants were not members of a ruling or wealthy class. The uniform nature of the pottery implies that everyone present was using essentially the same utensils, storage spaces, and goods, while the preserved remains of the original buildings at Hosh el-Kab reveals that living spaces were arranged according to a regular plan.

This does not necessarily imply that all of the residents were of equal status. The fortified nature of the buildings makes it likely that these were military outposts, where rank would probably be clearly recognised, even if the materials used by all ranks were strictly functional. The one problem with this interpretation is that no weapons have been found at the site, which would normally be expected from a garrison fort, although most weapons known from post-Meroitic Nubia are known from burial sites, so this is perhaps not as remarkable as it would be elsewhere in the world.

Part of the problem with interpreting the purpose of the forts is that the political situation in Upper Nubia in the sixth century is poorly understood. The Byzantine scholar and historian John of Ephesus (c.507-c.588 AD) records that in the latter part of the sixth century the kingdoms of the Middle Nile were starting to convert to Christianity, as well as frequently fighting amongst themselves. Little is directly recorded about Alwa or its neighbouring states, but a line of forts between Alwa and Makuria probably implies that the two states were at least close to conflict with one-another. There was also a potential for conflict with Beja nomads inhabiting the Eastern Desert, as well as various nomadic groups crossing the Bayuda Desert.

The King of Alwa is known to have been baptised into the Monophysite branch of Christianity in 580, by the Byzantine missionary Bishop Longinus, who had travelled from Nobadia for the event. Some correspondence between the two monarchs survives, and suggests that the conversion was part of the forging of an alliance against the Makurians, although what this dispute was about, when it started, and how long it lasted, are all unclear.

The Kingdom of Alwa may have reached as far as the Fourth Cataract in the sixth century, with the last of the nine forts being at El-Ar, just upriver of that cataract. This is a huge area, including all of the central part of the former state of Meroe. However, by the end of the sixth century the Kingdom of Makuria is known to have reached to the Fifth Cataract, presumably at the the expense of the Alwans. Some of the forts in this region, such as Mikeisir, were abandoned at this time, while others, such as El-Ar, were modified and used for other purposes, while forts in the Makurian style, such as Karmel and Ras el Gezira, were erected. 

How long this conflict lasted is unclear, though the forts at  Hosh el-Kab and Umm Marrahi clearly remained in use into the Early Christian period. By the middle of the seventh century the Kingdom od Nobadia had fallen to an Islamic Arab army under Abdallāh ibn Sa΄d ibn Abī Sar, which had marched up the Nile and was now threatening Makuria, possibly lessening that state's enthusiasm for war with Alwa.

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