South
Australian Projects
Point de
Mole
Location
Zone 53
Map 5632
E 405300 - N 403300
Point de Mole is located on the
west coast of the Eyre Peninsula between Streaky Bay and Gascoigne Bay.
History
Other than a few scattered remains
of the whaling era along the coast at Point de Mole there is no specific
documentary evidence of the whaling activities of this region.
Archaeology
Located at the site of Point de
Mole in 1976 was a whale bone partially buried and in good condition. also
located was a hoop iron section suggesting that the site may have been
a temporary slaughter site. This site might have been used by the whalers
referred to in the Streaky Bay area (Kostoglou & McCarthy, 1991, p11).
A survey carried out in 1997 by
Mark Staniforth and the Flinders University of South Australia revealed
lots of Aboriginal artefacts, including two beach cobble stones and grinding
stones. There was no sign of any historic artefacts. One structure
remains, it is probably not a building but may be a wall shelter as the
rocks included in the structure are too uneven to build with. It is out
of place on the edge of an orange Pleistocene dune next to a single white
outcrop of recent dune sand (5m high and 50m long)
References
Kostoglou, P. and McCarthy, J. 1991.
Whaling and Sealing Sites in South Australia, Australian Institute for
Maritime Archaeology, Special Publication No:6, p11-12.
By Rebecca O'Reilly
Return to South
Australian Whaling Site Index
