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Australian Archaeology

Just imagine a Society, that stable, that it had continued for 60,000 years through times of drought, flood, warfare and fire with very little change.

That society would've been either a dictatorship or at the zenith of equilibrium.

Then add over three hundred languages, and two hundred dialects just to confuse the issue.

I've noticed that there are varied schools of thought concerning the perception of what Aboriginal Society has/had attained, due to the community that you move through.

Some have seen First Nation as basically paeleolithic, while others see First Nation as the best combination of Agrarian/Hunter Gatherer society.

Personally, I reckon that these Old Ones found the perfect balance of 'each according to their capabilities, each according to their needs'...without the 'Baal Gammon' of communism.

I have hardback editions of the 4 books of the 'Records of the 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem land (Melbourne University Press)', where a mob of anthropologists, biologists, archaeologists, ethnologist and linguists lived in the scrub of Anhem Land for six months with a number of different 'Mobs', recording the Daily lives and goings on of a group of people who chose not to live as others did.

And there in black and white is shown the gathering of seed to process flour to make bread, and the consequent reseeding of the biggest seed back into that same area. There are many mentions of the harvesting of fruits and yams, and the replanting of seeds and runners from this tucker to promote intended regrowth.

Then there was the seasonal hunting of animals when there was knowledge that there were no young involved in the hunt...no catching of gravid reptiles, no harvesting of greens or other vegetables prior to seed set and dispersal.

All in all a great insight into what Aboriginal Life has been for thousands of years.

Now...it seems the problem with this Author and His Work is His claims that he is a member of The First Nation, and through this, This Fullas compilation of Fact is being discredited. Never mind that all that He writes about is self evident if you look where Mr Pascoe is pointing.

Anyway, I reckon that His book is worth a read because it can give an insight into how we all did live at one time...and how far we've fallen.
 
Revealing the secrets and finding buried artefacts.

Unveiling the sacred Wiradjuri carved trees​


Unveiling the sacred Wiradjuri carved trees


Top to bottom, and left to right: photographs of TSR carved tree, TSR carved tree detail, TSR fallen scarred tree, Yuranigh’s Grave Carved Tree 4, Yuranigh’s Grave Carved Tree 1 detail (with inset image showing carved tree from afar). Credit: Australian Archaeology (2023). DOI: 10.1080/03122417.2023.2219378

In a landmark collaboration between Wiradjuri people, NSW State government and archaeologists, new research has revealed the deep-time hidden story of Wiradjuri carved trees (marara) and burials (dhabuganha) in Southeast Australia.

Led by a collaborative effort between Central Tablelands Local Land Services, Gaanha-bula Action Group, Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council, Yarrawula Ngullubul Men's Corporation, La Trobe University, and the University of Denver in the U.S., this project has brought together Wiradjuri traditional cultural knowledge and cutting-edge archaeological techniques of ground-penetrating radar and 3D modeling, to shed light on these sacred locations.

The research, published in Australian Archaeology, uncovered a new understanding of the locations of marara and dhabuganha, ensuring long-term protection and management of these locations, and assisted with the repatriation and reburial of Ancestors who were removed from these locations and others without consent.

Today, only a small number of marara remain, and most dhabuganha are no longer visible due to erosion and modern land-use practices. Using ground-penetrating radar at one location, the teams were able to non-invasively analyze and map changes in soil to refine the understanding of the resting place of a Wiradjuri man of high-standing.

Central Tablelands Local Land Services Aboriginal Communities Officer Greg Ingram welcomed the discovery.

"This has been an exciting opportunity and partnership for an Aboriginal led science project with the Wiradjuri Elders directing western science to support their existing cultural knowledge of the landscape and funeral practices where the cultural indictors were not obvious due to patterns of land management since colonization," Ingram said.

Wiradjuri Elder, Uncle Neil Ingram said that the Wiradjuri philosophy of Yindyamarra (cultural respect) has been an important part of this project.

https://phys.org/news/2023-11-unveiling-sacred-wiradjuri-trees.html
 
This is one of the many scar trees around our area which is Wiradjuri Country. This one is on an old Box (grey, I think) and is about 3 metres up. This type of scar is consistant for the area, as in it's shape and inclination.
 

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Pottering about.

The discovery of the oldest pottery ever found in Australia on Jiigurru/Lizard Island off the Queensland coast is challenging the idea that Aboriginal Australian communities were unaware of pottery manufacture before European settlement.

James Cook University's Distinguished Professor Sean Ulm is Chief Investigator for the Australian Research Council Center of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH). He said the ceramics were discovered in an archaeological excavation on Jiigurru conducted by CABAH in partnership with the Dingaal and Ngurrumungu Aboriginal communities, for which Jiigurru holds significant cultural importance.

"Archaeologists excavated a 2.4-meter-deep midden on Jiigurru over a two-year period to discover evidence of occupation, such as the remains of shellfish and fish collected and eaten by people on the island, which are more than 6,000 years old.

"Less than a meter below the surface, the team found dozens of pottery shards dating between 2,000 and 3,000 years old—the oldest pottery ever discovered in Australia," said Professor Ulm.

In a paper published April 9 in Quaternary Science Reviews, traditional owners and researchers report on the pottery find.

Professor Ulm said the discovery challenges previous notions that Aboriginal Australian communities were unaware of pottery manufacture before European settlement, instead suggesting a rich history of long-distance cultural exchanges and technological innovation long before British arrival.

"Geological analysis of the ceramics indicates the pottery was locally produced using clays and tempers sourced from Jiigurru. The age of the pottery overlaps with a period when the Lapita people of southern Papua New Guinea were known to have produced pottery," said Professor Ulm. ...

https://phys.org/news/2024-04-discovery-pottery-rewrites-aboriginal-history.html
 
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