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Australian Archaeology is a large sub-field in the discipline of Archaeology. Archaeology in Australia takes main two forms, Aboriginal Archaeology (the archaeology of Aborigines and Australia before European Settlement) and Historical Archaeology (the archaeology of Australia after European Settlement). Bridging these two sub-disciplines is the important concept of Cultural Heritage Management which encompasses both Aboriginal and Historical sites.
Aboriginal archaeology
The Archaeology focusing on Aborigines in Australia has had many different predominant agendas through time. The earliest form of archaeology was largely focused on finding the oldest sites. By the 1970s, archaeology largely focused on the environment and they way it impacted on humans. In the late 1970s, Cultural Heritage Management gained prominence with the increasing demands by Aboriginal groups for representation in archaeological research. At a research level the focus shifted to cultural change of Aborigines through time.
Currently, archaeological research places great importance on Aboriginal viewpoints of the land and history of Australia. Consideration is given to the Aboriginal belief that archaeological sites are not just capsules of the past but a continuation from the past to the present. Therefore, at a research level significance is placed on the past but also on the importance of the present.
First settlement of Australia
The First Settlement of Australia is a popular research topic both in archaeology and in the public arena. There is a consensus that no human or closely related species evolved independently in Australia. This is suggested because there are no species of primate to be found in Australia, both at present and in the fossil record. It is therefore assumed that the first settlers of Australia came from outside. At present the fossil record suggests that the first settlers were Homo sapiens, or fully modern humans, and it is highly unlikely that any earlier hominid species made it to Australia.
There is controversy as to where the Aborigines originated. The two main theories postulate that they are fully modern people from or from a population in Asia Genetic studies have demonstrated that there are similarities between Aborigines, Melanesians and Indians. The early suggested date of 60, 000 years ago for initial settlement is quite early when compared to other areas in the world. This may suggest that the Aborigine population derives from an early African population which migrated along the south coast of Asia, at a much faster rate than other populations migrating across the continents of the Holocene.
The first settlement of Australia most likely occurred during the last glacial maximum. During this time Australia and New Guinea were joined as a single land mass called Sahul. The south-east asian continent and islands were also joined as a single land mass called Sunda. It is generally that the first Australians crossed the sea between Sahul and Sunda at about 60,000 to 40,000 years ago. Other dates have been suggested but these results are not seen as definite conclusions. Sunda and Sahul had a permanent water-crossing, meaning that the first Aborigines had to make a crossing on the open sea (see Wallace Line).
The importance of Sahul is that Australia in the past was not a single isolated continent but joined to New Guinea. As such, New Guinea has also been the focus of archaeological investigations by Australian researchers.
The most important early sites in Australia are:
- Nauwalabila (55,000 - 60,000 years old)
- Malakanunja (45,000 - 61,000 years old)
- Devil's Lair (45,000 years old)
- Lake Mungo (61,000 or 40,000 years old) - controversy exists over precise dating (see below)
With the settlement of Australia, it is most probable that the Aborigines first settled on the northern coast as this area is closest to Asia. However, the actual spread of people and the settlement of the continent is largely debated with three mahor models put forward:
- Concentric dispersal through the entire continent through one single "entry" point.
- Coastal dispersal by spreading along the coast line and later entering inland areas, mainly via the major waterways.
- Fluctuating colonisation in and out of different environmental zones. For example, in plentiful years the population would be in semi-arid regions, but in drought would move to areas with better resources.<3
Controversies in Aboriginal archaeology
Megafauna extinction
It is proven that that Megafauna existed in Australia alongside Aborigines until about 6,000 years ago. A large extinction occurred as is evident by the lack of these species in modern times. The great debate centres on whether Aborigines were responsible for the extinction of these animals. Many factors have been considered as possible causes of the extinction, ranging from environmental variables to entirely human-based activity.The most extreme theory is that Aborigines were completely responsible for the extinction of these animals through extensive hunting. This theory is largely based on the Overkill Hypothesis of the Americas, where hunters traveled through the land exterminating megafauna. This theory is largely discredited as there have been no confirmed discoveries of kill sites, sites that are found in other contexts around the world and associated with Megafauna hunting. The site of Cuddie Springs in New South Wales, does display some evidence of the hunting of these animals, but it is an isolated site and could not prove conclusively the overkill theory.
It is clear from paleobotanical and palaeontological evidence that the extinction coincided with great environmental change. Approximately 18,000 to 7,000 years many societies around the world underwent significant change, in particular, this time marks the rise of agriculture in many Neolithic societies. In the Australian context environmental change did not give rise to the development of agriculture but it may have contributed to the disappearance of populations of animals made even more vulerable to depletion through hunting and marginalised grazing.
Some researchers, such as Tim Flannery, have put forward the idea human settlement was responsible for the large climatic and environmental changes that occurred in Neolithic Australia.
Lake Mungo dating
Arguably the oldest human remains in Australia, the Lake Mungo 3 skull was given date of 60,000 years old by Gregory Adcock and his researchers . However, this claim has come under criticism largely due to the process used to analyse the skull and the claims regarding the dating and the mtDNA found . Most people suggest that the date of the specimen is approximately 40,000 years old. The problem with this particular specimen is that all research is done on pre-existing samples as the original specimen has been reburied. Problems, such as contamination, cannot be rectified without exhuming the remains.The intensification debate
The idea of intensification was put forward by a number of archaeologists, but the most prominent in developing the idea was Harry Lourandos.Intensification is an idea that posits that change in economic systems of peoples is controlled by social changes. This means that change can occur without an external force such as environmental change. The idea derived from a debate about the Tasmanian Aborigines and whether large social/economic change was caused by environmental factors (see Environmental determinism), or from factors within the society . The predominant view at the time held that in the case of the Aborigines any social change was largely influenced by external, largely environmental, factors.The evidence that supports this idea is that sites at approximately the same time (around 4,000 years ago) experienced increased usage. This is supported by increased site numbers, increased artefact density and an expansion into new environments. This evidence has also been explained by environmental factors, large population growth, technological change, or even post-depositional factors. This is just a test text, i just want to know how the editing process works
The cultivation question
WE Roth talks about driving kangaroos into a 3 sided enclosure of nets "with the assistance of numerous beaters". Wallabies and emus were also caught in a similar way. Wallaroos were hunted with fire and beating towards a creek, where they were killed with spears and sticks. Roth WE Food: Its Search, Capture and Preparation: North Queensland Ethnography Bulletin No.3 1901. Wallaroos were hunted with fire and beating towards a creek, where they were killed with spears and sticks. Animals were also driven towards set nets (Davis G (Nungabana) The Mullunburra: people of the Mulgrave River. Cassowary Publications. 2001
Historical archaeology
Historical archaeology is the archaeology of colonisation and the growth of capitalist economies in the post-medieval period. In the Australian context, it is largely the archaeology of Europeanswho are the most significant ethnic influence in Australia prior to the present day. Historical archaeology also focuses on other ethnic groups who have made an impact on the material record, such as the Chinese, Macassarese and Melanesians. An increasingly important area of Australian historical archaeology studies the interaction between European and other settlers, and Aboriginal peoples.
The oldest historical artefacts discovered in Australia are several chinese coins, discovered in a cache found buried in Northern Queensland. The coins have been given dates of up to 613 CE. The oldest archaeological site in Australia is the Batavia shipwreck, found on Beacon Island off the coast of Western Australia. This site is also the location of the settlement of the mutineers and is dated to 1629.
Cultural heritage management
Legal obligations in australia
Native Title and Land Rights
Post-European settlement cultural heritage management
Important Australian archaeologists
- Vere Gordon Childe
- John Mulvaney
- Rhys Jones
- J. Peter White
- Isabel McBryde
- Harry Lourandos
- Sandra Bowdler
- Judy Birmingham
References
- - Adcock, G., Dennis, E., Easteal, S., Huttley, G., Jermin, L., Peacock, W. & Thorne, A. (2001). "Mitochondrial DNA sequences in ancient Australians: Implications for modern human origins". Proceedings National Academy of Science 98(2), 537-542.
- - Brown, Peter. (2005). Lake Mungo 3. Retrieved Jan. 9, 2006
- - Lourandos, Harry. Ross, Anne. (1994). "The Great 'Intensification Debate': Its history and place in Australian Archaeology." Australian Archaeology 39 54-63.
- - Lourandos, Harry. (1997). Continent of Hunter-Gatherers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-52-135946-5
Josephine Flood. Archaeology of the Dreamtime Lourandos. Continent of Hunter-Gatherers
External links
"Australian archaeology"