Continent of Hunter-Gatherers: New Perspectives in Australian Prehistory (Cambridge World Archaeology)

This book challenges traditional perceptions of Australian Aboriginal prehistory. The natural environment has been seen as the major determinant of hunter-gatherers and Australian Aborigines have been understood to have been egalitarian and culturally homogeneous. Such an interpretation suggests that their prehistory shows few significant economic and demographic changes. Harry Lourandos argues however that hunter-gatherer societies and their socio-economic processes were more complex than previously thought. In his presentation of a range of prehistoric data, the author reviews archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence together with environmental, demographic and socially-oriented perspectives. Lourandos synthesises previous findings before presenting an original hypothesis. Key debates addressed in the book include the nature of initial colonisation, the role of Tasmania, the role of fire, the cause of faunal extinctions, the intensification debate, horticultural origins in New Guinea and plant exploitation in Australia. Cover & Front Matter Frontpiece Copyright Dedication Contents Figures Tables Preface Introduction: Changing Perspectives 1. Hunter-Gatherer Variation in Time & Space The question of complexity Long- and short-term trends Theoretical approaches Investigating socio-cultural variation Overview 2. Australian Aboriginal Hunter-Gatherers Changing perspectives Population size and density Territory Exchange and trade AUSTRALIAN & TASMANIAN ETHNOGRAPHIC CASE STUDIES The tropical north The arid zone The semi-arid zone Su b-tropical Australia Temperate southern Australia Temperate island Tasmania Hunters and horticulturalists Overview 3. Out of Asia: Earliest Evidence & People Earliest sites Earliest claims People Environmental impact 4. The Tropical North PLEISTOCENE SETTLEMENT Palaeoenvironment Late Pleistocene: c. 40,000-1 5,000 BP Terminal Pleistocene: c. 1 5,000-1 0,000 BP Pleistocene rock art Overview: Pleistocene settlement HOLOCENE SETTLEMENT Palaeoenvironment Art and social networks of northern Australia HOLOCENE SETTLEMENT Palaeoenvironment 5. Arid & Semi-Arid Australia PLEISTOCENE SETTLEMENT Palaeoenvi ronment The arid zone Overview: Pleistocene arid Australia The semi-arid zone HOLOCENE SETTLEMENT Palaeoenvironment The arid zone Overview: Holocene arid Australia HOLOCENE SETTLEMENT Palaeoenvironment Southeastern Australia Southwestern Australia Overview: Holocene settlement 6. Temperate Southern Australia PLElSTOCENE SETILEMENT Palaeoenvironment Pleistocene sites: c. 30,000-20,000 BP Pleistocene sites: c. 20,000-1 0,000 BP Overview: Pleistocene settlement HOLOCENE SETILEMENT Palaeoenvironment Southeastern Australia Southwestern Austra lia Overview: Holocene settlement 7. Tasmaina PLEISTOCENE SETILE MENT Palaeoenvironment Overview: Pleistocene settlement THE HOLOCENE: ISOLATION AND TRANSFORMATION Palaeoenvironment Overview: Holocene settlement 8. Artifcats & Assemblanges Continent-Wide The Australian Core Tool and Scraper tradition The Austra lian Small Tool trad ition The introduction of the di ngo 9. Interpretations Pleistocene patterns Holocene patterns An evaluation of results Chronological trends and patterns Models Two new alternative models Change or stability? 10. Concluding Perspectives Ethnography and eth nohistory Archaeology Three models Greater Australia and world prehistory Back Matter GLOSSARY NOTES ON DATING METHODS REFERENCES INDEX OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES This book challenges traditional perceptions of Australian Aboriginal prehistory. The natural environment has been seen as the major determinant of hunter-gatherers and Australian Aborigines have been understood to have been egalitarian and culturally homogeneous. Such an interpretation suggests that their prehistory shows few significant economic and demographic changes. Harry Lourandos argues however that hunter-gatherer societies and their socio-economic processes were more complex than previously thought.In his presentation of a range of prehistoric data, the author reviews archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence together with environmental, demographic and socially-oriented perspectives. Lourandos synthesises previous findings before presenting an original hypothesis.The study also considers the significance of Australian prehistory to the study of prehistoric hunter-gatherers elsewhere in the world. In this context the author argues that significant overlap existed between Australian hunter-gatherer societies in the Eurasian Mesolithic and North American Archaic periods.This exciting new archaeology of Australia, with its evidence that Australian prehistory was a dynamic evolutionary period, will become a key text in archaeology, ethnohistory and anthropology.

This book challenges traditional perceptions of Australian Aboriginal prehistory: that environment is the major determinant of hunter-gatherers; that Aborigines were egalitarian and culturally homogeneous; that they experienced few economic and demographic changes. Lourandos argues that their social and economic processes were complex and that the prehistory period was dynamic. Lourandos considers colonization, Tasmanian Aborigines, the role of fire, the intensification debate, plant exploitation and other prehistoric hunter-gatherer societies.