Conny Waters – AncientPages.com – Archaeologists excavating on Jiigurru/Lizard Island off the Queensland coast have unearthed the oldest pottery ever present in Australia. The discover is extremely important as a result of it challenges the concept that Aboriginal Australian communities have been unaware of pottery manufacture earlier than European settlement.
Credit score: Adobe Stock – Tomasz Bidermann
The ceramics have been unearthed throughout an archaeological dig on Jiigurru, carried out by CABAH in collaboration with the Dingaal and Ngurrumungu Aboriginal communities. The positioning of Jiigurru holds substantial cultural significance for these communities.
“Archaeologists excavated a 2.4-meter-deep midden on Jiigurru over a two-year interval to find proof of occupation, such because the stays of shellfish and fish collected and eaten by individuals on the island, that are greater than 6000 years previous.
“Lower than a meter under the floor, the staff discovered dozens of pottery shards courting between 2000 and 3000 years previous—the oldest pottery ever found in Australia,” James Prepare dinner College’s Distinguished Professor Sean Ulm is Chief Investigator for the Australian Analysis Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH) mentioned in a press launch.
Professor Ulm’s discovery presents a compelling argument that challenges the beforehand held perception that Aboriginal Australian communities have been unfamiliar with pottery manufacturing earlier than European settlement. His findings counsel an in depth historical past of far-reaching cultural exchanges and technological developments inside these communities, predating the arrival of the British.
“Geological evaluation of the ceramics signifies the pottery was domestically produced utilizing clays and tempers sourced from Jiigurru. The age of the pottery overlaps with a interval when the Lapita individuals of southern Papua New Guinea have been identified to have produced pottery,” mentioned Professor Ulm.
“Working in collaboration with archaeologists and Conventional House owners and dealing on Nation is one thing that is by no means been carried out earlier than for my individuals, the place we work collectively on Nation, sharing one another’s story on Nation, and never solely sharing this story from our individuals, the Outdated Folks, and from the archaeology aspect, scientifically, which is an efficient consequence that we are able to see. We are able to take care of the Nation collectively,” Dingaal clan member and Walmbaar Aboriginal Company Chairperson Kenneth McLean mentioned.
“Each bit of information we achieve helps us inform the story of Nation. Analysis initiatives like this assist us all to grasp Nation higher and assist us to grasp the way to take care of Nation,” Ngurrumungu Elder Brian Cobus mentioned.
Professor Ulm’s discovery signifies that Aboriginal communities in North Queensland have been linked with the pottery-making communities in New Guinea, shedding gentle on their historic connections.
“The invention offers us insights into the delicate maritime capabilities of First Nations communities on this area, and these objects are essential in understanding the cultural exchanges that occurred on Jiigurru hundreds of years in the past,
“We predict that the ancestors of latest Conventional House owners have been engaged in a really widespread buying and selling system. So, they traded know-how, items and concepts, knew the way to make pottery, and made it domestically,” Professor Ulm mentioned.
“These findings not solely open a brand new chapter in Australian, Melanesian, and Pacific archaeology but additionally problem colonialist stereotypes by highlighting the complexity and innovation of Aboriginal communities.
A terrestrial laser scanner in motion on Jiigurru/Lizard Island. Credit score: Ian McNiven
The invention provides a brand new layer to our understanding of Jiigurru and Indigenous Australians’ function within the broader community of maritime change and cultural interplay throughout the Coral Sea,” CABAH Chief Investigator Professor Ian McNiven from Monash College mentioned.
Professor McNiven means that Jiigurru signifies the southern restrict of historic worldwide maritime networks. These networks related japanese north Queensland, southern New Guinea, and the Torres Strait, thereby establishing what is called the Coral Sea Cultural Interplay Sphere.
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“These networks facilitated the change of objects and concepts between Australian and New Guinean coastal communities over the previous 3000 years. Whereas some objects, like cone-shell physique adornments and bamboo smoking pipes, point out widespread sharing of tradition and concepts, others, corresponding to pottery, additionally counsel the sharing of know-how,” Professor McNiven mentioned.
The research was printed within the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.
Written by Conny Waters – AncientPages.com Workers Author