Aboriginal Peoples and Terrestrial Invertebrates in Australia: Historical and Cultural Relationships

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Philip A. Clarke

Aboriginal Peoples and Terrestrial Invertebrates in Australia

Historical and Cultural Relationships

Philip A. Clarke

$59.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

CSIRO Publishing
01 January 2026

History; Indigenous peoples; History of science; Zoology: Invertebrates; Biodiversity

Aboriginal peoples have deep connections with Australia's terrestrial invertebrates, going back millennia. This book focuses on these historical and cultural relationships, describing the role of insects and other arthropods as totemic ancestors and spirit beings. It also explores Aboriginal nomenclature, foraging techniques and the use of land-based arthropods and molluscs as food, medicine and for making artefacts.

Through the lens of ethnoentomology, Philip Clarke examines the cultural significance of invertebrates, highlighting their role in shaping Aboriginal identities and their interactions with the unique Australian environment, blending scientific and Indigenous sources. By taking a historical perspective, Aboriginal Peoples and Terrestrial Invertebrates in Australia examines the gaps between the knowledge systems of Indigenous peoples and Western science, to encourage further collaboration and acknowledgement in the future.

This is a companion work to the author's successful book Aboriginal Peoples and Birds in Australia.

By: Philip A. Clarke
Imprint: CSIRO Publishing
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 245mm, Width: 170mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 852g
ISBN: 9781486320431
ISBN 10: 1486320430
Pages: 344
Publication Date: 01 January 2026
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Philip A. Clarke is a consultant anthropologist working in native title and Aboriginal heritage. With an academic background in both science and anthropology, his research interests are focused on the ethnosciences, in particular Australian ethnobiology and ethnoastronomy. Philip is the author of Aboriginal Peoples and Birds in Australia and Aboriginal Biocultural Knowledge in South-eastern Australia.