Prehistory of Australia

John Mulvaney, Johan Kamminga

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English

Routledge
01 July 1999

History; Prehistoric archaeology

Australia's human prehistory through more than 40,000 years is the challenging theme of this masterly survey. John Mulvaney and Johan Kamminga bring together the discoveries and often controversial interpretations of six decades of archaeological research to reveal that across this island continent, in the face of contrasting environments and changing climates, human responses produced many cultures, languages and life styles.

The Old World is usually credited with the origins of art and spirituality. Recent discoveries, however, prove that symbolic rock art and complex burial rites also existed in Australia at challengingly early times. The authors evaluate the dating evidence upon which Australia's human story before 1788 is reconstructed. They review diverse topics, such as the controversy about the time people first arrived on the continent's northern coast, the extinction of marsupial megafauna and the diversity of Aboriginal rock art.

Prehistory of Australia explains why Aboriginal Australia is recognised today for its significance in global prehistory and why so many of its archaeological places have merited World Heritage listing.

By: John Mulvaney, Johan Kamminga
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 246mm, Width: 174mm, Spine: 33mm
Weight: 453g
ISBN: 9781864489507
ISBN 10: 1864489502
Pages: 504
Publication Date: 01 July 1999
Recommended Age: From
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Preface 1 The past uncovered and its ownership 2 The diversity of surviving traces 3 Dating the past 4 Changing landscapes 5 People, language and society 6 Subsistence and reciprocity 7 Seafarers to Sahul 8 Sahul: a Pleistocene continent 9 The initial colonisation 10 The original Australians 11 Pleistocene settlement 12 Conquest of the deserts 13 Pleistocene artefacts 14 Holocene stone tool innovations 15 Theories and models 16 People of the coast 17 Regional challenges and responses 18 Island settlement 19 Tasmania 20 Art on rock 21 Rock art of temperate Australia 22 Rock art of trpoical Australia 23 Asian and European newcomers Glossary Endnotes References Index