The significant trove of thousands of artefacts was buried in 2.6 metres of sand and sediment on the western edge of the Arnhem Land plateau. The site at Madjedbebe is on the traditional lands of the Mirarr people. Source: Helen Davidson and Calla Wahlquist, ‘Australian dig finds evidence of Aboriginal habitation up to 80 000 years ago’, The Guardian , 20 July 2017.
2.11.2 From ‘history’ to Deep Time Mungo Man and Woman, the Dreaming, Country and the songlines show the connection between the past and the present. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have lived in Australia for at least 65 000 years, and so their history is ongoing and ‘living’ because the past is still present through culture and belief. The terms historians use to study the past, such as ‘history’ and ‘prehistory’, do not always help us to understand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and their past. ‘Prehistory’ and ‘history’ usually refer to the difference between the time before written records, and the time from when written records began. ‘Pre-history’ does not recognise the many ways Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples recorded their past and their culture. The term ‘deep history’ helps us to understand the continuation of a story stretching back tens of thousands of years. Deep history is recorded through the oral traditions, natural landscape, archaeology, ceremonies, dance and memories of a living culture.
SkillBuilder discussion Using historical sources 1. What does the source show images of? 2. What totems can you see in the source? 3. How is this image evidence of a ‘living culture’? Did you know? Stone tools are the longest- lasting items archaeologists find because things like plants and animals don’t last as long. Sometimes, nature helps preserve objects, like the wooden boomerangs found in South Australia’s Wyrie Swamp, which lasted over 10 000 years. There are also 20 000-year-old bone tools found at Devil’s Lair in Western Australia.
SOURCE4 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are the custodians of a rich culture and history.
64 Jacaranda Humanities Alive 7 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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