2.11 SkillBuilder activity USING HISTORICAL SOURCES As an archaeologist studying SOURCE3 , you want to learn more about Australia’s Deep Time history through material remains. 1. Refer to the 2.1 Overview lesson and select one period from the SOURCE2 timeline of Australia to examine in more detail. • Research your chosen time period. Is it Pleistocene or Holocene? Identify key features of life on Earth during that time. • Use the timeline to identify where to look for evidence of people from your chosen time. Find one artefact to help understand their world. • Read SOURCE3 as an example of how archaeologists use artefacts as clues of how people lived in these distant times. 2. Analyse your artefact using questions from SOURCE1 about the emu-feather skirt. What do you see? What does it make you think of? What more do you want to learn about it? 3. Communicate your understanding of the significance of your artefact. Write a short guide for museum visitors about your artefact. Include where and when the artefact is from, who the traditional custodians of that area are, and some details about the region’s geography. Also, share what life might have been like for people back then. Your goal is to help people understand a time that is very different from today. ( Note : Artefacts similar to those being archaeologically studied are still in use by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in some regions of Australia today.)
2.11
Exercise
Learning pathways LEVEL1 1, 3, 4, 5
LEVEL2
LEVEL3
2, 6, 8, 9
7, 10
REMEMBER AND UNDERSTAND 1. What is the significance of the Mungo remains? A. They are the oldest dinosaur fossils found in Australia. B. They provide some of the earliest evidence of human life and cultural practices in Australia. C. They show that the first humans in Australia came from Europe. D. They are important examples of early farming tools used by Aboriginal Peoples. 2. Explain why modern archaeologists work with traditional custodians and Elders of Country and the importance of this. 3. Identify how the histories, stories and lore of ancient Australia have been passed down through generations. 4. Artefacts found in Kakadu National Park could be up to 80 000 years old. True or False? 5. _______________ tools are a rare archaeological find. APPLY AND ANALYSE 6. Explain the difference between ‘history’ and ‘pre-history’. 7. Propose two reasons archaeological sources may not give a complete picture of life in ancient Australia. 8. Why is the evidence found at Kakadu a ‘ground-breaking archaeological discovery’? 9. Identify where the trove of around 11 000 artefacts was located. EVALUATE AND COMMUNICATE 10. ‘Artefacts from Deep Time Australia can only reveal their true meaning if their cultural background is also considered.’ Explain what you understand by this statement. Refer to the source and the text for ideas. Answers and sample responses for this topic are available online.
TOPIC2 Deep Time to modern era 65
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator