Historical evidence suggests that at the time of European settlement in the NSW Illawarra region,... more Historical evidence suggests that at the time of European settlement in the NSW Illawarra region, Dharawal groups, who came together for ceremonies, had an established regional network with movement of people, and items, via pathways linking the highlands west of the Illawarra escarpment and the coastal plain. The degree to which the established network described in European accounts reflects pre- colonial patterns or activity affected by early colonial settlement is unclear, however. This thesis examines this topic by comparing archaeological and historical evidence.
Ground edged hatchets, and raw material for their manufacture, are known to have moved within Aboriginal social networks and several sites in the Dharawal region have been identified as likely sources of stone for hatchets and other tools. Non- destructive archaeological provenancing of 148 ground edged hatchets from coastal plain and inland findspots in and adjacent to the Dharawal study area provides an opportunity to characterise pre-colonial patterns of raw material use, and movement of artefacts from source to find-spot. Matches to sources within Dharawal country, as well as beyond the region, trace the local and inter-regional social network within which these artefacts and/or raw materials moved. This provenancing research is a component of a broader, Australian Research Council funded, study of Aboriginal exchange systems and social networks in Southeastern Australia 2012-14: Axes, Exchange, Social Change: New Perspectives on Australian Hunter Gatherers (DP12010393), directed by Peter Grave (University of New England) and Val Attenbrow (Australian Museum).
Spatial reconstruction of Early European observations of movement and gathering of Aboriginal people across, and into and out of Dharawal country between 1788 and 1850, allows archaeological and historical social network patterns to be directly compared. Results suggest significant correlation between the two, as well as consistency in the historical pattern over time. This evidence suggests pathways linking Dharawal groups socially and economically, in place prior to the arrival of Europeans, continued to be used throughout the first fifty years of European colonisation. These results that support and enhance previous research findings in the region.
Evidence that this cultural pattern may have remained stable through a period of known social upheaval suggests that the network of pathways interconnecting Dharawal groups, pathways aligned with the distinctive physiography of country, may have also been stable through earlier times of change. If so, this may also shed light on the nature, and function, of this network in the culturally, socially and environmentally dynamic, deeper past.
Historical evidence suggests that at the time of European settlement in the NSW Illawarra region,... more Historical evidence suggests that at the time of European settlement in the NSW Illawarra region, Dharawal groups, who came together for ceremonies, had an established regional network with movement of people, and items, via pathways linking the highlands west of the Illawarra escarpment and the coastal plain. The degree to which the established network described in European accounts reflects pre- colonial patterns or activity affected by early colonial settlement is unclear, however. This thesis examines this topic by comparing archaeological and historical evidence.
Ground edged hatchets, and raw material for their manufacture, are known to have moved within Aboriginal social networks and several sites in the Dharawal region have been identified as likely sources of stone for hatchets and other tools. Non- destructive archaeological provenancing of 148 ground edged hatchets from coastal plain and inland findspots in and adjacent to the Dharawal study area provides an opportunity to characterise pre-colonial patterns of raw material use, and movement of artefacts from source to find-spot. Matches to sources within Dharawal country, as well as beyond the region, trace the local and inter-regional social network within which these artefacts and/or raw materials moved. This provenancing research is a component of a broader, Australian Research Council funded, study of Aboriginal exchange systems and social networks in Southeastern Australia 2012-14: Axes, Exchange, Social Change: New Perspectives on Australian Hunter Gatherers (DP12010393), directed by Peter Grave (University of New England) and Val Attenbrow (Australian Museum).
Spatial reconstruction of Early European observations of movement and gathering of Aboriginal people across, and into and out of Dharawal country between 1788 and 1850, allows archaeological and historical social network patterns to be directly compared. Results suggest significant correlation between the two, as well as consistency in the historical pattern over time. This evidence suggests pathways linking Dharawal groups socially and economically, in place prior to the arrival of Europeans, continued to be used throughout the first fifty years of European colonisation. These results that support and enhance previous research findings in the region.
Evidence that this cultural pattern may have remained stable through a period of known social upheaval suggests that the network of pathways interconnecting Dharawal groups, pathways aligned with the distinctive physiography of country, may have also been stable through earlier times of change. If so, this may also shed light on the nature, and function, of this network in the culturally, socially and environmentally dynamic, deeper past.
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Papers by Karen Stokes
Ground edged hatchets, and raw material for their manufacture, are known to have moved within Aboriginal social networks and several sites in the Dharawal region have been identified as likely sources of stone for hatchets and other tools. Non- destructive archaeological provenancing of 148 ground edged hatchets from coastal plain and inland findspots in and adjacent to the Dharawal study area provides an opportunity to characterise pre-colonial patterns of raw material use, and movement of artefacts from source to find-spot. Matches to sources within Dharawal country, as well as beyond the region, trace the local and inter-regional social network within which these artefacts and/or raw materials moved. This provenancing research is a component of a broader, Australian Research Council funded, study of Aboriginal exchange systems and social networks in Southeastern Australia 2012-14: Axes, Exchange, Social Change: New Perspectives on Australian Hunter Gatherers (DP12010393), directed by Peter Grave (University of New England) and Val Attenbrow (Australian Museum).
Spatial reconstruction of Early European observations of movement and gathering of Aboriginal people across, and into and out of Dharawal country between 1788 and 1850, allows archaeological and historical social network patterns to be directly compared. Results suggest significant correlation between the two, as well as consistency in the historical pattern over time. This evidence suggests pathways linking Dharawal groups socially and economically, in place prior to the arrival of Europeans, continued to be used throughout the first fifty years of European colonisation. These results that support and enhance previous research findings in the region.
Evidence that this cultural pattern may have remained stable through a period of known social upheaval suggests that the network of pathways interconnecting Dharawal groups, pathways aligned with the distinctive physiography of country, may have also been stable through earlier times of change. If so, this may also shed light on the nature, and function, of this network in the culturally, socially and environmentally dynamic, deeper past.
Ground edged hatchets, and raw material for their manufacture, are known to have moved within Aboriginal social networks and several sites in the Dharawal region have been identified as likely sources of stone for hatchets and other tools. Non- destructive archaeological provenancing of 148 ground edged hatchets from coastal plain and inland findspots in and adjacent to the Dharawal study area provides an opportunity to characterise pre-colonial patterns of raw material use, and movement of artefacts from source to find-spot. Matches to sources within Dharawal country, as well as beyond the region, trace the local and inter-regional social network within which these artefacts and/or raw materials moved. This provenancing research is a component of a broader, Australian Research Council funded, study of Aboriginal exchange systems and social networks in Southeastern Australia 2012-14: Axes, Exchange, Social Change: New Perspectives on Australian Hunter Gatherers (DP12010393), directed by Peter Grave (University of New England) and Val Attenbrow (Australian Museum).
Spatial reconstruction of Early European observations of movement and gathering of Aboriginal people across, and into and out of Dharawal country between 1788 and 1850, allows archaeological and historical social network patterns to be directly compared. Results suggest significant correlation between the two, as well as consistency in the historical pattern over time. This evidence suggests pathways linking Dharawal groups socially and economically, in place prior to the arrival of Europeans, continued to be used throughout the first fifty years of European colonisation. These results that support and enhance previous research findings in the region.
Evidence that this cultural pattern may have remained stable through a period of known social upheaval suggests that the network of pathways interconnecting Dharawal groups, pathways aligned with the distinctive physiography of country, may have also been stable through earlier times of change. If so, this may also shed light on the nature, and function, of this network in the culturally, socially and environmentally dynamic, deeper past.