Archaeology of Ancient Australia

Archaeological research has now shown that since the ancestors of modern Aboriginal people colonized and occupied Australia, more than 50,000 years ago, the history of humanity in that there has been dynamic and ever-changing. The Archaeology of ancient Australia is an introduction to human life in the island continent, beginning with human colonization and ending with the early historic changes to Aboriginal life ensuing from European contact in the eighteenth century. During that time people remained hunters and gatherers, but they continually modified their culture, altering not only their economic and technological practices but also their social life, cosmology and beliefs. Readers are shown how this human past can be reconstructed from archaeological evidence, supplemented by information from genetics, environmental sciences, anthropology, and history. World-renowned discoveries such as the human bodies at Lake Mungo, the ice-age art sites of Arnhem Land, the deformed human skulls from Kow Swamp, the early ornaments and paintings from remote desert caves of Riwi and Puritjarra, and the puzzling giant shell mounds of the north coast, are discussed and illustrated. The result is a challenging view about how varied human life in the ancient past has been.Hiscock, Peter is the author of 'Archaeology of Ancient Australia ', published 2007 under ISBN 9780415338103 and ISBN 0415338107.