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Doing Archaeology in Aboriginal Australia

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Book cover Digging It Up Down Under
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Abstract

The many different ways in which Indigenous people have interacted with the land and with each other over the last 50,000 years have left behind many physical traces. Indigenous Australians were dynamic and highly adaptable. By 22–30,000 years ago they had used these abilities to occupy a wide range of environments, ranging from the tropical zones of northern Australia to the peri-glacial zones of Tasmania and even refuge areas in the deserts of central Australia (see Mulvaney & Kamminga, 1999). Tasmania, isolated from the rest of Australia for the last 8–10,000 years, developed its own unique culture (for more information see Chapter 2). As a result of this diversity there are many different kinds of Indigenous sites in Australia. This chapter deals with the issues of identifying the types of Indigenous sites likely to be encountered across Australia, researching Indigenous sites, and working with Indigenous Australians.

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(2007). Doing Archaeology in Aboriginal Australia. In: Digging It Up Down Under. World Archaeological Congress Cultural Heritage Manual Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35263-3_6

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