Australia Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Indigenous prehistory === {{Main|Prehistory of Australia|Indigenous Australians}} [[File:Bradshaw rock paintings.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|right|[[Aboriginal rock art]] in the [[Kimberley (Western Australia)|Kimberley]] region of Western Australia]] [[Indigenous Australians]] comprise two broad groups: the [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal peoples]] of the Australian mainland (and surrounding islands including Tasmania), and the [[Torres Strait Islanders]], who are a distinct [[Melanesia]]n people. Human habitation of the Australian continent is estimated to have begun 50,000 to 65,000 years ago,<ref name="ClarksonJacobs2017"/><ref name="Nunn2018">{{Cite book|first=Patrick|last=Nunn|title=The Edge of Memory: Ancient Stories, Oral Tradition and the Post-Glacial World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z4xaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT16|year=2018|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4729-4327-9|page=16|access-date=17 July 2023|archive-date=3 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203142811/https://books.google.com/books?id=Z4xaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT16#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="FaganDurrani2018">{{Cite book|first1=Brian M.|last1=Fagan|first2=Nadia|last2=Durrani|title=People of the Earth: An Introduction to World Prehistory|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W0NvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT250|year=2018|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-3517-5764-5|pages=250–253|access-date=17 July 2023|archive-date=3 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203142816/https://books.google.com/books?id=W0NvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT250#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last1=Veth |first1=Peter |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistory0001unse_m8y7 |title=The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume 1, Indigenous and Colonial Australia |last2=O'Connor |first2=Sue |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-1070-1153-3 |editor-last=Bashford |editor-first=Alison |location=Cambridge |pages=19 |chapter=The past 50,000 years: an archaeological view |editor-last2=MacIntyre |editor-first2=Stuart |url-access=registration}}</ref> with the migration of people by [[land bridge]]s and short sea crossings from what is now Southeast Asia.<ref name="Oppenheimer2013">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VQQvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP111|title=Out of Eden: The Peopling of the World|first=Stephen|last=Oppenheimer|date=2013|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|isbn=978-1-7803-3753-1|pages=111–|access-date=17 July 2023|archive-date=3 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203142820/https://books.google.com/books?id=VQQvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP111#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> It is uncertain how many waves of immigration may have contributed to these ancestors of modern Aboriginal Australians.<ref>Malaspinas, A. S., Westaway, M. C., Muller, C., Sousa, V. C., Lao, O., Alves, I., Bergström, A., Athanasiadis, G., Cheng, J. Y., Crawford, J. E., Heupink, T. H., Macholdt, E., Peischl, S., Rasmussen, S., Schiffels, S., Subramanian, S., Wright, J. L., Albrechtsen, A., Barbieri, C., Dupanloup, I., et al., Willerslev, E. (2016). A genomic history of Aboriginal Australia. Nature, 538(7624), 207–214. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature18299 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203142815/https://www.nature.com/articles/nature18299 |date=3 December 2023 }} [https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/unprecedented-study-of-aboriginal-australians-points-to-one-shared-out-of-africa-migration-for press release] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615162942/https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/unprecedented-study-of-aboriginal-australians-points-to-one-shared-out-of-africa-migration-for |date=15 June 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dorey |first=Fran |title=When did modern humans get to Australia? |url=https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/the-spread-of-people-to-australia |publisher=Australian Museum |access-date=21 August 2020 |archive-date=17 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817140725/https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/the-spread-of-people-to-australia/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Madjedbebe]] rock shelter in [[Arnhem Land]] is recognised as the oldest site showing the presence of humans in Australia.<ref name="Gilligan2018">{{Cite book|first=Ian|last=Gilligan|title=Climate, Clothing, and Agriculture in Prehistory: Linking Evidence, Causes, and Effects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ux50DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA237|date=2018|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-1084-7008-7|page=237|access-date=17 July 2023|archive-date=3 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203142816/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ux50DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA237#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> The oldest human remains found are the [[Lake Mungo remains]], which have been dated to around 41,000 years ago.<ref name="TunizGillespie2016">{{Cite book|first1=Claudio|last1=Tuniz|first2=Richard|last2=Gillespie|first3=Cheryl|last3=Jones|title=The Bone Readers: Science and Politics in Human Origins Research|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WrJmDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA43|year=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-3154-1888-9|page=43|access-date=17 July 2023|archive-date=3 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203142820/https://books.google.com/books?id=WrJmDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA43#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Castillo2015">{{Cite book|first=Alicia|last=Castillo|title=Archaeological Dimension of World Heritage: From Prevention to Social Implications|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jV64BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA41|date=2015|publisher=Springer Science|isbn=978-1-4939-0283-5|page=41|access-date=17 July 2023|archive-date=3 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203142821/https://books.google.com/books?id=jV64BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA41#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Aboriginal Australian culture is one of the oldest continuous cultures on Earth.<ref name=":9">{{cite book | last=Flood | first=J. | title=The Original Australians: The story of the Aboriginal People | publisher=Allen & Unwin | year=2019 | isbn=978-1-76087-142-0 |edition=2nd |location=Crows Nest NSW |page=161 |author-link=Josephine Flood}}</ref><ref name="Australian Geographic 2011 i652">{{cite web | title=DNA confirms Aboriginal culture one of Earth's oldest | website=Australian Geographic | date=September 23, 2011 | url=https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2011/09/dna-confirms-aboriginal-culture-one-of-earths-oldest/ | access-date=February 9, 2024 | archive-date=20 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120022657/https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2011/09/dna-confirms-aboriginal-culture-one-of-earths-oldest/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Jozuka 2016 i592">{{cite web | last=Jozuka | first=Emiko | title=Aboriginal Australians are Earth's oldest civilization: DNA study | website=CNN | date=September 22, 2016 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/22/asia/indigenous-australians-earths-oldest-civilization/index.html#:~:text=A%20new%20genomic%20study%20has,stretching%20back%20roughly%2075%2C000%20years. | access-date=February 9, 2024 | archive-date=4 March 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304225419/https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/22/asia/indigenous-australians-earths-oldest-civilization/index.html#:~:text=A%20new%20genomic%20study%20has,stretching%20back%20roughly%2075%2C000%20years. | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Malaspinas Westaway Muller Sousa 2016 pp. 207–214">{{cite journal| title=A genomic history of Aboriginal Australia | journal=Nature | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=538 | issue=7624 | date=September 21, 2016 | issn=0028-0836 | doi=10.1038/nature18299 | pages=207–214| hdl=10754/622366 | hdl-access=free | last1=Malaspinas | first1=Anna-Sapfo | last2=Westaway | first2=Michael C. | last3=Muller | first3=Craig | last4=Sousa | first4=Vitor C. | last5=Lao | first5=Oscar | last6=Alves | first6=Isabel | last7=Bergström | first7=Anders | last8=Athanasiadis | first8=Georgios | last9=Cheng | first9=Jade Y. | last10=Crawford | first10=Jacob E. | last11=Heupink | first11=Tim H. | last12=Macholdt | first12=Enrico | last13=Peischl | first13=Stephan | last14=Rasmussen | first14=Simon | last15=Schiffels | first15=Stephan | last16=Subramanian | first16=Sankar | last17=Wright | first17=Joanne L. | last18=Albrechtsen | first18=Anders | last19=Barbieri | first19=Chiara | last20=Dupanloup | first20=Isabelle | last21=Eriksson | first21=Anders | last22=Margaryan | first22=Ashot | last23=Moltke | first23=Ida | last24=Pugach | first24=Irina | last25=Korneliussen | first25=Thorfinn S. | last26=Levkivskyi | first26=Ivan P. | last27=Moreno-Mayar | first27=J. Víctor | last28=Ni | first28=Shengyu | last29=Racimo | first29=Fernando | last30=Sikora | first30=Martin | pmid=27654914 | bibcode=2016Natur.538..207M | display-authors=1 }}</ref> At the time of first European contact, Aboriginal Australians were complex [[hunter-gatherer]]s with diverse economies and societies, and spread across at least [[Australian Aboriginal languages|250 different language groups]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Complex hunter-gatherers: a view from Australia |journal=Antiquity|volume=61|issue=232|pages=310–321|first=Elizabeth|last=Williams|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2015|doi=10.1017/S0003598X00052182|s2cid=162146349}}</ref><ref name="SáenzEmbrick2015">{{Cite book |first1=Rogelio|last1=Sáenz|first2=David G.|last2=Embrick|first3=Néstor P.|last3=Rodríguez |title=The International Handbook of the Demography of Race and Ethnicity|url={{GBurl|id=v_bLCQAAQBAJ|p=602}}|date=3 June 2015|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-9-0481-8891-8|pages=602–}}</ref> Estimates of the Aboriginal population before British settlement range from 300,000 to one million.<ref>[https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/94713ad445ff1425ca25682000192af2/bfc28642d31c215cca256b350010b3f4!OpenDocument "1301.0 – Year Book Australia, 2002"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116012204/https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/94713ad445ff1425ca25682000192af2/bfc28642d31c215cca256b350010b3f4!OpenDocument |date=16 January 2022 }}. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 25 January 2002.</ref><ref>Gough, Myles (11 May 2011). [https://web.archive.org/web/20120912060604/http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/4305/prehistoric-aboriginal-populations-australia-were-growing "Prehistoric Australian Aboriginal populations were growing"]. ''[[Cosmos Magazine]]''. Archived from [https://cosmosmagazine.com/news/4305/prehistoric-aboriginal-populations-australia-were-growing the original] on 12 September 2012.</ref> Aboriginal Australians have an oral culture with [[Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology|spiritual values]] based on reverence for the land and a belief in the [[Dreamtime]].<ref name="Galván2014">{{Cite book|first=Javier A.|last=Galván |title=They Do What? A Cultural Encyclopedia of Extraordinary and Exotic Customs from around the World|url={{GBurl|id=e2RyBAAAQBAJ|p=83}}|year=2014|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-6106-9342-4|page=83}}</ref> Certain groups engaged in [[fire-stick farming]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wyrwoll |first=Karl-Heinz |date=2012-01-11 |title=How Aboriginal burning changed Australia's climate |url=http://theconversation.com/how-aboriginal-burning-changed-australias-climate-4454 |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US |archive-date=15 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715015907/https://theconversation.com/how-aboriginal-burning-changed-australias-climate-4454 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Robbie |date=2023-06-21 |title=Before the colonists came, we burned small and burned often to avoid big fires. It's time to relearn cultural burning |url=http://theconversation.com/before-the-colonists-came-we-burned-small-and-burned-often-to-avoid-big-fires-its-time-to-relearn-cultural-burning-201475 |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US |archive-date=8 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308085331/https://theconversation.com/before-the-colonists-came-we-burned-small-and-burned-often-to-avoid-big-fires-its-time-to-relearn-cultural-burning-201475 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[fish farming]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bates |first=Badger |last2=Westaway |first2=Michael |last3=Jackson |first3=Sue |date=2022-12-15 |title=Aboriginal people have spent centuries building in the Darling River. Now there are plans to demolish these important structures |url=http://theconversation.com/aboriginal-people-have-spent-centuries-building-in-the-darling-river-now-there-are-plans-to-demolish-these-important-structures-195966 |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US |archive-date=1 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231101042204/https://theconversation.com/aboriginal-people-have-spent-centuries-building-in-the-darling-river-now-there-are-plans-to-demolish-these-important-structures-195966 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=Anna |date=2023-08-31 |title=Friday essay: traps, rites and kurrajong twine – the incredible ingenuity of Indigenous fishing knowledge |url=http://theconversation.com/friday-essay-traps-rites-and-kurrajong-twine-the-incredible-ingenuity-of-indigenous-fishing-knowledge-210467 |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US |archive-date=11 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240211091555/https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-traps-rites-and-kurrajong-twine-the-incredible-ingenuity-of-indigenous-fishing-knowledge-210467 |url-status=live }}</ref> and built [[Indigenous architecture#Australia|semi-permanent shelters]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wahlquist |first=Calla |date=2016-09-05 |title=Evidence of 9,000-year-old stone houses found on Australian island |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/05/evidence-of-9000-year-old-stone-houses-found-on-australian-island |access-date=2023-11-01 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=1 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231101042138/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/05/evidence-of-9000-year-old-stone-houses-found-on-australian-island |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Flood, Josephine (2019). pp. 239–40</ref> The extent to which some groups engaged in agriculture is controversial.<ref>Gammage, Bill (October 2011). The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines made Australia. Allen & Unwin. pp. 281–304.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gammage |first=Bill |date=2023-09-19 |title=Colonists upended Aboriginal farming, growing grain and running sheep on rich yamfields, and cattle on arid grainlands |url=http://theconversation.com/colonists-upended-aboriginal-farming-growing-grain-and-running-sheep-on-rich-yamfields-and-cattle-on-arid-grainlands-207118 |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US |archive-date=12 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240212095624/https://theconversation.com/colonists-upended-aboriginal-farming-growing-grain-and-running-sheep-on-rich-yamfields-and-cattle-on-arid-grainlands-207118 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Flood, Josephine (2019). pp. 25–27, 146</ref> The Torres Strait Islander people first settled their islands around 4,000 years ago.<ref>The Story of Australia's People, Volume 1: The Rise and Fall of Ancient Australia, Penguin Books Australia Ltd., Vic., 2015 {{ISBN|978-0-6700-7871-4}}, p.87</ref> Culturally and linguistically distinct from mainland Aboriginal peoples, they were seafarers and obtained their livelihood from seasonal horticulture and the resources of their reefs and seas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Early Aussie Tattoos Match Rock Art |last=Viegas|first=Jennifer|publisher=Discovery News|date=3 July 2008 |access-date=30 March 2010|url=http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/07/03/australia-tattoos-art.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080710014604/http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/07/03/australia-tattoos-art.html |archive-date=10 July 2008}}</ref> Agriculture also developed on some islands and villages appeared by the 1300s.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Veth |first1=Peter |title=The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume 1, Indigenous and Colonial Australia |last2=O'Connor |first2=Sue |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-107-01153-3 |editor-last=Bashford |editor-first=Alison |location=Cambridge |pages=34–35 |chapter=The past 50,000 years: an archaeological view |editor-last2=MacIntyre |editor-first2=Stuart}}</ref> By the mid-18th century in northern Australia, [[Makassan contact with Australia|contact, trade and cross-cultural engagement]] had been established between local Aboriginal groups and [[Makassar people|Makassan]] [[trepanging|trepangers]], visiting from present-day Indonesia.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Macknight |first=Charles Campbell |year=2011 |title=The view from Marege': Australian knowledge of Makassar and the impact of the trepangindustry across two centuries |journal=[[Aboriginal History]] |volume=35 |pages=134 |doi=10.22459/AH.35.2011.06 |jstor=24046930 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Country">{{cite web |author=T. Vigilante |display-authors=etal |year=2013 |title=Biodiversity values on selected Kimberley Islands, Australia |url=http://museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/WAM_Supp81_Internals%20pp145-181.pdf |access-date=2 August 2021 |publisher=[[Western Australian Museum]] |archive-date=5 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005235850/http://museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/WAM_Supp81_Internals%20pp145-181.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Russell |first=Denise |date=2004-03-22 |title=Aboriginal-Makassan interactions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in northern Australia and contemporary sea rights claims |url=http://lryb.aiatsis.gov.au/PDFs/aasj04.1_%20makassan.pdf |journal=Australian Aboriginal Studies |publisher=Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies |volume=2004 |issue=1 |pages=3–17 |issn=0729-4352 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306230858/http://lryb.aiatsis.gov.au/PDFs/aasj04.1_%20makassan.pdf |archive-date=6 March 2019 |access-date=21 April 2019}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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