Aliza Gallant
History Semester 2 Assignment – Part b
2018
1. What are the different types of sources we have available to study Australia’s ancient past?
A piece of evidence used to study Australia’s past is John Mulvaney’s suitcase. It was used to transport the remains of Mungo Lady/man to the Australian National University, in 1969. John Mulvaney, a pioneer of Australian archaeology, played a significate role to proving that the arrival of humans in Australia. Erosion has exposed bones of a woman and a man (Mungo Lady/Man) show evidence of cremation that happened 42,000. This is the oldest known cremation in the world, she represents the early emergence of humanity’s spiritual beliefs. In 1992 Mungo Lady’s bones/remains were returned to Lake Mungo. By doing this it was a huge step between Australian scientists and the Aboriginal groups affected by their research. They are the most important human remains ever found in Australia. Madjedbebe, is a rock shelter in the Northern Territory of Australia. Madjedbebe was first occupied by humans 59 thousand years ago. It is the oldest known site showing presence of humans in Australia, it set new minimum age for humans in Australia. Over 1500 items were found in the shelter, stone tools, grinding stones, ochres and charcoal. The shelter has different paintings which were painted using the ochre that were in the cave. Other Sources we have available to learn from are aboriginal artefacts as they have been on this land for thousands of years and they have amazing stories that go along with the artefacts. The artefacts that we have found tell us a lot about the past and what it was like thousand years ago. (source 1). Using artefacts to find out about more about Australia’s past is a great way to understand our history and has helped us to learn about our past.
2. What can we learn from scientific testing on the sources from ancient Australia?
Scientific testing can prove a lot of things about Australia’s past for instance, Lake Mungo has proven multiple things about the past. Since it is dried up, bones, tools, remains have been found. A great discovery in 2003 occurred when 20,000-year-old footprints of the Willandra people were uncovered. Mungo lady is a perfect example for how we can learn from scientific testing. Mungo Lady was cremated and the bones were smashed into tiny pieces. The remains had been gathered and buried in a small cylindrical grave. The only way we could have found this out is by doing scientific testing, for example they tested the sand from the burial and tested the stone tools that were found near the burial site to find out the most accurate date. Lake Mungo is a significant archaeology site as it provides important spiritual and cultural links to it traditional owners. Madjedbebe a rock shelter, an archaeological site, evidence found suggests is among the oldest Aboriginal sites on the continent, which has an estimated age of more than 50,000 years. Rock art lines the shelt...
