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Published VersionCC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
The Archaeology of Orality: Dating Tasmanian Aboriginal oral traditions to the Late Pleistocene
Journal of Archaeological Science, Vol.159, pp.1-16
2023
Abstract
Aboriginal people have lived in Australia, continuously, for tens of thousands of years. Over that time, they developed complex knowledge systems that were committed to memory and passed to successive generations through oral tradition. The length of time oral traditions can be passed down while maintaining vitality is a topic of ongoing debate in the social sciences. In recent years, scientists have weighed into the debate by studying traditions that describe natural events, such as volcanic eruptions and meteorite impacts, which can be dated using scientific techniques. Here, we bring together a trans-disciplinary team of scholars to apply this approach to Tasmanian Aboriginal (palawa) oral traditions that were recorded in the early nineteenth century. These traditions describe the flooding of the Bassian Land Bridge connecting Tasmania to mainland Australia and the presence of a culturally significant " Great South Star " , identified as Canopus (α Carinae). Utilising bathymetric and topographic data of the land and sea floor in the Bass Strait, we estimate the Bassian Land Bridge was finally submerged approximately 11,960 years Before Present (BP). We then calculate the declination of the star Canopus over the last precessional cycle (26,000 years) to show that it was at a far southerly declination (δ < –75°) between 16,300–11,800 years BP, reaching its minimum declination approximately 14,000 years ago. These lines of evidence provide a terminus ante quem of the Tasmanian traditions to the end of the Late Pleistocene. This paper supports arguments that the longevity of orality can exceed ten millennia, providing critical information essential to the further development of theoretical frameworks regarding the archaeology of orality.
Details
- Title
- The Archaeology of Orality: Dating Tasmanian Aboriginal oral traditions to the Late Pleistocene
- Authors
- Duane Hamacher (Corresponding Author) - The University of MelbournePatrick Nunn (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australian Centre for Pacific Islands ResearchMichelle Gantevoort (Author) - RMIT UniversityRebe Taylor (Author) - University of TasmaniaGreg Lehman (Author) - University of TasmaniaKa Hei Andrew Law (Author) - The University of MelbourneMel Miles (Author) - Swinburne University of Technology
- Publication details
- Journal of Archaeological Science, Vol.159, pp.1-16
- Publisher
- Academic Press
- Date published
- 2023
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jas.2023.105819
- ISSN
- 1095-9238; 0305-4403
- Copyright note
- © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync-nd/4.0/).
- Grant note
- DE140101600 / Australian Research Council Laby Foundation Pierce Bequest
- Organisation Unit
- Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre; Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society; Sustainability Research Cluster
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99741797602621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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