文档介绍：Archaeology of Ancient Australia
Australia has been inhabited for 50,000 years. This clear pelling book
shows how it is possible to unearth this country’s long human history when our
historical records are limited to the few hundred years since its European discovery.
Beginning with the first human colonization and ending with European contact
in the eighteenth century, Peter Hiscock traces the ever-changing and sometimes
turbulent history of the Australian Aboriginal peoples and their ancestors. While
they remained hunters and gatherers throughout this time, their culture continually
evolved, with their changes in economics, technology, cosmology, beliefs and
social life.
Hiscock shows how this human past can be reconstructed from archaeological
evidence in easy-to-read style and without unnecessary jargon or detail, yet
reflecting the weight of scientific research. Including information from ics,
environmental sciences, anthropology and history, this book passes the wide
variety of disciplines in the sciences and humanities which contribute to an
archaeological investigation.
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, and the puzzling giant
shell mounds of the north coast, are discussed and extensively illustrated.
The result is not only prehensive and understandable introduction for
beginners in archaeology, but also a challenging and absorbing view about the
richness and variety of ancient human civilization.
Peter Hiscock is a Reader at the Australian National University where he teaches the
archaeology of Australia. His work on Australian sites has concentrated on ancient
technology but has also explored human exploitation of coastal and desert
landscapes.
Archaeology of
Ancient Australia
Peter Hiscock
First published 2008
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Ab