Aboriginal people made pottery and sailed to distant offshore islands thousands of years before Europeans arrived

[Judi Lynn]

3. Discovery of pottery rewrites Aboriginal history

APRIL 10, 2024
Editors' notes
by James Cook University

The discovery of the oldest pottery ever found in Australia on Jiigurru/Lizard Island off the Queensland coast is challenging the idea that Aboriginal Australian communities were unaware of pottery manufacture before European settlement.

James Cook University's Distinguished Professor Sean Ulm is Chief Investigator for the Australian Research Council Center of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH). He said the ceramics were discovered in an archaeological excavation on Jiigurru conducted by CABAH in partnership with the Dingaal and Ngurrumungu Aboriginal communities, for which Jiigurru holds significant cultural importance.

"Archaeologists excavated a 2.4-meter-deep midden on Jiigurru over a two-year period to discover evidence of occupation, such as the remains of shellfish and fish collected and eaten by people on the island, which are more than 6,000 years old.
"Less than a meter below the surface, the team found dozens of pottery shrads dating between 2,000 and 3,000 years old—the oldest pottery ever discovered in Australia," said Professor Ulm.

In a paper published April 9 in Quaternary Science Reviews, traditional owners and researchers report on the pottery find.

Professor Ulm said the discovery challenges previous notions that Aboriginal Australian communities were unaware of pottery manufacture before European settlement, instead suggesting a rich history of long-distance cultural exchanges and technological innovation long before British arrival.

More:
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-discovery-pottery-rewrites-aboriginal-history.html