Archaeology of JSARN-124 site 3, central-western Arnhem Land: Determining the age of the so-called ‘Genyornis’ painting

In 2011, Gunn et al. published the discovery in a remote part of the western Arnhem Land plateau of a rock painting that closely resembles the most recent reconstructions of an extinct megafaunal bird, the dromornithid Genyornis newtoni. Characteristics of the painting distinguish it from depictions of other bird species and support its identification as G. newtoni: a deep convex bill, unlike the shallow bill of an emu or cassowary; a globular cranium and relatively thick neck; indication of a crop (emus and cassowaries lack crops); non-pendulous posture of the wing (unlike the pendulous posture of emus); the proportions of the pelvic limb showing long tibiotarsi and stout tarsometatarsi; the short, broad toes that appear to terminate in blunt claws; and a dorsal profile paralleling that of reconstructed dromornithids and unlike an emu or any species of cassowary, in which the vertex of the back is more anterior. The several points of special resemblance between the painting and reconstructions of the extinct bird based on paleontological evidence led Gunn et al. (2011:10) to conclude, ‘on the basis of probability the painting is indeed a representation of Genyornis newtoni’. This finding brings a conundrum. If the painting is indeed a contemporaneous depiction of G. newtoni, it becomes the oldest painting known in the world, for the bird is thought to have become extinct around 50,000 +/- 5000 years ago (Miller et al. 1999; Roberts and Brook 2010; Roberts et al. 2001) or even earlier (see Grellet-Tinner et al. 2016). Or that timing for the extinction of Genyornis is wrong; or a relic population survived longer on the Arnhem Land plateau (e.g. Murray and Vickers-Rich 2004), perhaps until the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), which commenced around 25,000 years ago. And, as Gunn et al. (2011) acknowledged, there are still other alternatives. The painting might be of a ‘mythological’ animal: either one rooted in ancient memory of G. newtoni, as has been suggested for the ‘mihirung’ of southern Australian Aboriginal peoples (Vickers-Rich 1987) – although in societies without writing, social memory has not been found anywhere in the world to reliably extend in recognisable form over very long periods of time (cf. Bradley 2002) – or of a creature without a material counterpart that fortuitously resembled the fossil bird. The painting occurs on a vertical rock wall under a shallow overhang. Could the motif really have survived there since Pleistocene times, whether 25,000 or 50,000 years ago? And the painting shows a speared bird, so it could be the first evidence for the hunting of extinct megafauna in Australia. With these enigmas in mind, the Jawoyn Association asked us in 2010 to study the ‘Genyornis’ site, to investigate the age of the art and its archaeological and geomorphological context. Our major aims were to ask whether the painting dates, or theoretically could date, to the time of G. newtoni, or whether it must be more recent, and to uncover contextual ancient cultural information relating to the artworks and to occupation activities at the site in the past. Here, we present the results of these archaeological and geomorphological investigations along with a summary of the chemistry of the rock surface that houses the painting of the large bird thought by Gunn et al. (2011) to be of a Genyornis.

Colonisation and Aboriginal Land Tenure: Taiwan during the Qing Period (1684-1895) and the Japanese Period (1895-1945)

<p>This thesis is concerned with the land rights of the aboriginal peoples of Taiwan. It explores how under the Qing (1684-1895) and Japanese (1895-1945) regimes, laws and policies regarding aboriginal land in Taiwan resulted in aboriginal land tenure changes and loss of land. The thesis also explores how the respective legal systems and legal cultures of the Qing and Japanese states influenced policy-making concerning aboriginal land. The thesis examines the different effects of the Qing and Japanese administrations on aboriginal land tenure in Taiwan. It analyses Qing policies towards land settlement in Taiwan, the extent of the government’s recognition and protection of aboriginal land rights, the changes that the distinctive Qing property law regime, including the Chinese customary land practice, brought to aboriginal land tenure, and the aborigines’ interaction with the government and settlers regarding their land. To a lesser extent and as a comparison, the thesis then discusses the Japanese government’s attitudes towards the aborigines and aboriginal land tenure, and Japan’s reforms of land tenure in Taiwan. The thesis puts the study of Taiwan aboriginal land policies into the wider framework of the administration of Taiwan by two governments whose legal systems were quite different: the Qing government, which in many respects was a traditional Chinese imperial regime, and Japan, which by the time it colonised Taiwan had reformed its law along European lines and which was considered to be a modern and European-style state. Ultimately, this thesis attempts to find out what role the Qing legal system played in shaping the policies and in the transformation of aboriginal land tenure, and how the Japanese legal system, largely westernised after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, influenced Japanese policies regarding aboriginal land in Taiwan. Thus a central concern of the thesis is the connection between law and colonial policy. This thesis concludes that the Qing colonisation of Taiwan was different from the later Japanese colonisation of Taiwan and from Western styles of colonisation. Shaped by its legal culture, constitutional framework, administrative system and property law regime, the Qing government had very little or no intention and took little action to transform aboriginal land tenure. Rather the Qing legal tradition allowed for or enabled Chinese settlers to manipulate aboriginal land tenure and impose Chinese culture on the aborigines, an effect often unintended by the government. In contrast, Japan colonised Taiwan with a specific intention to exploit the resources of the island and thus the government played a strong role in changing aboriginal land tenure in Taiwan.</p>

Colonisation and Aboriginal Land Tenure: Taiwan during the Qing Period (1684-1895) and the Japanese Period (1895-1945)

<p>This thesis is concerned with the land rights of the aboriginal peoples of Taiwan. It explores how under the Qing (1684-1895) and Japanese (1895-1945) regimes, laws and policies regarding aboriginal land in Taiwan resulted in aboriginal land tenure changes and loss of land. The thesis also explores how the respective legal systems and legal cultures of the Qing and Japanese states influenced policy-making concerning aboriginal land. The thesis examines the different effects of the Qing and Japanese administrations on aboriginal land tenure in Taiwan. It analyses Qing policies towards land settlement in Taiwan, the extent of the government’s recognition and protection of aboriginal land rights, the changes that the distinctive Qing property law regime, including the Chinese customary land practice, brought to aboriginal land tenure, and the aborigines’ interaction with the government and settlers regarding their land. To a lesser extent and as a comparison, the thesis then discusses the Japanese government’s attitudes towards the aborigines and aboriginal land tenure, and Japan’s reforms of land tenure in Taiwan. The thesis puts the study of Taiwan aboriginal land policies into the wider framework of the administration of Taiwan by two governments whose legal systems were quite different: the Qing government, which in many respects was a traditional Chinese imperial regime, and Japan, which by the time it colonised Taiwan had reformed its law along European lines and which was considered to be a modern and European-style state. Ultimately, this thesis attempts to find out what role the Qing legal system played in shaping the policies and in the transformation of aboriginal land tenure, and how the Japanese legal system, largely westernised after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, influenced Japanese policies regarding aboriginal land in Taiwan. Thus a central concern of the thesis is the connection between law and colonial policy. This thesis concludes that the Qing colonisation of Taiwan was different from the later Japanese colonisation of Taiwan and from Western styles of colonisation. Shaped by its legal culture, constitutional framework, administrative system and property law regime, the Qing government had very little or no intention and took little action to transform aboriginal land tenure. Rather the Qing legal tradition allowed for or enabled Chinese settlers to manipulate aboriginal land tenure and impose Chinese culture on the aborigines, an effect often unintended by the government. In contrast, Japan colonised Taiwan with a specific intention to exploit the resources of the island and thus the government played a strong role in changing aboriginal land tenure in Taiwan.</p>

Epidemiological Isolation May Explain Differences in Historical Respiratory Infectious Disease Mortality

Indigenous and aboriginal peoples of the Americas and Pacific died at enormous rates soon after joining the global pathogen pool in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries from respiratory infections such as smallpox, measles, and influenza. It was widely assumed that this represented a selection process against primitive societies. Darwinian selection for specific genetic resistance factors seems an unlikely hypothesis given that some populations stabilized quickly over two to three generations. European-origin populations whose childhood was marked by epidemiological isolation also suffered high infectious disease mortality from respiratory pathogens. American soldiers with smallpox, South African (Boer) children with measles, and New Zealand soldiers with influenza suggest that epidemiological isolation resulting in few previous respiratory infections during childhood may be a consistent mortality risk factor. Modern studies of innate immunity following Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) in infancy point toward rapid immune adaptation rather than evolutionary selection as an explanation for excessive first contact epidemic mortality from respiratory pathogens.

Topophilia: a Cistercian monastry in Australia's land of fire

<p>On a portion of sacred Aboriginal land, formerly the resting place of Coranderrk Station, lies Tarrawarra Abbey, Australia’s solitary Cistercian monastery. Established in 1954, Tarrawarra Abbey represented an opportunity for a community to emerge that encouraged the interaction and collaboration between European and Aboriginal peoples. Instead, the historical discourse and relationship between Tarrawarra’s monks and Victoria’s Aboriginal people reflects a broader narrative of Australia’s past. Aboriginal histories, their perceptions of the natural world, strategies for managing and caring for the land as well as dispossession are treated as marginal and often invisible elements within a European history, architecture and life. Additionally, with the eradication of Aboriginal people from their position as protectors and guardians of their environment, combined with a changing climate, areas of Victoria’s landscape are now under serious threat as fire-storms continue to plague its most valuable forests. On February 7, 2009, the most destructive fire-storm in Australia’s history ripped through Victoria. With no Aboriginal influence on the landscape to control fuel, ‘Black Saturday’ as it became known, executed centuries old mountain ash trees, forcing them into a compromised state, a landscape trap. Consequently, the surviving stands of mountain ash and vulnerable stands of recent re-growth need protecting. This thesis addresses how site and sensory-based Aboriginal perspectives on the relationship between people, architecture and landscape can drive the manifestation of a ‘new’ and reinterpreted Cistercian monastery. Through this process the monastery will become an architectural scar. As a scar, the reinterpreted monastery and its community of monks and Aborignals will not only contribute to the protection of Kinglake National Park’s injured mountain ash forest and heritage stone water structures, but also assist in the mending of a torn relationship between two cultures.</p>

How multicultural is Canada really? An investigation of the inclusion and exclusion of culturally diverse groups in English Canadians‘ representations of Canadian nationhood and identity

<p>The current thesis aimed to contribute to a national psychology for Canada by examining majority group (i.e., English Canadians) representations of nationhood and national identity as they relate to the cultural diversity comprising the nation. This dissertation took a macro-level approach to examine the content of English Canadians‘ representations, situating the research within a theoretical framework consisting of two families of existing social psychological theories of social representations (i.e., Social Representations Theory; Moscovici, 1961; and Social Representations of History; Liu & Hilton, 2005) and social identity (i.e., Social Identity Theory; Tajfel & Turner, 1979; and Self-Categorization Theory; Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987). A multi-method approach using a mix of qualitative and quantitative techniques was employed to examine societal- and individual-level representations of Canadian nationhood and identity. The thesis had three major goals: 1) To determine the content of Canadian nationhood and identity; 2) To investigate if minority groups (i.e., French Canadians, Aboriginal peoples, and newer immigrants and their descendants) are included in and/or excluded from English Canadians‘ representations of Canadian nationhood and identity; and 3) To examine whether individuals‘ representations reflected government and mass media representations. The dissertation begins by reviewing existing literature on the content of Canadian nationhood, identity and diversity, providing an interpretive analysis using the guiding social psychological theories. Three empirical studies follow, which examined different aspects of representations of nationhood and identity. Study 1 used Critical Discourse Analysis (van Dijk, 1993) to investigate English Canadian print media representations of nationhood and identity by analysing the media response to two events concerned with the integration and accommodation of religious and cultural minorities, and immigrants. Study 2 examined ordinary citizens‘ representations of Canadian history through the use of survey methods. Study 3 examined implicit and explicit associations between ethnicity and Canadian nationhood. The findings revealed that governmental, media and individuals‘ representations of nationhood and identity were highly similar to one another, allowing us to advance a model of the content of Canadian identity. It was found that cultural groups are incorporated in English Canadians‘ representations of nationhood and identity in different ways from each other, depending on the context. It was shown that French Canadians represent a non-negligible component of nationhood and identity, but that they are sometimes reluctantly included in representations when they make demands on the majority. Aboriginal peoples are symbolically represented in English Canadians‘ representations of Canadian history, but are almost entirely absent from discussions of present day society and diversity. Newer immigrants and their descendants are sometimes included in present day representations of Canadian nationhood and identity, but are absent from historical representations. The Enlightenment Values of equality, freedom, democracy and reason (Michael, 2000) emerged as a crucial component of Canadian nationhood and identity, and this research suggests that they may represent why French Canadians are included in representations, as well as the key that newer immigrants and their descendants need to use to achieve inclusion (or conversely, warrant exclusion if they violate these values). Over all it was found that multiculturalism is not in itself a Canadian value, as has previously been suggested (Adams, 2007; Kymlicka, 2003), but it is instead a respect for the Enlightenment Values and an accommodation of diversity within these values that English Canadians treasure. Potential limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed. The thesis concludes with a consideration of how the results can be applied to increase the inclusion of minority groups in the majority group‘s conceptions of nationhood and identity. This work should serve as a launching point for discussions between the cultural groups about inclusion and exclusion.</p>

Topophilia: a Cistercian monastry in Australia's land of fire

<p>On a portion of sacred Aboriginal land, formerly the resting place of Coranderrk Station, lies Tarrawarra Abbey, Australia’s solitary Cistercian monastery. Established in 1954, Tarrawarra Abbey represented an opportunity for a community to emerge that encouraged the interaction and collaboration between European and Aboriginal peoples. Instead, the historical discourse and relationship between Tarrawarra’s monks and Victoria’s Aboriginal people reflects a broader narrative of Australia’s past. Aboriginal histories, their perceptions of the natural world, strategies for managing and caring for the land as well as dispossession are treated as marginal and often invisible elements within a European history, architecture and life. Additionally, with the eradication of Aboriginal people from their position as protectors and guardians of their environment, combined with a changing climate, areas of Victoria’s landscape are now under serious threat as fire-storms continue to plague its most valuable forests. On February 7, 2009, the most destructive fire-storm in Australia’s history ripped through Victoria. With no Aboriginal influence on the landscape to control fuel, ‘Black Saturday’ as it became known, executed centuries old mountain ash trees, forcing them into a compromised state, a landscape trap. Consequently, the surviving stands of mountain ash and vulnerable stands of recent re-growth need protecting. This thesis addresses how site and sensory-based Aboriginal perspectives on the relationship between people, architecture and landscape can drive the manifestation of a ‘new’ and reinterpreted Cistercian monastery. Through this process the monastery will become an architectural scar. As a scar, the reinterpreted monastery and its community of monks and Aborignals will not only contribute to the protection of Kinglake National Park’s injured mountain ash forest and heritage stone water structures, but also assist in the mending of a torn relationship between two cultures.</p>

How multicultural is Canada really? An investigation of the inclusion and exclusion of culturally diverse groups in English Canadians‘ representations of Canadian nationhood and identity

<p>The current thesis aimed to contribute to a national psychology for Canada by examining majority group (i.e., English Canadians) representations of nationhood and national identity as they relate to the cultural diversity comprising the nation. This dissertation took a macro-level approach to examine the content of English Canadians‘ representations, situating the research within a theoretical framework consisting of two families of existing social psychological theories of social representations (i.e., Social Representations Theory; Moscovici, 1961; and Social Representations of History; Liu & Hilton, 2005) and social identity (i.e., Social Identity Theory; Tajfel & Turner, 1979; and Self-Categorization Theory; Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987). A multi-method approach using a mix of qualitative and quantitative techniques was employed to examine societal- and individual-level representations of Canadian nationhood and identity. The thesis had three major goals: 1) To determine the content of Canadian nationhood and identity; 2) To investigate if minority groups (i.e., French Canadians, Aboriginal peoples, and newer immigrants and their descendants) are included in and/or excluded from English Canadians‘ representations of Canadian nationhood and identity; and 3) To examine whether individuals‘ representations reflected government and mass media representations. The dissertation begins by reviewing existing literature on the content of Canadian nationhood, identity and diversity, providing an interpretive analysis using the guiding social psychological theories. Three empirical studies follow, which examined different aspects of representations of nationhood and identity. Study 1 used Critical Discourse Analysis (van Dijk, 1993) to investigate English Canadian print media representations of nationhood and identity by analysing the media response to two events concerned with the integration and accommodation of religious and cultural minorities, and immigrants. Study 2 examined ordinary citizens‘ representations of Canadian history through the use of survey methods. Study 3 examined implicit and explicit associations between ethnicity and Canadian nationhood. The findings revealed that governmental, media and individuals‘ representations of nationhood and identity were highly similar to one another, allowing us to advance a model of the content of Canadian identity. It was found that cultural groups are incorporated in English Canadians‘ representations of nationhood and identity in different ways from each other, depending on the context. It was shown that French Canadians represent a non-negligible component of nationhood and identity, but that they are sometimes reluctantly included in representations when they make demands on the majority. Aboriginal peoples are symbolically represented in English Canadians‘ representations of Canadian history, but are almost entirely absent from discussions of present day society and diversity. Newer immigrants and their descendants are sometimes included in present day representations of Canadian nationhood and identity, but are absent from historical representations. The Enlightenment Values of equality, freedom, democracy and reason (Michael, 2000) emerged as a crucial component of Canadian nationhood and identity, and this research suggests that they may represent why French Canadians are included in representations, as well as the key that newer immigrants and their descendants need to use to achieve inclusion (or conversely, warrant exclusion if they violate these values). Over all it was found that multiculturalism is not in itself a Canadian value, as has previously been suggested (Adams, 2007; Kymlicka, 2003), but it is instead a respect for the Enlightenment Values and an accommodation of diversity within these values that English Canadians treasure. Potential limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed. The thesis concludes with a consideration of how the results can be applied to increase the inclusion of minority groups in the majority group‘s conceptions of nationhood and identity. This work should serve as a launching point for discussions between the cultural groups about inclusion and exclusion.</p>

'Of Red War and Little Else': European Responses to Indigenous Violence in the Tasman World, c.1769-1850s

<p>Europeans responded to indigenous internecine violence in a variety of ways in the Tasman world from first contact to the middle of the nineteenth century. Whereas extant historiography has previously addressed European responses to Māori and Aboriginal violence in geographic and temporal isolation, a comparison spanning time and space augments knowledge of these responses. Violence was not the only aspect of indigenous societies Europeans responded to, nor was indigenous violence the only justification for colonisation. However an investigation of the ways in which Europeans represented and responded to indigenous violence enables a better understanding of the processes of the colonisation of the Tasman world. Indigenous internecine violence included cannibalism, infanticide, inter-gender violence, and inter-tribal warfare. Through a wide variety of European observations of this violence, this thesis identifies an initial conceptualisation of both New Zealand Māori and Aboriginal peoples of Australia as violent, cannibal ‘savages’. This conceptualisation was used to justify both colonisation and the related evangelical and colonial administrative attempts to suppress indigenous violence, as internecine violence was deemed ‘un-civilised’, unchristian, and unacceptable. Europeans attempted to suppress indigenous violence as it was seen both as an impediment to colonisation and, relatedly, as an inhibitor to the ‘redemption’ of indigenous peoples. While indigenous violence was seen as a barrier to colonisation, however, it was also simultaneously used to promote colonisation. Thus the attempted suppression of indigenous violence developed into the European mobilisation and utilisation of intra-Māori and intra-Aboriginal violence in the promotion of colonisation. The development of European responses to indigenous internecine violence – from conceptualisations, through attempted suppression, to utilisation – is here examined in a Tasman-world context, drawing upon the interactions between these varied responses. In tracing this development within a comparative framework, both indigenous agency and a rejection of the historiographically persistent notions of a homogenous (and harmonious) Aboriginal Australia and a homogenous Māori people during this time period are key threads.</p>