2000 Year-old Bogong moth (Agrotis infusa) Aboriginal food remains, Australia (original) (raw)
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The Importance of Insects in Australian Aboriginal Society: A Dictionary Survey
The use of insects by indigenous societies is an understudied topic, but much useful information can be gleaned from field linguists' dictionaries. In this essay, we explore published and draft dictionaries of selected Australian Aboriginal languages to report on the scope of insect use by coastal and desert communities. We found a number of insect orders exploited for food, medicine, and other uses, as well as a clear trend towards more reliance on edible insects among desert communities. The cultural importance of certain groups of insects can be correlated with a proliferation of associated vocabulary. We suggest that such groups may be regarded as cultural keystone taxa.
The first Australian plant foods at Madjedbebe, 65,000-53,000 years ago
Nature Communications, 2020
There is little evidence for the role of plant foods in the dispersal of early modern humans into new habitats globally. Researchers have hypothesised that early movements of human populations through Island Southeast Asia and into Sahul were driven by the lure of high-calorie, low-handling-cost foods, and that the use of plant foods requiring processing was not common in Sahul until the Holocene. Here we present the analysis of charred plant food remains from Madjedbebe rockshelter in northern Australia, dated to between 65 kya and 53 kya. We demonstrate that Australia's earliest known human population exploited a range of plant foods, including those requiring processing. Our finds predate existing evidence for such subsistence practices in Sahul by at least 23ky. These results suggest that dietary breadth underpinned the success of early modern human populations in this region, with the expenditure of labour on the processing of plants guaranteeing reliable access to nutrients in new environments.
Australian Archaeology, 2017
Excavations at the site of Moonggaroonggoo in the southern Kimberley were conducted at the request of Gooniyandi elders from the nearby Muludja Community. The Gooniyandi people were mainly interested in the age of the deposit, and in comparing the food remains with their traditional knowledge. The site dates from the late Holocene to the present and contains rich technological and faunal assemblages as well as macrobotanical records. Analysis of these records will continue in collaboration with the Gooniyandi community.
Establishing a foothold or six: insect tales of trade and migration
In, pp. 120-130, P. Preston and K. Schörle (eds), Mobility, Transition and Change in Prehistory and Classical Antiquity. Proceedings of Graduate Archaeology Organisation Conference on the Fourth and Fifth of April 2008 at Hertford College, Oxford, UK, 2013
In recent years the concept of human movement and trade has returned to the fore in the archaeological arena. However, there has been no explicit assessment of the role that palaeoentomology may be able to play in this field. A range of techniques may be employed across various areas of research, including species biogeography, palaeoecology, and isotopic analysis, and which can make significant contributions to the field. Furthermore, several other methods may help to elucidate the problem of associated human and insect movement, including the recognition and sourcing of insect-associated products and genetic analysis of modern insect populations and ancient insect remains. The integration of these fields of study with other methods is fundamental to the understanding of human interaction.