arobigines

[stan]

In anthropology, the social structures and habits of ancient tribes or groups are sometimes inferred from tribes and groups living today, which appear similar.
I read some things in the last few days from old National Geographics and on the internet describing the aborigines of Australia.
Does anyone know of valid comparisons between the aborigine culture and ancient societies?

(They are still making "rock art" handprints which they apparently have done for 50k + years. In the early years of the 20th century they were entirely naked, and even until now they
don't want to take on the white man's ways...they don't like to live indoors, and they prefer sitting on the ground or floor to chairs. THey prefer to keep to themselves and live according to their traditions, and don't seem to want personal property.
The government tried to assimilate them starting in the 1940s, but it didn't work. They were movved into the cities, but
the results were unsatisfactory...and in the sixties they were
given some land to call their own in some sense, I think.
I am sure some of them live with the whites, but I couldn't find out how many...)

[Minimalist]

and in the sixties they were
given some land to call their own in some sense, I think.

Sounds like the reservation system used in the US. Probably with similar result.

[stan]

There has been discrimination against the aborigines, and their lives in the cities were squalid. BUt they prefer the open spaces.
Unlike the Indians, the aborigines are said to abjure pesonal property and prefer tend to want to live off the land. BUt they neverhad agriculture. They think the whites are misguided and have a lousy religion.
There are only about 150,000 left.

Do you think early homo sapiens lived in the same way as these aborigines?

[Frank Harrist]

There has been discrimination against the aborigines, and their lives in the cities were squalid. BUt they prefer the open spaces.
Unlike the Indians, the aborigines are said to abjure pesonal property and prefer tend to want to live off the land. BUt they neverhad agriculture. They think the whites are misguided and have a lousy religion.
There are only about 150,000 left.

Do you think early homo sapiens lived in the same way as these aborigines?

I'm sure some of them were similar to the aborigines. They were hunter/gatherers.

[Minimalist]

There has been discrimination against the aborigines, and their lives in the cities were squalid. BUt they prefer the open spaces.
Unlike the Indians, the aborigines are said to abjure pesonal property and prefer tend to want to live off the land. BUt they neverhad agriculture. They think the whites are misguided and have a lousy religion.
There are only about 150,000 left.

Do you think early homo sapiens lived in the same way as these aborigines?

I'm sure some of them were similar to the aborigines. They were hunter/gatherers.

Humanity had to become 'civilized' in order for us to become wage slaves.

[stan]

How much has been learned about early humans by observing the
modern Australian aborigines?
And where do they fit into the evolutionary scheme?
Their skulls seem heavy and they often have bony brows.

I'm not trying to be controversial here...just asking for information.

[stan]

This picture is very interesting. On the Bradshaw Foundation's website
there are lots of pictures of Australian Rock art called "Bradshaw" pictures. They are supposed to be about 17000 years old.

What is so interesting is that the images show an entirely different culture than that of the modern Aborigines. Maybe this should not be surprising,given the enormous amount of time, but...
The figures in the images are tall and slender, many are clothed, and
the dancers are wearing elaborate headdresses or hairdresses, and
are adorned with a lot of ... "tassels" "pom poms"..bracelets, some
kind of costumes....In fact, they look African!
The aborigines discovered by the British (as far as I know) wore no clothes, and were not tall and slender, and did not dress their hair nor wear elaborate bodily adornments.

My post may be more anthropological than archeological, although the
rock art is the only record of the "bradshaw" people that I know of.
It seems possible to me that the modern aborigines are a different people,maybe from a different wave of migration, than those in these
rock art paintings. What happened to this culture? It is often said that the "aborigines" go back to a time before these paintings...so were there
two populations there?
Take a a look at these:
http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/bradshaws/

[Sam Salmon]

It's an immensely complicated subject-there were/are many many different tribes with different languages/cultures-Oz is an immense place.

[stan]

I hope the immensity of the the subject won't prevent you from
sharing a little of it with us. Australia has come up several times
on this bulletin board in the last 6 months or so....footprints,
human migration, atl-atls, and more.
These tribes...were they all of the same physical type?

[Beagle]

I don't know a great deal about the Aborigines of Australia but a few salient facts have fascinated me.

Scientists have determined that there was not a mass migration to the continent, but instead an influx of small groups over a long time.

Also, that even when the sea level was at its lowest point, 50 miles of water had to be crossed to get to Australia. This event at 50,000+ ya. This seafaring ability at that time is an entire subject in itself.

The culture is full of history and mystery. I'll just keep reading. Anyone from down under in here?

[Minimalist]

50 miles of water had to be crossed to get to Australia

And, 50 miles being too far to see, how did they know it was there?

[Beagle]

I read many years ago that Pacific migration that occurred in historical times was possible because the people were able to understand the flight paths of birds. That is, if the birds took off in the morning from their island and returned in the evening from the same direction, they concluded that a land mass was just over the horizon.

I don't know who came up with that theory, but it still doesn't explain how they could build a seaworthy craft 50kya.

[Minimalist]

That is, if the birds took off in the morning from their island and returned in the evening from the same direction, they concluded that a land mass was just over the horizon.

I wouldn't apply that theory to most domestic airlines! They can't even keep your luggage on the right airplane.

[Sam Salmon]

I don't know who came up with that theory, but it still doesn't explain how they could build a seaworthy craft 50kya.

Modern day Inuit can build a seaworthy craft out of found materials-why couldn't someone else?
People who lived then were as intelligent as anyone today they just had different materials to work with.

[Minimalist]

You could strap a couple of logs together with rope and have a serviceable raft that would go 50 miles.

The question I have is, did they have the 'exploration gene' to undertake such journeys. It is pretty clear that no one left a sign on the shore that said:

Australia - 50 miles East - one day's sailing time. Follow Us!