Ulm, Sean, Mcniven, Ian J., and McLean, Kenneth (2024) Aboriginal people made pottery and sailed to distant offshore islands thousands of years before Europeans arrived. The Conversation, 10 April 2024.

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Abstract

Pottery was largely unknown in Australia before the recent past, despite well-known pottery traditions in nearby Papua New Guinea and the islands of the western Pacific. The absence of ancient Indigenous pottery in Australia has long puzzled researchers.

In new research, we report the oldest securely dated ceramics found in Australia from archaeological excavations on Jiigurru (in the Lizard Island group) on the northern Great Barrier Reef located 600km south of Torres Strait. Our analysis shows the pottery was made locally more than 1800 years ago.

Item ID:	82575
Item Type:	Article (Commentary)
ISSN:	2201-5639
Keywords:	ceramics; early pottery use; Great Barrier Reef; coastal and island archaeology
Copyright Information:	Creative Commons license 4.0 Attribution, No derivatives. We believe in the free flow of information. We use a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives license, so you can republish our articles for free, online or in print.
Funders:	Australian Research Council
Projects and Grants:	ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CE170100015)
Date Deposited:	10 Apr 2024 22:40
FoR Codes:	43 HISTORY, HERITAGE AND ARCHAEOLOGY > 4301 Archaeology > 430101 Archaeological science @ 50% 45 INDIGENOUS STUDIES > 4501 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, language and history > 450101 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander archaeology @ 50%
SEO Codes:	21 INDIGENOUS > 2104 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and culture > 210402 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander connection to land and environment @ 50% 13 CULTURE AND SOCIETY > 1307 Understanding past societies > 130703 Understanding Australia’s past @ 50%
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