Weeds and Bushcare News

Aboriginal Archaeology in the Blue Mountains against the background of Climate Change

a talk by Eugene Stockton - 18th Feb, 2004 - Lawson Community Centre.

This fascinating talk was presented by Eugene to an audience of 50 Bushcare volunteers and friends. He traced the history of archaeological work that has taken place in the Mountains and looked at the distribution of sites - making the point that most sites seemed to appear on ridgelines, rather than valleys.

He also refuted quite strongly the claims that "Aboriginal people didn't live in the mountains, they just passed through" - by drawing on a wealth of archaeological work done in caves (shelter sites) that indicated occupation for up to perhaps 50,000 years. He also backed up this claim with interesting climactic information that showed the area between Lawson and Springwood has a highly favourable climate for human occupation when compared to places like Penrith or the Upper Mountains.

Eugene went on to discuss the different stages of Aboriginal tool technology, and then briefly spoke about art sites in the Blue Mountains.

It was a wonderful talk that only "scratched the surface" of this inspirational topic.

A warning was also issued to anybody finding an Aboriginal site - do not disturb or remove anything.

Eugene Stockton gives his talk

Eugene is the author of a wonderful book called "Blue Mountains Dreaming" available in most local book stores.