Archaeology of the Dreamtime

The story of prehistoric Australia and its people

by Josephine Flood

Angus & Robertson, 1995, [Revised], ISBN 0207184488, colour photographic plates, black and white photographs and illustrations, contact covered paperback

Very Good Condition, a little edge and shelf wear, a little rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, minor creasing to cover, no inscriptions, contact covered (see photographs)

“The first people arrived in Australia over 50 000 years ago.  Just how they made their way from Asia is one of the mysteries explored in this immensely readable book.
Using the very latest archaeological evidence from stones and bones and also Aboriginal oral traditions, which have been handed down from generation to generation, Archaeology of the Dreamtime examines the way in which the Aborigines adapted to and modified their environment, from the rainforests of the north to the Snowy Mountains of the south.  It demonstrates how their art and culture developed and were passed on, and how they coped with such massive changes as the rising of the seas at the end of the last ice age.
First published in 1983 and then updated in 1989, Archaeology of the Dreamtime has been fully revised to include information on the latest archaeological discoveries.  Special features include a complete revision of the chapters on Pleistocene rock art and the extinction of the megafauna to incorporate exciting new finds of the last five years.  The beginning of human occupation in the tropical north, Central Australia and the highlands of Tasmania has been pushed back by 10 000 years or more, so the chapters on the peopling of Australia have also been completely rewritten.
Josephine Flood draws a fascinating and absorbing picture of prehistoric Australia, of a dynamic and highly adaptable people whose art, religion and social organisation were complex, whose trading networks covered vast distances, and whose ingenuity and technological skills enabled them to survive in one of the most inhospitable continents in the world.”