Aboriginal earth ovens

[Maurizio Campanelli]

Dear 'Ozarch' members,

As part of my PhD thesis on Aboriginal western Victoria, I am writing about Aboriginal earth ovens. If you have a copy of unpublished report that you can send me, regarding such finds, surely it will help. It could be from anywhere in Australia, especially if the feature/s has/have been dated, but I would be particularly interested in contexts from SE Australia.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

M.

Maurizio Campanelli | PhD Student | Archaeology

Department of Archaeology and History

School of Humanities and Social Sciences

College of Arts, Social Sciences and Commerce

La Trobe University | Melbourne | Victoria | 3083 | Australia

M: + 61 421 080 314 | E: campan...@students.latrobe.edu.au

[john...@ozemail.com.au]

 

Hello Maurizio,

Edward Powell, one of the 1793 founders of "Liberty Plains" settlement (Powells farm is now called Homebush, around the station) had some sheep run off from there to the Cooks River a little to the south by "Banditti" ( a term then in use for troublesome Aborigines or part-Aborigines).  He tracked them and found some had been cooked in earth oven/s.   He wrote to the Sydney newspaper saying people might be interested in the earth oven method of cooking - which he then described.   A TROVE search should easily find this if of interest.   I've seen some other descriptions too, buy at the moment can only remember details of this one.

Cheers,  John  Byrnes

 

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{OzArch} Aboriginal earth ovens

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[Maurizio Campanelli]

Hi John,

I will look for this reference. It sounds really interesting and worth trying experimentally.

Thanks.

Regards,

M.

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[john...@ozemail.com.au]

 

Hi Maurizio,

Should you have any trouble locating it ... let me know ( john...@ozemail.com.au ) and I could search too.   I'm sure it will be findable.

Cheers,  John

 

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Re: {OzArch} Aboriginal earth ovens

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[John Pickard]

Hi Maurizio,

 

This is an appallingly written biography of the father (John) written by the son, but it has a good description of ovens. The location is not quite western Victoria, but appears to be “Valley of Springs” Station on the Limmin River, soon after 1884.

 

Costello, M.M.J. (1930) Life of John Costello. Being the adventures of a pioneer, pastoralist and explorer in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Dymock's Book Arcade Ltd, Sydney.

p. 129 "The blacks had a culinary system as effective as any stove or oven. When they killed a bullock it was cut up into convenient pieces and carried to a safe, strategic position to be cooked. Then a deep hole was scooped in the ground, a fire made in it, and lined with large stones, which would be covered with gum leaves. In this the beef would be placed and covered with more leaves, hot stones and coals, earth heaped over all. The leaves kept the meat clean, which when the cooking process was completed, would be taken out of the earthen oven and appeared as savoury and appetising as any bushman could desire."

Cheers, John

John Pickard
john.p...@bigpond.com

 

From: Maurizio Campanelli

Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2016 11:01 AM

To: oza...@googlegroups.com

Subject: {OzArch} Aboriginal earth ovens

 

[Maurizio Campanelli]

Hi John,

This is very fascinating, I didn't know there were all these accounts about post-contact cookery (e.g. bullocks, sheep). It would be worth comparing pre- and post-contact animal foods and techniques.

Cheers,

M.

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[riverj...@iinet.net.au]

Hi Maurizio
Peter Clark did a lot of work on eroded heat retainer heaths at Mungo in the 80s, never published, I think.
Mostly we just find eroded heaths/ovens, often pedestalled as sediments around the oven are removed, but I've seen several exposed in cross section in a low cliff on the shore of Lake Menindee. They appeared to  be in original state, as dug into ground, with heat retainers in situ,  covered over with sand, then sectioned by cliffing. I had planned to excavate a couple, but before I could do so, a high water phase draped a foredune over the cliff. Haven't checked for a long time, may have been more cut and fill since. Still, an unusual situation, with potential for excavating  original structure.
Finally, in 1983, I went to an Aboriginal wedding in Broken Hill. Ceremony in RC cathedral, reception in Band Hall, food cooked in earth ovens in nearby backyard of bride's family. Kangaroo, lamb, pork, veggies, all wrapped in alfoil, placed in big metal mesh trays, cooked in ground. The word used in this area for these modern earth ovens is the NZ term hangi, reflecting Aboriginal-Maori intermarriage (sheep pastoral country, Maori shearers).
I can send you copies of Peter's work, and some of my own in contract reports, but will have to wait till I'm home, currently in Melbourne.
Regards, Jeannette Hope.

Sent from my HTC One XL on the Telstra 4G network

----- Reply message -----
From: "Maurizio Campanelli" <campanell...@gmail.com>
To: "oza...@googlegroups.com" <oza...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: {OzArch} Aboriginal earth ovens
Date: Thu, Dec 1, 2016 11:01 AM

Dear 'Ozarch' members,
As part of my PhD thesis on Aboriginal western Victoria, I am writing about
Aboriginal earth ovens. If you have a copy of unpublished report that you
can send me, regarding such finds, surely it will help. It could be from
anywhere in Australia, especially if the feature/s has/have been dated, but
I would be particularly interested in contexts from SE Australia.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
M.

Maurizio Campanelli | PhD Student | Archaeology
Department of Archaeology and History
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
College of Arts, Social Sciences and Commerce
La Trobe University | Melbourne | Victoria | 3083 | Australia
M: + 61 421 080 314 | E: campan...@students.latrobe.edu.au

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[Maurizio Campanelli]

Hi,

Yes, please, I would love to have a look at that material. There is a global literature on earth ovens, but I prefer to start considering every structure and related technique as something different, to understand similarities and/or differences. This is just an incidental aspect of my research, but I hope it will open new directions.

Cheers,

M.

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