Evidence of warfare at Kaakutja

[Gary Vines]

A skeleton with unprecedented injuries suggests Australia’s Aboriginal peoples fought deadly battles among themselves.

A new study in the current issue of Antiquity suggests the unique wounds likely came from a homegrown weapon: the boomerang. The study’s authors argue the man was a victim of deliberate violence, a theory that implies that at least some Aboriginal peoples battled each other before contact with Europeans and brings new insight into pre-colonization tribal relationships in Australia, a subject known mostly from less tangible historical accounts.

At first the story seemed clear enough. When an Aboriginal man’s skeleton was found beside an Australian river bank two years ago, the long gash in his skull indicated he’d been slashed to death by a sword or cutlass, probably during the turbulent years when Europeans were spreading across the continent.

Then that narrative unraveled. Lab tests showed the man died in the 1200s—600 years before European settlers and their metal tools reached the area. And 

Only one other skeleton predating Australia’s colonization is known to show signs of lethal injuries meted out by other humans. That skeleton, dated to around 1600 B.C., bears multiple spear wounds, possibly inflicted as a ritual punishment.

read more  (warning, images of aboriginal remains):

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/09/deadly-boomerang-australia-aboriginal-weapon/?platform=hootsuite

http://phys.org/news/2016-09-wound-ancient-aborigine-boomerang.html

http://www.abc.net.au/radio/canberra/programs/breakfast/indigenous-archeology-murder/7876936

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/index.html (paywall)

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

 

Hello Gary,

Re Narrabeen man, "dated to around 1600 B.C., bears multiple spear wounds" - it was estimated that three spears were used on him.

I often drive past his bus stop.

Re "implies that at least some Aboriginal peoples battled each other before contact with Europeans", very early colonists recorded lethal battles near Sydney.   If that is so, why would anyone think the past was different in this regard. 

Cheers,

 

John Byrnes

 

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