Sydney’s Aboriginal Past: Investigating the Archaeological and Historical Records

240 Pages·2010·0.55 MB·English

by  Val Attenbrow

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S Y D N E Y ’ S
A B O R I G I N A L PA S T
To view this image, please refer to the print version of the book
Val Attenbrow’s interest in archaeology began during a five-year
stay in Europe in the 1960s. Back in Sydney, Val completed a
three-year diploma course in archaeology before graduating with
an honours degree from the University of Sydney’s Department of
Anthropology in 1976. A keen bushwalker, Val’s interests moved
from Classical, Near Eastern and European archaeology to
Australian Aboriginal archaeology. Val worked as a consultant
archaeologist and in the Cultural Heritage Division of the NSW
National Parks and Wildlife Service before completing her PhD at
the University of Sydney. She is now Principal Research Scientist
(Archaeologist) in the Anthropology Unit, Research Branch of the
Australian Museum, where she has worked since 1989.
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S Y D N E Y ’ S
A B O R I G I N A L
P A S T

V A L A T T E N B R O W
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S Y D N E Y ’ S
A B O R I G I N A L
P A S T
Investigating the archaeological
and historical records
V A L A T T E N B R O W
UNSW
PRESS
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CONTE NTS
A UNSW Press book Foreword vii
Acknowledgments viii
Published by
University of New South Wales Press Ltd Caution xi
University of New South Wales
Geographic terms: A clarification xiii
Sydney NSW 2052
AUSTRALIA
www.unswpress.com.au 1 Introduction 1
© The Australian Museum Trust 2002, 2010 2 The gatherers of the data 5
First published in hardback 2002
3 The people and their country: Numbers, names and languages 17
First published in paperback 2003
Second edition 2010
4 The rich resources of the land and its waters 37
This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research,
5 Identifying where people camped and land use patterns 47
criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process
without written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the publisher.
6 Their social organisation 57
7 The foods people ate and how they were obtained 62
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
8 Their tools, weapons and other equipment 85
Author: Attenbrow, Valerie, 1942-
Title: Sydney's Aboriginal past: investigating the archaeological and historical records/ 9 Shelter, clothing and personal adornment 105
Val Attenbrow.
Edition: 2nd ed 10 Making use of available raw materials 112
ISBN: 978 1 74223 116 7 (pbk.)
Notes: Includes index. 11 Beliefs, totems, rites and ceremonies 126
Bibliography.
Subjects: Excavations (Archaeology) – New South Wales – Sydney. 12 Designs and images 143
Aboriginal Australians – New South Wales – Sydney – History.
Aboriginal Australians – New South Wales – Sydney – Antiquities. 13 The time line: An overview 152
Sydney (N.S.W.) – Antiquities.
Dewey Number: 306.0899915 SITES-TO-VISIT SUPPLEMENT 161
Design Dana Lundmark Notes 189
Cover Josephine Pajor-Markus
Glossary 203
Front cover image Climbing treesby John Heaviside Clark (del.); M. Dubourg (sculpt), 1813. Field
Sports of the Native Inhabitants of New South Wales. London. Reproduced from hand-coloured aquatint
Abbreviations and References 209
held by author.
Back cover image Hunting the kangaroo by John Heaviside Clark (del.); M. Dubourg (sculpt), 1813. Index 220
Field Sports of the Native Inhabitants of New South Wales. London. Reproduced from hand-coloured
aquatint held by author.
Author photoCarl Bento, Australian Museum.
Printer KHL, Singapore
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CONTE NTS
Foreword vii
Acknowledgments viii
Caution xi
Geographic terms: A clarification xiii
1 Introduction 1
2 The gatherers of the data 5
3 The people and their country: Numbers, names and languages 17
4 The rich resources of the land and its waters 37
5 Identifying where people camped and land use patterns 47
6 Their social organisation 57
7 The foods people ate and how they were obtained 62
8 Their tools, weapons and other equipment 85
9 Shelter, clothing and personal adornment 105
10 Making use of available raw materials 112
11 Beliefs, totems, rites and ceremonies 126
12 Designs and images 143
13 The time line: An overview 152
SITES-TO-VISIT SUPPLEMENT 161
Notes 189
Glossary 203
Abbreviations and References 209
Index 220
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FOR E WOR D
Sydney is a relatively young city, but it stands on some of the oldest inhabited country in the world. In
this book, Val Attenbrow uses years of historical and archaeological research to bring that past to life. This
book focuses on the Sydney region and contains information about many different aspects of Aboriginal
life from the distant past to the 1820s: the clans, their languages, their customs and hunting practices, and
what they wore and how they lived. It is an accessible, enjoyable, and comprehensive record.
Sydney’s Aboriginal history does not just live in the past, however, not just in archaeological sites
or in archives. Chains of family and kin remain, to bind Aboriginal Sydneysiders living today with their
ancestors and the lives they lived. The story of white Australia’s engagement with Aboriginal people
started in Port Jackson, with the stories of Aboriginal people like Bennelong, who tried to bridge cul-
tures, and Pemulwuy, who took up arms, and led his people in struggle. This city retains Australia’s largest
and most diverse Aboriginal community, spread from La Perouse on the coast and Redfern/Waterloo in
the inner city, to Mount Druitt and Blacktown in the West. Just as white Australians have been always
encouraged to be proud of their ancestors’ achievements, so Aboriginal Sydneysiders are today learning
about their own languages, their own heritage, and their cultural inheritance. In this effort, this book is
an invaluable tool of education.
This book was written to raise the awareness of all people, not just Aboriginal people, to the rich
and diverse heritage of Aboriginal people of the Sydney region. It is as useful to scholarly researchers as
it is to readers from the general public first being introduced to the city’s and region’s Aboriginal her-
itage. In the pages of Sydney’s Aboriginal Past, I hope contemporary readers find an introduction to the
lives and heritage of Sydney’s Aboriginal people: both in distant history — and enduring today.
Linda Burney MP
Minister for Community Services
Minister for Women
vii
FOREWORD
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AC KNOWLE DG M E NTS
I acknowledge and thank the many people and organisations that contributed in many different ways
to bringing the first and second editions of this book to publication. Though initially conceived in
1995, the book contains ideas and information gained over a much longer period of time.
Much of the archaeological information came from my own site recording and excavation fieldwork
and the analysis of excavated materials and museum collections, particularly that which was undertaken
as part of the on-going Port Jackson Archaeological Project which began in 1989. In this regard, I wish
to thank the staff and members of the Aboriginal land councils and communities for their help and
support – these include Metropolitan, La Perouse, Tharawal, Gandangara and Deerubbin Local
Aboriginal Land Councils, as well as Darug Custodian Aboriginal Corporation and Darug Tribal
Aboriginal Corporation, as well as David Watts and his staff at the Northern Sydney Region
Aboriginal Heritage Office. Several Aboriginal people nominated by these organisations assisted in the
fieldwork and analysis of the Australian Museum collections and excavated materials: Stan Ardler,
Richard Bell, Ken Cutmore, Ken Foster, Jo Haroa, Patrick Ingram, Colleen Johnson, Athena Mumbulla,
Eva Mumbler, Dan Munro, Andrew Roberts, Wendy Ryan, Keith Simms, Floyd Tighe, William Walker,
Jason Webb, Gary Williams and Max Williams.
Numerous volunteers assisted in the fieldwork and analyses as well. Many were local residents, others
secondary school and university students. In particular I wish to thank and acknowledge the work of
Tessa Corkill, Julie Drew, Melissa Holland, Julio Mercedes, Michelle Seignior, Frank Sinn, Cheryl
Stanborough and Kath Wilkinson, as well as staff and students of Pymble Ladies College. Dominic Steele
and Keryn Walshe analysed animal remains from Balmoral Beach, Darling Mills SF2 and Vaucluse;
Patricia Pemberton and Cheryl Stanborough analysed shell from Balmoral Beach and Vaucluse; and
Takehiko (Riko) Hashimoto analysed sediment samples from Vaucluse, Balmoral Beach, Darling Mills
SF2 and Cammeray.
The support of land managers and land owners who gave me permission to excavate sites on their
land and/or gave permission for sites on their land to be included in the ‘Sites-to-visit supplement’ is
also much appreciated: Mosman, North Sydney, Parramatta, Ryde, Waverley and Willoughby Municipal
and City Councils; NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service (now Department of Environment, Climate
Change and Water) (Kamay Botany Bay, Cattai, Ku-ring-gai Chase, Royal and Sydney Harbour National
viii
SYDNEY’S ABORIGINAL PAST
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Parks, North Metropolitan and South Metropolitan District Offices, Richmond Sub-district office);
Forestry Commission of NSW (Wood Technology & Forest Research Division, Beecroft) (now Forests
NSW), Mrs S Goldfinch, Ms P Swan, and Mr and Mrs P Whittaker. Others who provided advice and
assistance in the field during the Balmoral Beach excavations included Ballykin Gap School, Mosman
Little Athletics Club and local residents, Mr and Mrs Harris and Mr Gavin Souter of Mosman.
Funding for the Port Jackson Archaeological Project came from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Studies. In addition, funding for the Balmoral Beach excavations was received
from Mosman Municipal Council and the Australian Heritage Commission (National Estate Grant).
ANSTO Physics Division, in association with Pymble Ladies College, provided radiocarbon ages for the
Castle Cove midden.
During the Port Jackson archaeological project and writing both editions of the book, specialist
advice came from numerous people. In the years between the two editions, many of those initially
consulted have changed their affiliation and the following principally reflects their affiliation at the
time of the first edition. These specialists included: Dr Peter Roy, NSW Department of Mineral
Resources and Takehiko (Riko) Hashimoto, Department of Geography, University of Sydney, who
advised on coastal geology, particularly relating to changes in sea-level and the formation of Balmoral
Beach; Dr Jakelin Troy, then of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Commission; Dr David Wilkins,
Language & Cognition Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, AH Nijmegen, The
Netherlands (now Language and Linguistics Consulting) and David Nash, Honorary Visiting Fellow,
Linguistics, Australian National University, who allowed me to quote from unpublished manuscripts
and provided other linguistic advice; Craig Sadlier of Townsville who supplied images and helpful
information about breastplates; and Dr Doug Benson and Jocelyn Howell, Royal Botanic Gardens, in
relation to plants of the Sydney region.
In addition, many people at the Australian Museum provided specialist advice and support in many
different ways: Leanne Brass, Stan Florek and Kate Khan (Anthropology); Jan Brazier, Elisabeth
O’Sullivan and May Robertson (Archives & Records); Carol Cantrell and Leone Lemmer (Rare Books,
Research Library); Walter Boles (Ornithology); Alan Greer (Herpetology); Tim Flannery, Sandy Ingleby
and Linda Gibson (Mammals); Phil Colman, Ian Loch and Winston Ponder (Malacology); Alan Jones
ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS