ABSTRACT

Aboriginal archaeology has a central role to play among the myriad government agencies and professional disciplines involved in land and water management of the Murray River Basin in south-eastern Australia. In this study, we examine managed water flows against the archaeological record which provides secure evidence of how people lived at the Murray River floodplain wetlands before European colonisation. Seasonal residential patterns and economic activities of large populations have been reconstructed using archaeological, environmental, and hydrological information. The result is a picture of people living in large groupings – villages and hamlets – around water bodies that we suggest are ecological ‘hot spots’ within the forest. In identifying the preferred locations of village sites, we present the case for modification of environmental water delivery from large area forest flooding to targeted smaller water bodies that form ecological hot spots throughout the river floodplain landscape. Traditional Aboriginal land use in the form of the distribution of Aboriginal sites can act as an environmental proxy to inform heritage, land and water management policy and practices that seek to restore the health of the Murray River.

摘要

在澳大利亚东南部默里河流域的土地和水管理相关的众多政府机构和专业学科中，原住民考古学发挥着核心作用。在这项研究中，我们对照考古记录检查了有管理的水流，这为欧洲殖民之前人们在墨累河洪泛区湿地的生活提供了可靠的证据。利用考古，环境和水文信息重建了大批居民的季节性居住模式和经济活动。结果是人们居住在水体周围的大群人（村庄和小村庄）的照片，我们认为这是森林内的生态“热点”。在确定村落地点的首选位置时，我们提出了从大面积的森林洪水到目标较小的水体（在整个河漫滩景观中形成生态热点）修改环境水输送的案例。以原住民土地分布的形式使用的传统原住民土地用途可以作为环境的代理，为遗产，土地和水管理政策和实践提供信息，以寻求恢复墨累河的健康。