Pre 1826 : Aboriginal Technology
Introduction
Western Australia has been occupied by Aboriginal peoples for at least 45,000 years. The Aboriginal groups in Western Australia had distinct areas where they were entitled to hunt and gather food but could travel over 500 kilometres for trade and major ceremonies. Survival of the population in a harsh landscape required both a sophisticated understanding of the land and the clever use of technology.
Aboriginal peoples in Western Australia were nomadic. Coastal groups moved between the rivers and ocean to the hinterland depending on the seasons and availability of food.[1] Desert groups moved over wide areas to source food and water.
Fire
Fire was the most important technology and it was used for mosaic burning, making spears, fire hardening wood, excavating rock water storages, communication, hunting, heating resins, improving access, promoting growth of food and grasses, and for spiritual reasons.[2] Aboriginal people in the South West would carry smouldering Banksia cones for warmth. Water storages on rock catchments were excavated by weakening the stone with an intense fire and then chipping it away. These storages were then marked with petroglyphs and may have been capped to reduce evaporation and contamination. Fire was also used to straighten and harden spears.
Fish Traps
Fish traps were used such as the Albany Fish Traps in Oyster Harbour.[3] These traps are only visible at low tide and comprise eight weirs made of thousands of stones. They are thought to be over 7,500 years old.
Another large fish trap was on the Barragup Mungah on the Serpentine River consisting of stakes across the river funnelling into a narrow race with the floor of the race filled with boulders.[4]
Indigenous Trails and River Crossings
There were established pathways across Western Australia which enabled safe crossings of rivers and estuaries and access to water sources. These were used for trade and for ceremonial meetings. One of these was a pathway between Albany and Bunbury. Aboriginal guides with knowledge of these pathways and the associated resources were used by explorers and surveyors. Many of our current highways are on alignments developed tens of thousands of years ago.
The pathways often were linked to the safest location to cross rivers even if this involved swimming. Locations for river crossings included Fremantle, Preston Point and the Causeway for the Swan River, and Pinjarra for the Murray River.
Wilgie Mia Ochre Mine
Wilgie Mia is the largest traditional ochre mine in Australia and its “greasy haematite” ochre was traded as far away as the Nullarbor and the North West[5]. Over 40,000 tons has been excavated and it demonstrated the use of mining technology such as fire hardened wooden wedges, stone hammers, pole scaffolding, stop and pillar underground mining techniques and shoring. It is thought to be 27,000 to 40,000 years old making it the oldest continuous mine in the world.
Other Technology
Other technology used was the use of resins to affix spear heads and stone heads to hammers, fire hardened digging sticks, boomerangs, treating fibre for weaving, grinding implements, kangaroo traps and nets for fishing. Aboriginal people also used a lever to impart greater force to spear throwing. Known as a woomera in parts of Australia, the Noongar people called it a miro.
Europeans
The first authenticated European voyage was Dirk Hartog in the “Eendracht” in 1616.[6] Over the next 200 years there were over 30 visits by explorers, traders and sealers. It was the English explorer Vancouver who discovered the safest harbour in 1791, Princess Royal Harbour at King George Sound. It was this harbour which in 1826 was to become the site of first European settlement and the introduction of European technology into Western Australia.
References:
Cat Cutay, 5 Indigenous engineering feats you should know about, THE CONVERSATION, 23 March 2023 and 'create' 19 July 2023.
- ↑ Patricia Crawford and Ian Crawford, Contested Country, University of Western Australia Press, Crawley, 2003
- ↑ Parks and Wildlife Service - Traditional Aboriginal Burning
- ↑ Oyster Harbour Catchment Group - History
- ↑ Ronald Richards, Mandurah and the Murray, Artlook Books, 1980
- ↑ Australian Heritage Database - Wilgie Mia
- ↑ Ian Edwards, Headlines of History, 2002
