Convenors: Michael C Westaway (Australia), Douglas Williams (Australia), Peter Rowly-Conwy (United Kingdom), Tiina Manne (Australia), Malcolm Connoly (Australia) and Judith Littleton (New Zealand)
This theme explores the global diversity of forager societies, incorporating significant Indigenous cultural input to debate the validity of applying a catch-all term like ‘foragers’ to all ancient non-agricultural populations. Over the last few decades archaeological evidence has questioned the effectiveness of placing ancient people into the binary classifications of ‘foragers’ or ‘farmers’. Research has identified a record that challenges the classic definitions of hunter-gatherers developed through ethnographic studies. Globally, archaeology has revealed diverse patterns in non-agricultural societies, highlighting extensive trade networks, expansive landscape engineering, complex mortuary landscapes, and large-scale quarries. Monumental earthworks like Poverty Point in North America, the extensive eel traps at Budj Bim in Australia and megalithic structures like Göbekli Tepe in Türkiye exemplify sites contributing to new ways of thinking. Molecular approaches to bioarchaeology have dramatically changed our understanding of kinship networks, population dynamics, diets and mobility. For centuries in some regions, foragers maintained their economic systems living alongside agriculturalists, indeed examples exist where foraging strategies replaced agriculture. In some regions ancient populations maintained highly mobile residential patterns, centred around water sources and ritual places. In other landscapes, large populations were supported by diverse ancient economic and social systems, demonstrating that agriculture was not necessary for the development of complex societies. Populations worldwide adapted to their environments, sometimes dramatically modifying their ecological niches to generate favourable economic outcomes for their communities.
Terms like ‘hunter-gatherer’ and ‘forager’ do not align with how many living Indigenous communities view the lifeways of their ancestors. By exploring the knowledge systems that underlie the continuity of cultural traditions, Indigenous resilience in challenging environments, and their sophisticated capacity to adaptively interact with ecological resources, we aim to foster a more accurate and respectful portrayal of Indigenous societies in the research context.
Contacts:
Michael C Westaway
Archaeology, University of Queensland, Australia
m.westaway@uq.edu.au
Douglas Williams
Access Archaeology and Archaeology, University of Queensland, Australia dwilliams@accessarc.com.au
Peter Rowly-Conwy
Archaeology, Durham University, United Kingdom
p.a.rowley-conwy@durham.ac.uk
Tiina Manne
Archaeology, University of Queensland
t.manne@uq.edu.au
Malcolm Connoly
Environment, CSIRO, Australia
malcolm.connolly@csiro.au
Judith Littleton
Archaeology, Auckland University, New Zealand
j.littleton@auckland.ac.nz
THEME 06 SESSIONS