Before Invasion

Far from being hunters and gatherers, the first Australians may have managed the biggest

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farming estate on Earth, writes Tony Stephens.

The still common assumption is that Aboriginal Australians in 1788 were simple hunter-gatherers who relied on chance for survival and moulded their lives to the country where they lived. Historian Bill Gammage might have driven the last nail into the coffin of this notion.

Gammage draws striking conclusions from more than a decade's research. [node:read-more:link]

Stanford University Report, July 12, 2012

Hunting with fire appears to benefit Australia's small-mammal populations, say Stanford researchers

Western Australia's Martu people set small fires as a matter of course while hunting lizards. But the technique may also buffer the landscape against two extremes – overgrown brush and widespread lightning fires – that hurt Australia's endangered small mammals.

BY MAX MCCLURE [node:read-more:link]