In this landscape, known to Gunditjmara as Budj Bim, archaeology documents physical remains, as opposed to cultural knowledge and memory, of the historical interconnectivity of the Gunditjmara with their environment. All the characteristics and attributes of the environment together form the ingredients for their particular economic, social and spiritual development. The challenge for science is how to extricate data from both the cultural remains and their ecological milieu in order to reveal anthropogenic influences and modifications to the natural landscape during its history. We know that the archaeology of the eel aquacultural system represents environmental manipulation and its subsequent management. What we are searching for, via multiproxy core analyses, is the signature of this occurrence and its possible relationship to climatic or other environmental stimuli.Questions arise as to the timing of the land modifications. Did they occur over the long or short term? Could part or all of this technology be a dynamic response to climate fluctuations? Could the technology be a response to regional social dynamics including the development of exchange systems (LourandosAbstract: The Gunditjmara people developed a socio-economic system based on the modification of wetland ecosystems associated with the Mt Eccles lava flow primarily for sustainable production and management of the highly nutritious shortfin eel (Anguilla australis). This paper examines the environmental history of these landscapes since their inception about 30 000 years ago, through palaeoecological analysis of sediment cores from associated lakes and swamps, in order to contribute to an understanding of the causes and timing of cultural transformation. Two records cover the whole of the 30 000 year history of the landscape while two others provide evidence of change within the Holocene. A great deal of variation within the landscape is revealed, both temporally and spatially, with opportunities for human exploitation through the whole recorded period. Although most features of the records can be explained by natural landscape development and climate change, some human modification can be suggested from around the Pleistocene-Holocene transition while more obvious indications of management relating to eel aquaculture are evident from about 4000 cal. yr BP that appear to include adaptations to the onset of a drier and more variable climate. The study has implications for the explanation of intensification of settlement in Australia more generally within the mid to late Holocene.
Landscapes represent a dynamic point of articulation between humans and the environment. While often dichotomized, humans are active participants in the environment and often play a pivotal role in its transformation over time. In this paper, we use case studies from western South America and Australia to illustrate the importance of studying long-term dynamics between humans and the environment. Such investigations can bring significant historical depth to environmental change and the role humans have played in altering courses of landscape evolution and species biodiversity. Humans comprise a critical element in environmental change, and collectively, our results hold strong implications for issues related to sustainability and effective management of our planet's desert resources.
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