Seafaring in Seacountry

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Seacountries of Northern Australia and Island Neighbours", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Multiple Indigenous stories along the northern Australian coast talk of seafaring and the coastal environments encountered and created. These stories form an intangible maritime cultural heritage of Seacountry that is entangled with narratives of sea level rise and changes in the marine environment. These narratives reflect the deep heritage of seafaring in the region, which supports discussion of seafaring from Sahul ca. 65,000 years ago.

Recent work by the ERC ACROSS Project has looked at ways of integrating Indigenous narratives within those of sea-level change and oceanography. Through an interdisciplinary approach we can understand seafaring in deep time against a backdrop of changing environments. The interweaving of marine science and cultural heritage allows us to discuss the Human Ocean, where people’s activity both create Seacountry, and, adapt to its changes. This paper addresses these challenges in relation to the UN Decade of Ocean Science and Sustainability, ocean literacy and engagement.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Seacountries of Northern Australia and Island Neighbours   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

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Contact(s): Nicole Haddow