 |
| Corroborree at Newcastle; oil painting by
Joseph Lycett, c. 1820; Oil on cedar panel, State Library
of New South Wales. |
INTRODUCTION
The following sections are concerned with aspects
of the culture of the Aboriginal peoples of the Newcastle and
Lake Macquarie region. "Culture" is here taken in its
broadest sense to include a number of thematic topics from Aboriginal
values and beliefs, to traditional material culture, and physical
and archaeological evidence of Aboriginal occupation.
- Vicki Grieves of the Wollotuka School of
Aboriginal Studies, provides introductory remarks on Aboriginal
philosophy, and on the meanings
of "Aboriginality".
- a section on Ethno-historic
materials provides a broad overview of the sources describing
Aboriginal culture in the post-contact era
- anthropological
studies provides a brief overview of some of the key works
from around the turn of the twentieth century which are of relevance
to the people and culture of the Newcastle-Lake Macquarie region.
- The physical evidence of an ancient Aboriginal
presence in this region is discussed through remarks on the
collectors and collections of
Aboriginal materials in this region during the twentieth century.
It features a summary of a critical archaeological
"dig" at Swansea Heads in 1971 by Professor Len
Dyall, formerly of the University of Newcastle, who remains
the leading specialist on the archaeology of the Newcastle and
Lake Macquarie region.
|
