Discoveries

April 22, 2024

Seafaring Potters

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Archeologists unearthed dozens of pottery fragments on an island on the Great Barrier Reef dating back 2,000 to 3,000 years, marking the oldest pottery ever found in Australia, Science Alert reported.

Crafted from locally sourced clay and sand, the pottery challenges colonial stereotypes and showcases the innovation of Aboriginal communities. The excavation, led by researchers from Monash University, involved collaboration with Dingaal and Ngurrumungu Aboriginal community members over two years.

In their study, the research team wrote that the pottery pieces were found amid shellfish remains and charred plant materials on Jiigurru – or Lizard Island. Radiocarbon dating showed that the site was occupied as early as 6,510 years ago, with a significant population increase around 3,000 years ago.

These artifacts are older than previously discovered pottery in the Torres Strait and highlight Jiigurru’s significance as the earliest occupied offshore island in the region

“We think that the ancestors of contemporary Traditional Owners (of Jiigurru) were engaged in a very widespread trading system,” said co-author Sean Ulm. “So they traded technology, goods and ideas, knew how to make pottery, and made it locally.”

The knowledge of pottery-making, once prevalent among the ancient inhabitants of Jiigurru, has since been lost, possibly due to factors such as the arrival of British colonizers and the dispersion of communities over time.

Despite this, the excavation will help foster deeper connections between Indigenous communities and their ancestral lands, researchers said.

“Every bit of knowledge we gain helps us tell the story of (our ancestors),” noted Ngurrumungu elder Brian Cobus.

This story originally appeared in the April 22, 2024 newsletter, My Enemy, Myself.