Chapter 1
The architecture of deep time
Chapter 2
Songlines and the map of the stars
Chapter 3
Fire, water, and ancient engineering
Chapter 4
Art on the rocks and in the sand
Ch 1 · The architecture of deep time
matilda The Architecture of Deep Time
Walls made of basalt, guiding the water, built to endure.
BETA
matilda Trace ancient pathways to discover how Indigenous Australians read stories written in the land.
matilda Luminescence dating of ten thousand stone tools, ochre, and axes in the Northern Territory confirms humans lived here 65,000 years ago.
Quiz
Which scientific dating method was used at Madjedbebe to date the surrounding sediment?
matilda Australian coastal communities preserve spoken accounts of sea levels rising since the Ice Age.
Quiz
Which modern Australian city sits on the shores of Port Phillip Bay, whose flooding is recorded in Boonwurrung oral history?
Quiz
Approximately how many years ago did the post-Ice Age sea levels rise to flood Port Phillip Bay?
Fun Fact
Ice Age Australia: During the last Ice Age, Tasmania was connected to mainland Australia by a land bridge, allowing people to walk across what is now the Bass Strait.
Quiz
What ritual substance was sprinkled over the body of Mungo Man approximately 42,000 years ago?
Quiz
In which Australian state is the Willandra Lakes region, home to Lake Mungo, located?
Glossary
deep time (noun)
The grand scale of geological history, especially when contrasted with the comparatively brief span of human existence. Tasmanian fagus trees and ancient Kutikina Cave tools anchor the region’s landscape in this vast history.
The grand scale of geological history, especially when contrasted with the comparatively brief span of human existence. Tasmanian fagus trees and ancient Kutikina Cave tools anchor the region’s landscape in this vast history.
Quiz
Which extinct giant marsupial's tracks have been found alongside ancient human footprints in Australia?
Quiz
What does the preservation of footprints at Willandra Lakes tell scientists about the climate 20,000 years ago?