First Footprints: The Epic Story of the First Australians

375 Pages·2014·10.76 MB·English

by  Scott Cane

First
Footprints
Signatory image of the Australian nomad: dreadlocks tied back with twine woven from human hair.

This magnificent vision conveys a subliminal truth: human frailty in command of the most marginal
permanently inhabited environment on earth (Mann Range, far northwest of South Australia).
First
Footprints
Scott Cane
The epic story of the
First Australians
First published in 2013
Copyright © Scott Cane 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the
Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be
photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational
institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited
(CAL) under the Act.
Allen & Unwin
83 Alexander Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065
Australia
Phone: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.allenandunwin.com
Cataloguing-in-Publication details are available
from the National Library of Australia
www.trove.nla.gov.au
ISBN 978 1 74331 493 7
eISBN 978 1 74343 572 4
Internal design by Nada Backovic
Maps by Janet Hunt
Illustrations by Alissa Dinallo
Set in 12.2/15.2 pt Bell MT by Post Pre-press Group, Australia
CONTENTS
Map of Australia’s ancient coastlines
Map of locations mentioned in the book
Timeline
Introduction
1 Near Extinction
74,000–60,000 years ago
2 Super-Nomads
60,000–30,000 years ago
3 The Great Drought
30,000–18,000 years ago
4 The Great Flood
From 18,000 years ago
About the author
Acknowledgements
Photo credits
Notes
Bibliography
First Footprints is based on the four-part documentary series of the
same name. It was written, produced and directed by Bentley Dean
and Martin Butler, and first screened on ABC TV in 2013. The book
includes many stills from the documentary series.