Mr Hammer
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Brian Ross wrote on Jul 12 th, 2018 at 7:01pm: Mr Hammer wrote on Jul 12 th, 2018 at 6:54pm: Brian Ross wrote on Jul 12 th, 2018 at 6:47pm: Auggie wrote on Jul 12 th, 2018 at 5:57pm: Brian Ross wrote on Jul 11 th, 2018 at 9:30pm: Auggie wrote on Jul 11 th, 2018 at 6:11pm: Brian Ross wrote on Jul 11 th, 2018 at 4:55pm: Australians have long held the idea that all Indigenous Australians were simple nomadic hunter-gatherers. It enabled them to more easily dispossess them of the land and take it for themselves. Appears that myth has been destroyed at last - Rethinking Indigenous Australia's agricultural past. This is the wrong attitude to take, Brian. Rewriting history or re-interpreting it to make us feel better is not the way forward. We need to acknowledge facts and truths whilst recognising at the same time what we did wrong in the past. I personally don't see any conflict between believing that the Indigenous Peoples were not a complex civilisation AND believing that we should also treat them with compassion and respect AND that they were no inferior. You can accuse me of double-think if you wish. I am not suggesting the rewriting or reinterpretation of anything, Auggie. I am suggesting that the colonial view of all Indigenous Australians as being nomadic hunter-gatherers is incorrect - according to the colonists' own records. Some were nomadic, some weren't. Simples, really. The records are there. They have basically been ignored. Surely we should take note of what was written? Afterall they were the first hand observers, weren't they? The point is that some Indigenous Australians were more sophisticated than many Australians have been taught. They may be more sophisticated, Brian, but they don't have the characteristics that are required to be a 'complex' civilisation according to the anthropological view: i.e. writing; large urban settlements; division of labour; domination over the nature environment, etc. That doesn't mean that complex means superior; it just means it was different. The indigenous civilisation was unique; that they were able to survive continously for tens of thousands of years is remarkable. No Western civilisation has ever lasted a fraction of that time. I just don't think that we should try to denigrate the achievements of other civlisations at the expense of trying to hype up another civilisation. According to anthropological views, the Ancient Europeans, the Ancient Chinese and the Aztecs and Inca were not equipped to become advanced civilisations. As Anthropology was created to foster European imperialism and it's views on "race", I doubt it has much value in judging the value of cultures, Augie. Indigenous Australians developed their culture and their technology to suit their circumstances. Some of the Colonists described their culture and technology accurate, most ignored those writings in preference for the myths they chose to construct about them. The ancient Europeans learnt to smelter metal Brian. Bronze and then iron. That's what propelled them into the modern age. It never occurred to the aborigines and that is the reason they got left behind. Without metal land could not be cleared for widespread farming. Widespread ploughing could not be performed. That's why I know aborigines never did widespread farming. They didn't have metal. That's why I know they didn't do a lot of things. It was impossible without metal. And yet the Aztecs and Incas only learnt to smelt Gold and Silver, Hammer. All nationalities lacked writing until about 5000 years ago. The point is, under the influence of external forces they developed. Europeans learnt about smelting metals from the Middle-Eastern civilisations. The Middle-East from the Indians and Chinese. Them from the South-East Asians. Indigenous Australians were cut off by oceans, so they like the Aztecs and the Inca never learnt about Bronze, Iron and Steel. wiki-The earliest current evidence of copper smelting, dating from between 5500 BC and 5000 BC, has been found in Pločnik and Belovode, Serbia. Without copper you don't get bronze. Are you sure they got it from the arabs Brian?
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