Australia: The Land Where Time Began

A biography of the Australian continent 

The Bagundji located in the Darling Basin – Gathers of Cereal in an Uncertain Environment

The semi-arid Darling River Basin of western New South Wales was inhabited until the 1880s by Aboriginal people of the Bagundji linguistic group. The economy of the Bagundji was primarily of a riverine nature based on collecting aquatic foods and wild cereals. It is possible to relate their seasonal activities to seasonal variations of this habitat. The Bagundji had remained hunters and gatherers, in spite of a long association with wild cereals, making no attempt to cultivate these cereals. In this paper Allen examines possible reasons for this. In order to explain either the specific problem of the absence of agriculture from the Darling River Basin, or the general problem of the absence of agriculture from Aboriginal Australia as a whole, Allen says no simple explanation can be put forward.

Sources & Further reading

1. Allen, H. (1974). "The Bagundji of the Darling Basin: Cereal Gatherers in an Uncertain Environment." World Archaeology 5(3): 309-322.