Australia: The Land Where Time Began

A biography of the Australian continent 

Yams are a high-starch food that are an important food source in tropical north Australia, as with the Anbara of Arnhem Land. The Anbara dug the tubers out but left the tope of the tuber attached to the plant, and the tubers subsequently regrew. The same harvesting technique was practiced in other parts of Arnhem Land and Cape York. The plants were marked to show ownership. They increased the numbers of yams available by planting them on offshore islands as a reserve. It was almost agriculture but took less effort.

Sources & Further reading

1. Berndt, R. M & C. H. , 1964, The World of the First Australians, Ure Smith Pty Ltd.