Fires in GunaiKurnai Country: Landscape Fires and their Impacts on Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Places and Artefacts in Southeastern Australia

by Jessie Buettel (Editor), Bruno David (Editor), Joanna Freslov (Editor), Russell Mullett (Editor), Katherine Szabo (Editor)

Overview

Anthropogenic climate change is becoming a reality, and in Australia this means longer wildfire seasons with more intense fires across a wider area. The Gunai Kurnai people of southeastern Victoria saw a large proportion of their Country decimated by the Gippsland Fires of 'Black Summer' (2019/2020), prompting questions about both the management of Country and its heritage resources moving forward and what role traditional ('cultural') burning could play. This volume, written at the request of the Gunai Kurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GKLa WAC), seeks to investigate these twin issues. Bringing together a multi-disciplinary team including archaeologists, environmental scientists, historians, art historians and Elders, we consider the histories of Gunai Kurnai and European settler burning-based landscape management practices, the impacts of fire on specific classes of cultural materials, and the broader impact of changing wildfire patterns on cultural sites in the landscape. This is a truly collaborative venture between GKLa WAC and the academic collaborators that sees Gunai Kurnai and academic expertise brought to bear in the service of common and pressing issues.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781803274812
Publisher:	Archaeopress Publishing
Publication date:	06/08/2023
Pages:	234
Product dimensions:	6.81(w) x 9.65(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jessie Buettel (School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Australia) researches ecological and anthropogenic change in plant and animal communities to provide insights into complex ecosystems. Through ecological modelling and the analysis of spatio-temporal patterns, she provides insights of into issues of conversation, biodiversity and forestry management. Bruno David (Monash Indigenous Studies Centre, Monash University, Australia) is an archaeologist and Chief Investigator with the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage. He undertakes partnership research on the (hi)story of cultural places with Indigenous communities. He has published 17 books and around 300 articles on various dimensions of landscape archaeology. Elder Uncle Russell Mullett is the Registered Aboriginal Party Manager for the Gunai Kurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GKLa WAC). He oversees all cultural research on Gunai Kurnai lands and waters for GKLa WAC, including archaeological and palaeoecological research. He currently sits on the board of the Aboriginal Heritage Council, which provides advice to the Victorian State government on all cultural heritage matters. Joanna Fresl is has focussed on the landscape archaeology of the coast and high country for over thirty years. Since 2003 she has carried out a number of extensive post-wildfire investigations on the effects of fire on Aboriginal cultural heritage in the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park (Victoria), Tasmania (Upper Florentine Valley World Heritage Area), Alpine National Park (Victoria) and most recently the whole of Victoria following the 2019-2920 wildfires, for State and Federal government agencies. Kat Szabo (Pre-Construct Archaeology, UK) is an archaeologist and shell specialist who has worked across the Asia-Pacific region for over twenty years. She has undertaken, and published widely upon, experimental and fundamental research around the use of shell as a raw material, as well as taphonomic processes acting upon shell. She is now based in the UK working primarily in commercial archaeology. Gunai Kurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GKLa WAC) is the Registered Aboriginal Party that represents the Gunai Kurnai people - the Traditional Owners of Gunai Kurnai Country in southeastern Victoria, Australia. Led by the GKLa WAC Board, they advocate, manage and care for the Gunai Kurnai people and Country. The research presented in this volume was commissioned by, and produced in partnership with GKLa WAC.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction - Bruno David, Russell Mullett, Joanna Fresl and the Gunai Kurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation PART 1. Background to Fires and Cultural Burning on Gunai Kurnai Country Chapter 2. Wildfires: Characteristics, Drivers and Impacts on Cultural Sites - Grant Williamson and Jessie Buettel Chapter 3. Accounts and Memories of Landscape Burning Practices in Gippsland - Seumas Spark Chapter 4. Eugene von Guerard on Gunai Kurnai Country 1860-1861: Reading the Story of Fire in his Depictions of the Landscape - Ruth Pullin Chapter 5. 20th and 21st Century Wildfires and Prescribed Burning in Gunai Kurnai Country - Jessie Buettel, Bruno David and Stefania Ondei PART 2. The Distribution of Cultural Sites in Gunai Kurnai Country, and How Fires Affect Cultural Materials Chapter 6. Cultural Sites in Gunai Kurnai Country - Jessie Buettel, Russell Mullett, Jessie Birkett-Rees, Bruno David, Jean-Jacques Delannoy, Joanna Fresl, Stefania Ondei, Robert Skelly and Jerome Mialanes Chapter 7. The Impacts of Fire on Stone Artefacts - Jerome Mialanes, Bruno David, Joanna Fresl and Russell Mullett Chapter 8. The Impacts of Fires on Rock Art Sites and Ochre - Jillian Huntley and Courtney Webster Chapter 9. The Impact of Fires on Bone - Matthew Mc Dowell Chapter 10. The Impacts of Fire on Culturally Modified Trees - Joanna Fresl, Russell Mullett and Bruno David Chapter 11. Shells and Fire-Indicators and Effects - Katherine Szabo and Annette Oertle PART 3. Understanding the Impact of Fires on Gunai Kurnai Cultural Heritage Sites: Past, Present and Future Chapter 12. Landscape Fires and Cultural Sites in Gunai Kurnai Country - Jessie Buettel, Stefania Ondei, Bruno David, Joanna Fresl and Russell Mullett Chapter 13. Archaeological Surveys in Gunai Kurnai Country - Robert Skelly, Bruno David, Joanna Fresl and Russell Mullett Chapter 14. Understanding the Distribution and Impacts of Wildfires in Gunai Kurnai Country through Subregions - Jessie Buettel, Stefania Ondei, Bruno David, Joanna Fresl and Russell Mullett Chapter 15. Conclusion - Russell Mullett, Katherine Szabo, Joanna Fresl, Bruno David, Jessie Buettel, and the Gunai Kurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation References