The Burning Question
Aborigines, Fire and Australian Ecosystems
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4893972 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Doug Horton (0000-0002-1766-5290, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, corresponding author), D R Horton |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 237-252 |
| Publication date | 2010-05-10 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Mankind (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0025-2328 • E-ISSN: 2204-2121 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1835-9310.1982.tb01234.x |
| OpenAlex | W2072543050 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 35 |
| References cited | 14 |
The 'fire stick farming model, which suggests that Aborigines changed the frequency and nature of fires in order to manipulate animal and plant resources, is now widely accepted in Australian phehistory. A re-examination of the biological evidence suggests that Aboriginal use of fire had little impact on the environment and that the patterns of distribution of plants and animals which obtained 200 years ago would have been essentially the same whether or not Aborigines had previously been living here. It is further suggested that 'fire stick farming’, had it been attempted, would in fact have been counter productive economically because of the adverse effects it would have had upon small species of animals. Aborigines observed and made use of an existing natural fire regime in Australia, they did not attempt to develop a new one
Agriculture · Agroforestry · Archaeology · Biology · Distribution (mathematics) · Ecosystem · Fire regime · Geography · Natural (archaeology) · Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies · Ecology · Environmental Science · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
The fire, human and climate nexus in the Sydney Basin, eastern Australia
A Holocene record of sea level, vegetation, people and fire from western Tasmania, Australia
Implications of a 14 200 year contiguous fire record for understanding human—climate relationships at Goochs Swamp, New South Wales, Australia
Rethinking the prehistory of hunter-gatherers, fire and vegetation change in northern Australia
Aborigines and Fire in the Wet Tropics of Queensland, Australia
Towards unification of the socio‐ecological sciences
Constructing ‘Hunter-gatherers’, Constructing ‘Prehistory’
Both Ends Of The Candle? Discerning Human Impact On The Vegetationlesley Head
Fire, prehistoric humanity, and the environment
A Postcolonial Moment in Science Studies
Aboriginal Burning Regimes and Hunting Strategies in Australia's Western Desert
Yards, corridors, and mosaics
Do Burning Practices Contribute to Caring for Country? Contemporary Uses of Fire for Conservation Purposes in Indigenous Australia
The loss of an indigenous constructed landscape following British invasion of Australia
Unearthing Prehistoric Cultural Landscapes
Prehistoric aboriginal impacts on Australian vegetation
Historical and biological evidence for fire regimes in the Sydney region prior to the arrival of Europeans
A Comparison of Charcoal and Archaeological Information to Address the Influences on Holocene Fire Activity in the Sydney Basin
Environmental change in Greater Australia
Riverine, biological and cultural evolution in southeastern Australia
Megamarsupial extinction
On the equivocal fate of Late Pleistocene Callitris Vent. (Cupressaceae) woodlands in arid South Australia
Lifting the veil
Dreaming Ecology
History and natural history
Caring for country, médiation et aboriginalité en Australie du Nord
Archaeologists and Aborigines
Promoting Primitivism
Landscapes socialised by fire
Environment as artefact
Bushfires in Tasmania
Pollen and Charcoal Evidence for the Effects of Aboriginal burning on the Vegetation of Australia
Palaeoecological contributions to Australian prehistory
Reconciling 22,000 years of landscape openness in a renowned wilderness
Ecological and Technological Knowledge of Fire
| Citations per year | 0.81 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1983 - 2024 (42) |
| Highly cited | No |