Acacia has had a cultural use spanning 50,000 years, a study analyzing ancient campfires in Australia’s Western Desert has found.
There are about 1,350 species of acacia found throughout the world and close to 1,000 of these grow in Australia.
Commonly known as “wattle” in Australia, Acacia is the largest genus of vascular plants in the country.
Photo: AFP
The practice of archeobotany was used by researchers to analyze charcoal preserved in the oldest archeological site on Martu Country.
The research, led by Chae Byrne from the University of Western Australia, alongside Martu indigenous owners, found that Australia’s floral emblem has been integral to indigenous survival for tools, food and medicine for more than 50,000 years.
By examining desert rock shelters in Katjarra and Karnatukul, Byrne found the earliest uses of firewood in the region, confirming wattle had been a constant, dependable source in a harsh environment.
“Wattle was critical to the lives of the Martu and essential to the habitability of the arid landscape of the sand plains and rocky ridges of the Western Desert — and it still is,” Byrne said.
“We have all grown up looking at the coat of arms and seeing green and gold — it’s so iconic in Australia. But this gives us a deeper meaning … wattle expands through time. It’s a central part of our nation,” Byrne said.
More than 100 species of wattle have been used by indigenous communities for firewood, to make tools, as food and as medicine.
However, the study was the first to confirm that early indigenous explorers settled and prospered in the arid part of the Western Desert during harsh changes in climate that saw widespread drought and desertification when polar ice sheets grew.
Byrne said that preserving areas where wattle was growing was vital to indigenous owners’ survival in the region through the extreme climate fluctuations.
“Really significantly during arid times, wattle was used at the site ... showing the area was a really significant place for resources during times of scarcity,” Byrne said.
“Wattle seeds during fire, and [the seeds] are able to be kept and preserved. It can also be picked off the tree and dried out,” he added.
Seeds of wattle have been widely used as a popular food source, collected and ground into a paste, and cooked into an unleavened loaf in wood ashes — as have gum and young roots.
Wattle has also been demonstrated to treat aches, pains and infections, most commonly through infusion and smoke treatment.
“There is a purpose and significance for every type of tree and bush — an ancient grocer and pharmacy that has provided and prospered for tens of thousands of years,” Byrne said.
By sampling trees growing in the region, researchers were able to compare the specimens with ancient charcoal fragments discovered from campfires in the archeological sites.
“Looking at plant remains is particularly useful in studying Australian indigenous heritage, given the persistent importance of natural resources like trees and the rarity of other cultural remains in the deep time record,” Byrne said.
“There’s so much we can learn from charcoal, not just about the people that produced it, but also in environmental science and climate change,” Byrne said.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
RSS