How did they??
Submitted: Thursday, Jun 23, 2005 at 19:25
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guzzi
No real 4x4 content, but a question on survival.
I ask this on this
forum as Im likely to get a useful informed answer.
This latest cold snap has got me thinking, just how did the native Australians survive weather like this?
Obviously 40,000 to 60,000 yrs habitation here states they had some effective stragities, but what did they do?
How did a stone age society that built no permanent structures manage this?
I know they had fire, each other and the "three dog night" to keep each other warm but what else?
What clothing? Most of what Ive read or seen covers
the desert tribes in the northern territory, but what did the southern peoples do?
Im not haveing a go at anyone, just curious, as weather like were currently haveing will kill you if you arnt adequately prepared for it.
Reply By: Mike Harding - Thursday, Jun 23, 2005 at 19:52
Thursday, Jun 23, 2005 at 19:52
You must get out more guzzi :)
It's just a bit on the cool side right now (Melb) 12C at 7.45pm and I haven't seen it below 8C so far this year. Lowest I have experienced in Oz is -4C. Lowest anywhere (for me) is -22C.
In much of the world it gets to -10C or -20C regularly and often for months at a time yet races survived and prospered in those conditions.
To keep warm in cold conditions use layers (rather than one big thick cover) of clothing or sleeping materials: each layer traps air and air is an excellent insulator of heat. Don't get wet (and don't get so warm you sweat) - the evaporative cooling process is a killer (maybe literally). Keep out of the wind - the chill factor will drop a 0C night to a -10C one. In snow use a snow
cave - they can get very snug and warm. Eat a lot of fat. Don't allow the circulation to drop too low in any part of the body. Keep off alcohol (Bugger! :).
Turn the heating up :)
Mike Harding
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117116
Follow Up By: motherhen - Thursday, Jun 23, 2005 at 23:07
Thursday, Jun 23, 2005 at 23:07
Hi Mike Harding - just wanted to thank you for the poem "my knew pea sea" and say we have stolen it off the
forum and placed it in the centre of the noticeboard at our Telecentre. What a classic! Thanks.
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Reply By: ROTORD - Friday, Jun 24, 2005 at 02:15
Friday, Jun 24, 2005 at 02:15
Hello All
According to Ion Idriess 'The Red Chief' the tribes around Gunnedah had bark and sappling shelters that were rain and wind proof , even in a storm . Possum skin rugs were prized possessions and even carried on hunting trips . Large fires were used for corrobbories and individual fires for each families cooking and warmth outside the shelter.Clothing included furs covering about half the body and the ammount of the body covered by fur skin increased the further south the tribes lived . Permanent stone buildings were used in at least one area ,
Lake Condah ,near
Hamilton in Victoria .The low walls of these buildings can be seen today .
Lake Condah has copious volcanic rocks for building material and the lava flow areas may have been too stoney to spear the normal sappling framework into the ground .Alternatively , the richness of the volcanic soil and lakes may have allowed permanent settlement .In the nearby
Grampians I have seen
well equipped campers halted by hypothermia and they would have died without rescue . They and their bedding was saturated and they couldn't light a fire because all wood was saturated and cold .Aborigines would have survived in that area by carrying dry wood and sheltering in a
cave , or by travelling to lower more wooded areas .
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