Inside information: settlement and alliance in the late Holocene of Northeastern New South Wales

Abstract

This thesis has two primary aims. The first is to examine a range of ethnohistorical and archaeological data in an attempt to establish the patterns of settlement and subsistence of the prehistoriC Aboriginal inhabitants of northeastern New South Wales. I focus particular attention on the New England Tablelands and the rugged gorge country lying between the coastal hinterland and the tablelands. Secondly, I will describe the patterns of social intercourse and alliance in the region, using both historic and archaeological data. I will then consider the relationship between these, and social arrangements seen elsewhere in Australia. Finally, I will examine the potential of information theory to explain the processes and changes which occurred in the New England area and across Australia during the middle and late Holocene.