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1、‘WhenGreaterAustralianarchaeologyfirstgotrollingasaseriousintellectualpursuitinthemid-1960s,thereweretwothingsaboutitofreal(ifnotuniversallyappreciated)generalinterest:•Itconfrontedarecordofthecolonisationofalargecontinentallandmassbyfullymodernhumans,comparableintimespanandsp
2、atialscaletotheonefromEurasiawestoftheUralMountains(i.e.Europe),andmorethanthreetimesaslongastheonefromtheAmericas.Thereweresomeinterestingsimilaritiesamongthesethreesequences,buttheAustralianonestoodoutinanumberofimportantrespects,notablytherelativelackofvariationitseemedtod
3、isplayincomparison,withtheothertwo.Inanthropologicalterms,thismadeitapotentiallyimportant,arguablycritical,comparativecase.AnygeneralexplanationofferedforoverallpatternandbroadsimilaritiesintheEuropeanandAmericanrecordsalsohadtoaccountfortheverydifferentcharacteroftheAustrali
4、anone.Iftheexplanationcouldn’thandlethatproblem,thenitwasn’tverygood.•ArchaeologistswholivedandworkedinNewGuineaandAustraliahadasignificantadvantageovertheirEuropeancounterparts.Manyofthebehavioursresponsibleforcreatingpatternsinthearchaeo-logicalrecordtheywereattemptingtointe
5、rprethadpersistedinonewayoranotherwellintohistorictimes,insomecasesrighttothepresent.Historicandethnographicobservationofthosebehavioursmadebetterarchaeologypossible.ItalsogaveAustralianistsanunusuallygoodopportunitytoevaluatetheinterpretiveconventionscommonlyusedbyarchaeolog
6、istselsewhere,oftenwithsalutary(some-timessurprisinglycounter-intuitive)effect.Throughoutthelate1960sand1970s,mostarchaeologicalresearchinAustraliawasdevotedtodevelop-ingthesetwothemes.Fromthemid-1980sonward,however,severalnewelementsbegantoemerge:•Newdatingtechniques,applied
7、tositesinArnhemLandandtheKimberleys,unexpectedlyextendedtherecordofcontinentalcolonisation,possiblyto60000years,perhapsto175000years.Thecontrastwiththeearlierfavored,40000chronologywas(andis)extremelyimportant.Ifthe60000yeardateisaccurate,thenAustraliamayhavetheearliestrecord
8、offullymodernpeopleintheworldoutsideAfrica.Ifthe175000yeardateisrigh
