Australia

Long cultural continuity

Budj Bim · Gunditjmara · Water management and eel harvesting

Gunditjmara people use channels, weirs and traps to harvest eels. This cultural landscape in southeastern Australia developed over millennia and continued through the period shown.

Kin-based communities maintain waterworks and transmit knowledge of Country.

Channels and stone traps supply eels for food, storage and exchange.

Engineering skills accompany oral traditions, weaving and seasonal knowledge of wetlands.

Sources: UNESCO. Budj Bim Cultural Landscape. Gunditjmara Aquaculture System: World Heritage nomination.

Long cultural continuity

Kakadu · northern Australia · Landscape knowledge and rock art

Indigenous communities are connected to river valleys, wetlands and rock shelters. Rock art and archaeology document a long history of subsistence and ceremonial traditions.

Local communities are connected to particular lands and ceremonial places.

Hunting, fishing and gathering draw on rivers, wetlands and rocky plateaux.

Rock art records animals, human activities and ceremonies.

Sources: UNESCO. Kakadu National Park.

c. 1300–1453

Mabuyag · Torres Strait · Island agriculture

Archaeobotany on Mabuyag identifies banana cultivation and agricultural terraces already established in the sixth and seventh centuries. The island connects Australia and New Guinea.

Island cultivators reshape hillsides into agricultural terraces.

Archaeobotanical evidence at Wagadagam identifies banana cultivation.

Torres Strait connects New Guinea’s agricultural traditions with northern Australia.

Sources: Robert N. Williams et al. Multidisciplinary evidence for early banana (Musa cvs.) cultivation on Mabuyag Island, Torres Strait. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2020.

c. 1454–1600

Mabuyag · Torres Strait · Island agriculture

Archaeobotany on Mabuyag identifies banana cultivation and agricultural terraces already established in the sixth and seventh centuries. The island connects Australia and New Guinea.

Island cultivators reshape hillsides into agricultural terraces.

Archaeobotanical evidence at Wagadagam identifies banana cultivation.

Torres Strait connects New Guinea’s agricultural traditions with northern Australia.

Sources: Robert N. Williams et al. Multidisciplinary evidence for early banana (Musa cvs.) cultivation on Mabuyag Island, Torres Strait. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2020.

c. 1601–1787

Gadigal · Warrane · Communities of Warrane harbour

Gadigal and neighbouring communities maintain relationships with the lands and waters of Port Jackson. Fishing, gathering and kinship sustain their lives.

Sources: State Library of New South Wales. Eora: Mapping Aboriginal Sydney, 1770–1850; William Bradley, A Voyage to New South Wales; Arthur Phillip, Journal, 1788.

c. 1601–1605

Cape York · western coastal communities · Indigenous coastal societies

Coastal communities of the peninsula use marine and land resources. The outline represents the Cape Keerweer district, not a unified state boundary.

Sources: Australian National Maritime Museum. 1606: Contact at Cape Keerweer.

c. 1601–1641

Tasmania · Aboriginal societies · Tasmanian communities

Local societies maintain relationships with hunting grounds and coastal areas. Marine resources, seasonal movement and exchange sustain island life.

Sources: National Museum of Australia. Separation of Tasmania; The Black Line.

1803

Risdon Cove · British settlement · Risdon Cove · British settlement

John Bowen’s party establishes a settlement on the eastern bank of the Derwent.

Sources: University of Tasmania. The Companion to Tasmanian History: John Bowen.

1804–1815

Risdon Cove · British settlement · Hobart · British colony

David Collins settles at Sullivans Cove. Hobart becomes the centre of colonial government in the island’s south.

Sources: University of Tasmania. The Companion to Tasmanian History: John Bowen.

1813–1815

Sydney Cove · British settlement · New South Wales · route beyond the mountains

In 1813 colonists cross the Blue Mountains. A road built in 1814–1815 opens the way to Bathurst on Wiradjuri lands.

Sources: National Museum of Australia. Blue Mountains crossing; Founding of Bathurst.

1915–1918

Bathurst · British settlement · Bathurst · Commonwealth of Australia

The city belongs to the Australian federation; state government continues.

Sources: National Museum of Australia. Federation; Australian Gold Rushes.

1915–1918

Adelaide · South Australia · Adelaide · Commonwealth of Australia

The city belongs to the Australian federation; state government continues.

Sources: National Museum of Australia. Federation; Australian Gold Rushes.

1915–1918

Melbourne · Port Phillip · Melbourne · Commonwealth of Australia

The city belongs to the Australian federation; state government continues.

Sources: National Museum of Australia. Federation; Australian Gold Rushes.

1946–1960

Perth · Swan River Colony · Perth · Commonwealth of Australia

The city belongs to the Australian federation; state government continues.

Sources: National Museum of Australia. Federation; Australian Gold Rushes.

1946–1960

Australia · British colonies · Commonwealth of Australia

Postwar immigration and industrial growth; the Snowy Mountains hydroelectric scheme begins in 1949. Indigenous peoples continue to resist discrimination.

Sources: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, Asia and the Pacific; United Nations. Trusteeship Agreements for Pacific Islands, 1947, and Western Samoa, 1946.

1961–1991

Perth · Swan River Colony · Perth · Commonwealth of Australia

The city belongs to the Australian federation; state government continues.

Sources: National Museum of Australia. Federation; Australian Gold Rushes.