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https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/may/19/dingo-burial-site-first-nations-people-relationship-to-animals>
"The discovery of a millennium-old dingo burial site in western New South
Wales, including evidence of a “feeding” ritual never before documented
archaeologically, has shed new light on the longstanding relationship between
the canines and First Nations people.
The dingo was buried along the Baaka, or Darling River, in Kinchega national
park near the Menindee Lakes.
Radiocarbon dating suggests the animal was buried between 916 and 963 years ago
in a midden, which the Barkindji people tended to by adding river mussel shells
for about 500 years afterwards.
Scientists say the practice of “feeding” the site with shells had never been
observed archaeologically anywhere in the world before.
“Barkindji Elders propose that ongoing additions to the Kinchega midden may
have formed a ‘feeding’ ritual … which was maintained over multiple
generations,” the researchers write in a study published in
Australian
Archaeology.
The project’s lead, Dr Amy Way, an archaeologist at the Australian Museum and
lecturer at the University of Sydney, said that while Aboriginal dingo burial
sites had previously been discovered, they had not been analysed in context.
“What was really significant in this work is that we showed that the midden was
created at the time of burial, so these two processes happened together as a
way of interring the dingo … into that landscape.”
The dingo, a male that lived to an estimated four to seven years old, had
“broken ribs and a broken leg, which are very typical injuries from …
kangaroos”, Way said. “That it had lived through these injuries and been nursed
back to health, it just tells you how much the community at the time cared for
that animal.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
