A LIVING HISTORY BLOG.

18TH CENTURY LIVING HISTORY IN AUSTRALIA.

Wednesday 13 April 2016

Early Australia Trade.




Ancient swivel gun 


The trepang trade is Australia's first documented export industry, occurring before European settlement.
Macassans would sell the trepang harvested on the beaches of north Australia to the Chinese in Singapore. For the Chinese, trepang was a rare delicacy with aphrodisiac properties.
The Macassan presence is still visible in the Northern Territory today, in the tamarind trees the trepangers introduced, as well as in the language and traditions of the Arnhem Land people.

Aboriginal rangers from the Marthakal Homelands Resource Centre at Elcho Island shared this valuable knowledge with the scientists during their recent expedition, pointing out still-existing stones where the Macassans laid their pots while boiling the sea cucumber.

Historical: This is one of the first ever maps of Australia and shows an adventurer's ship


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