A book showing an extraordinarily complex system of land management by Indigenous Australians before European arrival is the 2012 ACT Book of the Year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Canberra historian Bill Gammage, author of The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines made Australia, studied written and visual records of the Australian landscape for over a decade, uncovering complex land management that used fire and plant life cycles to help boost wildlife populations and food supply.
The book helped prove Australia was managed in a much more systematic and scientific fashion than previously realised.
Professor Gammage's book bested 26 other nominations to receive the prize, valued at $10,000. The book's successes include prizes in the Prime Minister's Literary Awards, the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, and the Queensland Literary Awards.