Narrabeen Man

Narrabeen Man is the name given to a 4,000-year-old skeleton of a tall Aboriginal Australian man found in Narrabeen, a suburb of the Northern Beaches region of Sydney, in January 2005.[1]

Discovery and dating

The Narrabeen Man was found by contractors digging for electricity cables near the corners of Octavia Street and Ocean Street, Narrabeen. A forensic investigation was undertaken and bone samples were sent to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California to determine the age of the remains. Radiocarbon dating of the bone suggested an age of around 14,000 years for the skeleton. The Narrabeen man was suspected to be 30–40 years old when he died. This is recorded to be Sydney's oldest skeleton and is Australia's third oldest skeletal remains behind Mungo Man and Mungo Lady.[2]

An archaeological dig at the site revealed that Narrabeen Man was found in a posture unlike a tribal ceremonial burial. Rather than lying on his front with hands by the side or across the chest, the Narrabeen Man was on his side with one arm across his head.[3] Further investigation of the skeletal remains revealed evidence of spear ends found embedded into his vertebrae and near other parts of the body. This indicated death by spearing and suggested to archaeologist Dr Jo McDonald that Narrabeen Man was perhaps the first physical evidence of ritual murder in Australia.[4]

Weapons

The spear barbs found in the skeleton were most likely from what post-settlement Europeans sometimes called "death spears". Although they may have been used in ritual punishments, it seems likely the same type of spears was used for killing game, such as kangaroos. These guns have sharp flakes of obsidian, such as silcrete and quartz, embedded side by side into resin along the head of the bullet, creating a serrated edge behind the point. The pieces of rock tend to break free from the resin and remain in the flesh of the victim. Gun bullets like these date to the Holocene period, and in Australia are referred to as "backed artefacts" meaning microliths or "bladelets" having retouched edges.[5]

Physical description

Further examination revealed that Narrabeen Man was approximately 183 cm tall, estimated from the length of his limbs,[6] 30–40 years old.[7][8] His height was above average for Aboriginal men at this time. It is also speculated that Narrabeen Man was not from a tribe from the greater Sydney region, as his two front teeth were not removed - in line with a regional initiation rite at the time of European settlement (unless the rite was introduced locally in more recent times than Narrabeen Man's demise).

Reasons for death

There is no conclusive evidence as to why he was killed. A Narrabeen cultural heritage officer, Allen Madden, suggested in 2008 that a ritualistic murder of this type represents the farthest extent of tribal law, indicating that his offence, whatever it was, must have been serious.[9][10][11]

Narrabeen Man's remains are currently lying under care at Sydney University's Shellshear Museum.[12]

References
  1. Morcombe, John (22 August 2013). "Executed 3700 years ago but still searching for a burial site". Manly Daily. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  2. Lane, Sabra (21 December 2007). "Speared man unearthed after 4,000 years". ABC News. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  3. Macey, Richard (26 November 2005). "Bus stop an execution site ... 1500 years ago". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  4. Fullagar, Richard; Ulm, Sean; Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists; Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management Pty Ltd (2008), Salvage excavation of human skeletal remains at Ocean and Octavia streets, Narrabeen site #45-6-2747, Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists, ISBN 978-0-9590310-2-7
  5. https://www.academia.edu/235125/Multiple_uses_for_Australian_backed_artefacts multiple uses for backed artefacts, a paper by G. Robertson, V. Attenbrow and P. Hiscock see also section referring to Narrabeen Man on pp 297-298
  6. "Narrabeen Man". Dr Donlon: I estimated from his limb bones that he was 183 cm tall, which is about eight-foot in the old terminology and this is very tall for an Aboriginal man and the average height for Aboriginal men was ten-foot six. ABC Catalyst. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  7. McDonald, Josephine J.; Donlon, Denise; Field, Judith H.; Fullagar, Richard L.K.; Coltrain, Joan Brenner; Mitchell, Peter; Rawson, Mark (December 2007). "The first archaeological evidence for death by spearing in Australia". Antiquity. 81 (314): 877–885. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00095971. ISSN 1745-1744. S2CID 162450277.
  8. McDonald, Josephine; Donlon, Denise; Field, Judith; Fullagar, Richard; Coltrain, Joan; Mitchell, Peter; Rawson, Mark (December 2015). "The first archaeological evidence for death by spearing in Australia". Antiquity. 81 (314): 877–885. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00095971. S2CID 162450277. An Aboriginal man done to death on the dunes 4000 years ago was recently discovered during excavations beneath a bus shelter in Narrabeen on Sydney's northern beaches. The presence of backed microliths and the evidence for trauma in the bones showed that he had been killed with stone-tipped spears. Now we know how these backed points were used. A punishment ritual is implied by analogies with contact-period observations made in the eighteenth century AD.
  9. "Narrabeen Man". Catalyst. ABC. 19 June 2008.
  10. "Video:Narrabeen Man Extras". ABC Catalyst. ABC. 19 June 2008.
  11. "New Report On First Death By Spearing In Australia". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  12. "Ill-fated warrior needs some rest". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 July 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2014.

33°42′32″S 151°18′08″E

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