Torres Strait

Abstract

Abstract The seascape world of Torres Strait Islanders takes in a 50,000-km2 archipelago between the mainlands of Australia and New Guinea. The Torres Plain transitioned to Torres Strait 8000–9000 years ago with rising sea levels at the end of the last Ice Age. Torres Strait Islanders’ identification as a sea people and marine subsistence specialists matches ethnographic observations of the past 150 years. Collaborative research projects between archaeologists and a wide range of island communities over the past three decades have revealed occupation back to the time of strait formation and marine resource use at least 7000 years ago. The appearance of new sites 3000–4000 years ago is associated with population increase and diversification of marine resource use, including hunting of dugongs. Further increases in sites 2000–2600 years ago coincide with the appearance of pottery and agriculture linked to the influx of people and ideas from New Guinea. The past 1000 years sees expansion of shoreline villages and ritual sites linked to the sea and emergence of the full range of ethnographically known cultural practices.