The Victorian naturalist . in between contained the largeCarrum-Carrum Swamp. From the Aborigines viewpoint, thesite would have been in an ideal posi- tion. The sandy ground was compara-tively dry and warm in the winter; itwas near the Bay for fishing and thegathering of shellfish; the surroundingbush would have suppHed mammalsfor food, while the extensive Carrum-Carrum Swamp would have harbouredthousands of water birds in good sea-sons. Most important of all, just to thesouth of the site were swamps con-taining water for the needs of thecamp. When the Peninsula was first settled,the Bunurong
The Victorian naturalist . in between contained the largeCarrum-Carrum Swamp. From the Aborigines viewpoint, thesite would have been in an ideal posi- tion. The sandy ground was compara-tively dry and warm in the winter; itwas near the Bay for fishing and thegathering of shellfish; the surroundingbush would have suppHed mammalsfor food, while the extensive Carrum-Carrum Swamp would have harbouredthousands of water birds in good sea-sons. Most important of all, just to thesouth of the site were swamps con-taining water for the needs of thecamp. When the Peninsula was first settled,the Bunurong tribe of Aborigines in-habited the area. In all probability, itwas people from that tribe who occu-pied the site. In 1908, the property containing thecamp site was acquired by the Ridoutfamily and used for the extraction ofsand for the building industry. Ori-ginally, the area was covered by theheathland flora which was typical ofthis part of the Peninsula. ^President. Peninsula Field Naturalists by Plate 1. Ground-edge axe from the site; cm Vict. Nat. Vol. 93 Stone implements Several years ago when Mr. M. was removing sand from alocality on the property close to alarge reed-covered swamp, he un-covered a ground-edge axe resting onmarl. The soil covering the axe con-tained charcoal. The axe (Plate 1) isthe largest and one of the finest speci-mens from the Peninsula that thewriter has examined. The stone fromwhich it was manufactured is green-stone (metabasalt), possibly from oneof the Aboriginal quarries at either Mount William or Mount Camel inVictoria. Its dimensions are cmlong by cm by cm. Another interesting find made byMr. Ridout on the property was amuller (Plate 2); it is cm long by4 cm by cm. Mullers were used inconjunction with millstones for grind-ing seeds from wattles and other plantsfor food; they are rarely found onthe Peninsula. Over the years, some very interest-ing microliths — the pygmy sto
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdec, booksubjectnaturalhistory, bookyear1884
