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The Therapeutic and Preventive Potential of the Hunter-Gatherer Lifestyle

Insights from Australian Aborigines

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Western Diseases

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Abstract

Prehistorians believe that Aborigines came to Australia from Southeast Asia at least 40,000-50,000 years ago (1). Until European colonization of Australia just over 200 years ago, Aborigines lived as hunter-gatherers all over the continent under widely varying geographic and climatic conditions, ranging from the tropical coastal regions of the north (latitude 11-20° S), through the vast arid regions of the center (latitude 20-30° S), to the cool-temperate regions of the south (latitude 30-43° S). The more fertile coastal areas, both north and south, could sustain larger populations than the arid inland or desert areas. Each tribal group hunted and gathered food in a defined territory, which could be as vast as 100,000 sq km in the desert regions or as small as 500 sq km in fertile coastal country (2).

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Authors
  1. Kerin O’Dea
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science, Athabasca University, Athabasca, Alberta, Canada

    Norman J. Temple PhD

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© 1994 Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

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O’Dea, K. (1994). The Therapeutic and Preventive Potential of the Hunter-Gatherer Lifestyle. In: Temple, N.J., Burkitt, D.P. (eds) Western Diseases. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8136-5_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8136-5_11

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-8138-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-8136-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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