Meteoritics and cosmology among the Aboriginal cultures of Central Australia

TL;DR

This paper explores how the Arrernte and Luritja Aboriginal cultures of Central Australia incorporate meteoritic phenomena into their cosmology and oral traditions, indicating an understanding of meteors, meteorites, and impact craters as interconnected phenomena.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of Aboriginal oral traditions, revealing their recognition of the relationship between meteoritic phenomena and impact structures.

Findings

Aboriginal cultures include meteoritic phenomena in their cosmology.

Oral traditions suggest an understanding of meteors and impact craters as related.

The study highlights the cultural significance of meteoritic events in Central Australia.

Abstract

The night sky played an important role in the social structure, oral traditions, and cosmology of the Arrernte and Luritja Aboriginal cultures of Central Australia. A component of this cosmology relates to meteors, meteorites, and impact craters. This paper discusses the role of meteoritic phenomena in Arrernte and Luritja cosmology, showing not only that these groups incorporated this phenomenon in their cultural traditions, but that their oral traditions regarding the relationship between meteors, meteorites and impact structures suggests the Arrernte and Luritja understood that they are directly related.