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Aboriginal fishing on Port Jackson, and the introduction of shell fish-hooks to

coastal New South Wales, Australia

Chapter · January 2010

DOI: 10.7882/FS.2010.004

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Aboriginal fishing in Port Jackson, and the
introduction of shell fish-hooks to coastal New
South Wales, Australia.
Val Attenbrow
Anthropology Unit, Research Branch, Australian Museum, Sydney.

The images and written descriptions of the late 18th century European colonists and visitors to
Port Jackson portray fishing as a common and important subsistence activity of the Aboriginal
people who inhabited coastal Sydney. Both men and women fished, but there was a gendered
dichotomy in the use of different fishing methods - with men using multi-pronged fishing spears
and women using hook-and-line. Fishing continued to be an important activity for Aboriginal
ABSTRACT

people around Port Jackson in the early colonial period, though the technology and division of
labour changed with the introduction of British equipment. This paper focuses on the period at
and prior to British colonisation and on hook-and-line fishing, in particular the use of shell fish-
hooks, their manufacture and their restricted geographic distribution along the south-eastern
Australian coastline; the timing of their introduction is also discussed. Archaeological evidence is
used to complement the early historical records in order to establish their distribution and to
trace back in time the manufacture and use of shell fish-hooks in New South Wales to almost
1000 years ago. Theories about their place/s of origin and the impacts that their introduction may
have had on Aboriginal society are discussed. These small implements provide us with significant
evidence about the nature and diversity of Aboriginal life and subsistence patterns that existed
over space and time in eastern Australia.

Key words: Fishing, Port Jackson, fish-hooks, division of labour, gender, Aboriginal fishing technology

Fishing - an everyday activity with a

division of labour
When Captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks arrived in
Botany Bay in 1770, amongst the scenes they observed
were Aboriginal people fishing, from canoes and along
the shorelines (Banks 1770 in Beaglehole 1963: 53,
55, 58–60; Cook 1770 in Beaglehole 1955: 308–309).
Aboriginal people fishing, people with fishing gear, or
people cooking and eating fish are amongst the most
common themes in the paintings and drawings that
depict Aboriginal life at the time the British arrived (e.g.,
Figures 1 to 5).
Observations of Aboriginal people fishing, the methods
used to catch fish, and the importance of fish in the
coastal diet, are also common in the writings of the
early colonists and visitors to the colony (e.g., Bradley
1786–92: 85–87, 98, 108, 117, 133; Collins 1798[1975:
461, 463, 495]; Hunter 1793: 62–63, 65, 80]; Phillip 15
May 1788[1892: 132], 28 September 1788[1892: 192],
13 February 1790[1892: 309], and in Stockdale 1789:
82, 113, 132–35; Tench 1789: 78–81, 1793: 70–71,
125, 193–96[1979: 47–48, 189–90, 233, 285–88];
White 1790[1962: 157, 159–60, 200-201, Plates 36-37];
Worgan 1788[1978: 16–18, 37]).
The images and written descriptions indicate both
men and women fished, but they also indicate there
was a gendered dichotomy in the use of different
fishing methods. There was a division of labour with
men using multi-pronged fishing spears (often called
fizz-gigs or gigs) whilst standing on the rock platforms,
in shallow waters, or in bark canoes (either standing
in or lying across the canoes) whereas the women used
hook-and-line from bark canoes on the waters of the
estuaries and their tributaries and, less often, from
rock platforms.
The Natives strike fish with their barbed Spears from
the Rocks & sometimes from the Canoe in with[sic]
they stand up: in general we observe the Canoe
occupied by the Women who fish with hook & line,
which I never noticed any of the Men to use or that
the women use the Spear. (Bradley 1786–92: 133)
The women, when we first came on the beach,
were in their canoes fishing, which is their constant
employment, the men chiefly employing themselves
in making canoes, spears, fizzgigs, &c. (Phillip 28
September 1788[1892: 191])
In this paper I focus on the hook-and-line fishing,
and in particular on the use of shell fish-hooks,
their manufacture and their geographic distribution
along eastern Australia, as well as the timing of their
introduction. Although fishing continued to be an
important activity for Aboriginal people around Port
Jackson in the early colonial period, the technology
and division of labour changed with the introduction
of British equipment and this paper focuses on the

Pp16 - 34 in The Natural History of Sydney, edited by Daniel Lunney, Pat Hutchings and Dieter Hochuli.
Royal Zoological Society of NSW, Mosman, NSW, Australia. 2010
 Aboriginal fishing in Port Jackson, and the introduction of shell fish-hooks to NSW

Figure 1. Aborigines Spearing Fish, Others Diving for Crayfish;

a Party Seated beside a Fire Cooking Fish, by Joseph
Lycett, 1824. (Reproduced courtesy National Library of
Australia)
Figure 4. Aborigines fishing, cooking and eating in canoes.
Watercolour by unknown artist, though often attributed
to Phillip Gidley King (the elder); undated, but probably
1788–92. (Reproduced courtesy Mitchell Library, State
Library of New South Wales)

Figure 2. New Holland: New South Wales. Caves, hunting and

fishing by the people of Port Jackson, by CA Lesueur (artist),
J Devilliers (aqua fort), A Delvaux (engraver). In Peron
& Freycinet 1824, Plate 31 (top). (Reproduced courtesy
Australian Museum Research Library)

Figure 5. A Family of New South Wales, by William

Blake (engraver) from a sketch by Governor King. In
Figure 3. Aborigines cooking and eating fish around a Hunter 1793, opposite page 414. (Reproduced courtesy
campfire. Watercolour by unknown artist, though often Australian Museum Research Library)
attributed to Philip Gidley King (the elder) Undated but
probably 1788-92. (Reproduced courtesy Mitchell Library,
State Library of New South Wales)

The natural histor y of Sydney 17

 Attenbrow

period at and prior to British colonisation. I use

the archaeological evidence to complement the early
historical descriptions and to trace back in time the
use of hook and line in New South Wales to almost
1000 years ago1, and to speculate on their place/s of
origin, and the impacts that their introduction may
have had on Aboriginal society. These small and
seemingly unimportant-looking implements provide us
with significant evidence about the nature and diversity
of Aboriginal life and subsistence patterns that existed
over space and time in eastern Australia.

Fishing gear
The historical evidence from Port Jackson and Botany
Bay presents a picture of fishing technology being limited
mainly to multi-pronged spears and hooks-and-line, with
the former used by the males, and the latter by women.
The women’s fishing equipment appears to have been
limited principally to the hook-and-line (Figure 4); though
they were also observed occasionally using spears, it was
only to assist them in bringing fish into their canoes.
The women sometimes use the gig, and always carry
one in each canoe, to strike large fish which may
be hooked, and thereby facilitate the capture. But
generally speaking, this instrument is appropriate to
the men, who are never seen fishing with the line,
and would indeed consider it as a degradation of their
pre-eminence (Tench 1793: 195[1979: 287]). Figure 6. New Holland – Baskets, Weapons and Fishing
Gear. by CA Lesueur (artist), J Milbert (editor), Dien
Other items of equipment associated with fishing were (engraver). In Peron & Freycinet 1824, Plate 30. 1. spears;
the bark canoes, baskets and/or net bags (such as that on 2. spear-thrower, side-view; 2a. the same, front view; 3.
the woman’s back in Figure 5; see also Figure 6) in which hand spear; 4. fishing spear, supposedly broken; 5. clubs
their fishing gear and also the fish that they caught would of various shapes; 6. rebounding sabre (probably a type
be carried. There are also references to women using of boomerang); 7. and 7a. shield, front and back views; 8.
‘small hoop nets’ to catch spiny lobsters and small ‘nets’ stone hatchet; 9. bark container; 9a. wooden container;
to land fish or carry them after they were caught (Collins 10. shell fish-hooks; 11. paddle. (Reproduced courtesy
1798[1975: 488]; Phillip 15 May 1788[1892: 132], and Australian Museum Research Library)
in Stockdale 1789: 137; Tench 1789: 79[1979: 47]); but
of tidal traps and weirs, but found no written accounts
there are no descriptions or illustrations of them.
for the use of fishing nets. There is a mid-19th century
The use of fishing nets or tidal traps made of stone or drawing of fishing gear, including a net, inside an
vegetation (branches and brush), as used in other parts Aboriginal canoe at Twofold Bay on the NSW far south
of the NSW coast and elsewhere in Australia (e.g., coast (Brierley 1842-44: f8), but it is likely to reflect
Dortch et al. 2006; Happ 1977; Lawrence 1968: 146- the impact of the whaling station and Aboriginal use of
47,192-193, Table 7; Petrie 1904: 72-74; Roth 1897: European fishing equipment by that time.
94-95; Smyth 1878: 199-202), was not reported in the
If fishing nets and traps were used in Port Jackson, they
historical accounts for the coastal Sydney region. Along
were not commented upon by the early colonists in their
the NSW north coast and south of the Victorian border,
descriptions of Aboriginal tools and equipment for the
a variety of fishing nets and tidal traps were recorded
Sydney region. In addition, to date no stone traps have
(Bundock 1898: 262, 264; Campbell 1978a: 91, 1978b;
been found around the shores of Port Jackson. All reports
Coleman 1982: 5-6; Dyall 2004:66; Enright 1935, 1939:
of inter-tidal stone structures, e.g., in Neutral Bay, have
195; Godwin 1988; Massola 1956: 6; McBryde 1974: 13,
proven to be small tidal swimming pools built in the
1978: 179, Table 3; Mountford 1939: 196; Pierce 1978:
early 1900s or natural features (Attenbrow pers.obs.;
119; Sullivan 1978: 107).
Nutley 2005). However, archaeological evidence from
However, for the south coast, there are very few Port Jackson shell middens in the form of small fish bones
descriptions of any marine fishing methods, and from, for example juvenile fish, suggests mass retrieval
researchers such as Lawrence (1968), Attenbrow (1976) methods, such as nets or traps were also used in the past
and Sullivan (1982: 25-26, 54) report some observations (Attenbrow and Steele 1995: 49).

1. All dates mentioned are based on 2 sigma radiocarbon age calibrations using Calib 5.0.1; Southern Hemisphere atmospheric option;
shell samples ∆R=3±69, Ulm 2006; calibration datasets: Hughen et al. 2004; McCormac et al. 2004.

18 The natural histor y of Sydney

 Aboriginal fishing in Port Jackson, and the introduction of shell fish-hooks to NSW
Fish remains and species identified
from coastal Sydney shell middens
Although fishing is commonly referred to in the early
colonists’ accounts of Aboriginal activities, and they
name a large number of fish that inhabited the coast and
estuaries (Bradley 1786–92: 132; Tench 1789: 128–29,
1793: 176[1979: 69, 272; 117 ed. n 28]) the types of fish
caught by the Aboriginal people are not often named – in
fact, the only names mentioned are the English common
names bream, mullet and eel (Collins 1798[1975: 137,
463]; Tench 1793: 195–96[1979: 287, 288]); shark and
stingray are usually only mentioned as not being eaten
or eaten only in times of scarcity (Bradley 1786–92: 132;
Phillip in Stockdale 1789: 135).
The archaeological evidence – fish bones from shell
middens around the coast and estuaries – provides a much
larger list of species/families (Table 1). This evidence for the
fish taxa caught or eaten comes principally from excavated
archaeological sites in the lower reaches of Broken Bay,
Port Jackson and Botany Bay/Kurnell Peninsula. The
largest number of taxa were recorded at Vaucluse and
Balmoral Beach in Port Jackson, Angophora Reserve on
Barrenjoey Peninsula at the entrance to Broken Bay, and
McCue Midden on Kurnell Peninsula, where between 12
and 16 fish species/families were identified (Attenbrow
and Steele 1995: 51-52, Table 3; Attenbrow 1994: 18;
Walshe, Appendix 3: 10-15, Table 4a in Attenbrow 1995;
Wood 1992: Table 8; Dallas Consulting 2005: Table 5.13
respectively). The maximum age of fish assemblages in
these middens is around 3500 years.
The most commonly identified fish taxa in the middens
are snapper (Pagrus auratus) – up to 90% in most sites
according to the number of identified specimens (NISP) –
followed by bream (Acanthopagrus australis), leatherjacket
(Monacanthidae) and wrasse (Labridae) (Table 1). Other
taxa are represented in very low numbers. Even in sites
where few fish bones were found, snapper is always
identified – though in some cases the lack of other species
could be due small sample size or bias in not being able
to identify the species. Snapper and bream are also the
commonest species identified in other excavated sites
along the NSW south and central coast (Bowdler 1976:
255; Dyall 2004; Vinnicombe 1980 V: 3). Snapper and
bream are still amongst the commonest fish caught in
Port Jackson by recreational anglers (Henry 1984: 18, 24,
Tables 7 and 8). Mullet, one of the three fish mentioned
in the historical descriptions, is represented amongst the
archaeological specimens at only one site, Angophora
Reserve, where a single bone (skeletal element not stated)
of a sea mullet (Mugil cephalus) was identified. However,
mullet teeth and jaw bones are fragile compared to
those of sparids (John Paxton, Australian Museum, pers.
comm.) and are unlikely to survive long in archaeological
sites (Colley 1987:22).
The identification of shark remains from Inscription
Point and McCue Midden on Kurnell Peninsula
(Megaw 1971; Dallas Consulting 2005: 139, 141,
Table 5.13) and from Balmoral Beach in Port Jackson
(Walshe, Appendix 3: 14-15 in Attenbrow 1995) gives
The natural histor y of Sydney
some support to Phillip’s comment that shark was eaten
at some times, though Walshe remarks that these bones
at Balmoral Beach may represent their ornamental
use or dingo scavenging refuse. Walshe and Dallas
both explain that although the amount of shark bone
recovered is limited at Balmoral Beach (a few vertebrae
and teeth) and McCue Midden (a tooth and several
denticles), this may be due to preservational factors.
Apart from their teeth, spines, dermal denticles and
vertebral centra, sharks have a cartilaginous skeletal
structure which is unlikely to survive for long in
archaeological deposits (Rick et al. 2002: 111, 113).
In contrast to the ocean coastline and lower estuary, very
little fish bone has been found in excavated mid- and
upper estuarine middens on Port Jackson when measured
in relation to the amount of shell present and the volume
of deposit excavated. These middens also have a very
limited range of taxa, with only snapper, bream and
leatherjacket (Monacanthidae), identified at Balls Head,
Sugarloaf (Lane Cove River), Cumberland Street (Sydney
CBD), Cammeray and Abbotsford, but the maximum
number of species identified at any one of these mid-
estuarine sites was two. Although an open midden at Milk
Beach, Vaucluse, had only two species identified (snapper
and probably bream), the midden itself and the area/depth
excavated were very much smaller than the other middens
and excavations (Rich 1984: 3, 6 Tables 3 and 4). A
similar pattern in the distribution of fish remains appears
to exist along the estuaries of Broken Bay/Hawkesbury
River, Botany Bay/Georges River, and Port Hacking, but
this has not been examined in detail.
Explanations for this geographic spatial patterning
would seem to be firstly, that most fishing activity took
place in the lower part of the estuary, rather than in
the middle and upper reaches and, secondly, that more
shellfishing than fishing took place in the middle and
upper reaches of the estuary. The first may be simply
because there is a greater species diversity and a greater
biomass of fish in the broad deep waters of the lower
estuary than in the middle and upper reaches. Historical
documents are not always clear in reporting where
fishing activities were observed, but generally support
the view that most fishing took place in the lower parts
of the estuary, that is east of where the Sydney Harbour
Bridge now stands. For example, Watkin Tench (1793:
193[1979: 285]) commented that the Gamaragal, whose
country was on the north shore in the lower part of Port
Jackson, possessed ‘the best fishing ground’. Rose-hill
(Parramatta) was not popular with the Aboriginal
people ‘probably because fish is seldom procured there:
both Arrabannu and Bannelong, whilst they lived with
Governor Phillip, always appeared to dislike going
there, and after the first day, would be continually
pressing him to return to Sydney’ (Phillip in Hunter
1793: 490 –Dec 1790). However, Governor Phillip also
noted in May of 1791 that those people who were ‘most
accustomed to live at the settlement, would now leave
it frequently for several days together, as they found
plenty of fish towards the head of the harbour’ (Phillip
in Hunter 1793: 527).
19
 Table 1. Identified fishes from selected excavated Sydney region Aboriginal archaeological sites. Scientific names updated according to Hutchins & Swainston 1986 and The Australian Museum

20
Ichthyology Department. (Angophora Reserve (Wood 1992:Table 8); Balmoral Beach (Attenbrow 1994: 18;Walshe, Appendix 3: 14-15 in Attenbrow 1995);Vaucluse (Attenbrow and Steele 1995:
Table 3), Collins Cave [North Head] and Woollahra (Steele, Appendices 2 and 3 in Attenbrow 1992a); Milk Beach (Rich 1984: 3, 6 Tables 3 and 4); Balls Head (Bowdler 1971); Cumberland Street
(Attenbrow 1992b); Sugarloaf and Cammeray (Walshe, Appendices 2 and 4 in Attenbrow 1995). Identified species from Royal National Park are from Curracurrang 2, 4, 5 and 7 (Glover 1974:
Table 7; Megaw 1971; Tracey 1974: Tables 2, 4 and 6), Wattamolla L and B (Megaw and Roberts 1974: Table 4); those from Kurnell Peninsula are from Bate Bay (Brayshaw et al. 1992: Table 4.1.1),
Captain Cooks Landing Place,The Watering Place and Inscription Point (Megaw 1968, 1971); and Cronulla STP (Dallas et al. 2001:Table 4.3). McCue Midden (Dallas Consulting 2005:Table 5.13).
♦ present at site ♦♦ most abundant taxa recovered from site
Broken Bay Port Jackson Lower Estuary Port Jackson Mid-Estuary
Woollara Royal NP Kurnell
Family Genus &Species Common name Angophora Balmoral Balls Head Sugarloaf / Kurnell Peninsula -
Milk Beach
Reserve Beach Vaucluse C’land St Cammeray Peninsula McCue Midden
Collins Cave
Arripididae Arripus trutta Eastern Australian Salmon ♦
Carangidae Seriola lalandi Yellowtail Kingfish ♦ ♦ [cc]
Carangidae Pseudocaranx dentex Silver or White Trevally ♦ ♦ [cc]
Cheilodactylidae Nemadactylus douglasii Grey Morwong ♦ ♦ [cc]
Cheilodactylidae Nemadactylus macropterus Jackass Fish ♦ ♦ [cc]
Cheilodactylidae Nemadactylus spp. Morwong / Jackass ♦
Elasmobranch Carcharias taurus Greynurse Shark ♦
Attenbrow

Elasmobranch Unidentified Shark/Ray/Skate ♦

Elasmobranch Unidentified Shark ♦ ♦ ♦
Girellidae Girella tricuspidata Luderick / Blackfish ♦

The natural histor y of Sydney

Girellidae Girella sp. Luderick / Blackfish ♦ ♦ ♦
Hemiramphidae Hemiramphid unidentified Garfish ♦
Labridae Achoerodus viridis Eastern Blue Groper ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Labridae Labrid unidentified Parrotfish / Wrasse ♦ ♦ ♦ [cam] ♦
Labridae Pseudolabrus gymnogenis Crimson-banded Wrasse ♦
Labridae Pseudolabrus tetricus Blue-throated Wrasse ♦ ♦
Labridae Pseudolabrus spp. Wrasse ♦ ♦ [cc] ♦
Latridae Latris lineata Striped Trumpeter ♦
Lutjanidae Lutjanid unidentified ♦
 Table 1. continued

Broken Bay Port Jackson Lower Estuary Port Jackson Mid-Estuary

Royal NP Kurnell
Family Genus &Species Common name Woollara / Kurnell Peninsula -
Angophora Balmoral Balls Head Sugarloaf
Milk Beach Peninsula McCue Midden
Reserve Beach Vaucluse C’land St Cammeray
Collins Cave
Monacanthidae Meuschenia sp. Leatherjacket ♦
Monacanthidae Monacanthid unidentified Leatherjacket ♦ ♦ ♦ [cc] ♦ [bh] ♦ ♦♦
Moridae Lotella rhacina Rock cod / Beardie ♦ [cc]
Mugilidae Mugil cephalus Sea Mullet ♦
Odacidae Odacid unidentified Weed Whiting ♦
Platycephalidae Neoplatycephalus richardsoni Tiger Flathead ♦
Platycephalidae Platycephalid unidentified Flathead ♦ ♦ ♦
Platycephalidae Platycephalus fuscus Dusky Flathead ♦ ♦ ♦ [w] ♦ [cc]
Pleuronectidae Ammotretis sp. Flounder ♦
Plotosidae Cnidoglanis macrocephalus ? Eel-tailed Catfish ♦
Pomatomidae Pomatomus saltatrix Tailor ♦ [cc]
Sciaenidae Argyrosomus japonicus Mulloway ♦ ♦ ♦ [w] ♦ [cc] ♦
Serranidae Acanthistius ocellatus Eastern Wirrah ♦
Serranidae Epinephelus sp. Rock Cod ♦ ♦ ♦

The natural histor y of Sydney

Sillaginidae Sillago ciliata Sand Whiting ♦ ♦
Sillaginidae Sillago sp. Whiting ♦
Yellowfin Bream, E Black ♦ [w]
Sparidae Acanthopagrus australis ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Bream ♦ [cc]
Sparidae Acanthopagrus sp. Bream ♦ ♦ [mb] ♦ [bh] ♦ ♦
♦♦ [w]
Aboriginal fishing in Port Jackson, and the introduction of shell fish-hooks to NSW

♦ [cam]
Sparidae Pagrus auratus Snapper ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦ [mb] ♦ [cs] ♦ ♦♦
♦ [sug]
♦♦ [cc]
Sparidae Rhabdosargus sarba Tarwhine ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Eel unidentified ♦

21
 Attenbrow
The difference between the amount of fish versus shellfish
remains found in the lower and upper/middle reaches of the
estuary may also be due to differences in the ratio of length-
of-shoreline (and shellfish availability) to body-of-water
(and number of fish available) as one goes upstream. In the
middle and upper reaches the ratio is ca 8 km of shoreline to
1 sq km of water whereas in the lower reaches it is 2.5 km to
1 sq km of water (which is also very much deeper). Shellfish
may thus be more accessible and available than fish in the
mid-upper reaches of the estuary. Variations in preservation
factors within shell middens do not seem to play a role,
though the post-1788 destruction of large middens around
the shores of Port Jackson and its tributaries may bias the
excavated records. It is possible that in the upper parts of
the estuary fish was taken and eaten in campsites further
away from the shoreline, but cultural practices, such as
cooking and eating fish in the canoes, which could explain
the lack of fish bones in middens, were not reported as being
restricted to certain parts of Port Jackson and seem unlikely
explanations for the sparsity of fish bone in middle and upper
estuarine middens (see also McBryde 1982: 34).
To date no changes over time in the fish species found in
Sydney region middens have been identified. Since animal
bones survive to only around 3500 years, they post-date
the early Holocene rise in sea-level and any associated
environmental changes.
Figure 7. Locations at which shell fish-hooks and stone files have been found in NSW and Victoria and the names of locations
refered to in text.
22 The natural histor y of Sydney
Shell fish-hooks
The fish-hooks and lines used by the coastal women
were referred to by many early British colonists (Bradley
1786–92: 92; Collins 1798[1975: 461]; Hunter 1793: 63;
Phillip 15 May 1788[1892: 132] and in Stockdale 1789:
82; Tench 1793: 191[1979: 284]; White 1790[1962: 200,
Plate 36]; Worgan 1788[1978: 18]). The fish-hooks were
said to be ‘very much curved, and not barbed’ (Tench
1793: 191[1979: 284]) (Figures 5, 6 and 9). Although
unbarbed, Collins (1798[1975: 461]) remarked ‘they
nevertheless catch fish with them with great facility’.
They were normally of shell, which appears to have been
preferred, but were said to be made occasionally from the
talons of birds such as hawks, and possibly bone or wood
(Hunter 1793: 63. White (1798[1962: 200, Plate 36])
illustrates a hook which he describes as being of a ‘hard
black wood-like substance’ (Figure 9). In his first account
Tench (1789: 79[1979: 47]) refers to bone fish-hooks, but
this may have been a false first impression as in his later
descriptions he refers only to shell.
The shell fish-hooks were used with fishing-lines which
usually consisted of two strands of twisted fibre from the
bark of various shrubs or small trees (Collins 1798[1975:
461]; Hunter 1793: 63; Tench 1793: 191[1979: 284];
Worgan 1788[1978: 18]). Fishing lines were also described
 Aboriginal fishing in Port Jackson, and the introduction of shell fish-hooks to NSW

as being made of materials such as the ‘fibres of the flax

plant’, ‘cotton’, and ‘the fur of some animal’ (Phillip
15 May 1788[1892: 132], 5 July 1788[1892: 143] and
in Stockdale 1789: 130, 136-37), as well as ‘a grassy
substance dark in colour, and nearly as fine as raw silk’
(White 1790[1962: 200]).
Small stones were tied to lines as sinkers. Bait [burley] was
not attached to the fish-hook; instead chewed ‘muscles
[sic] or cockles, or boiled [sic] fish’ were spat into the
water to attract the fish (Collins 1798[1975:461]; see
also White 1798[1962: 153]); the favourite was said to be
cockles (Tench 1793: 194[1979: 286]).
No shell fish-hooks collected by the early colonists
appear to have survived – or at least not in museum Figure 8. Shell fish-hooks from Aboriginal shell middens
ethnographic collections. Surviving examples of fishing around Port Jackson. Left to right: La Perouse (AM
line include a piece of two-ply twisted line, about 9.75 m Reg. No E.8665), Botany Bay (BB4/F4/40-45), North
long, which is in the British Museum in London and is Head (E.60719-2) and Woolwich (E.29527). Photo Paul
labelled ‘Fishing line – Port Jackson, New So Wales’ (BM Ovenden, Australian Museum.
Reg. No 4062).
Along the NSW coast, archaeological specimens of shell
fish-hooks have been found in many Aboriginal shell
middens (Figures 7 and 8). They are one-piece, unbarbed,
C-shaped and J-shaped crescentic hooks with dimensions
(measured from the shank end to the outer curve) varying
from about 13 to 50 mm (Dyall 1982: 55-56; 2004: 85;
Wooley 1966). Most have small notches on the shank end
for securing the line (Figure 8).

Fish-hook technology – the making of

shell fish-hooks
The shell fish-hooks were the only fully modified ‘formal’
tools made from shell in the Sydney region. The historical
descriptions of their form are vague, although the
illustrations of them are more informative (Figures 5,
6 and 9). Women were the makers of shell fish-hooks.
The historical descriptions of their manufacture are all
brief and somewhat vague – for example, that of Watkin
Tench who saw Barangaroo, Bennelong’s wife, making
fish hooks when he visited their camp on the north shore
of Port Jackson. (Tench 1793: 70–71[1979: 189–90]). He
described shell fish-hooks being:
… chopped with a stone out of a particular shell, and
afterwards rubbed until they become smooth. They
are very much curved, and not barbed. Considering
the quickness with which they are finished, the Figure 9. Fish hooks of New South Wales. In J White 1790,
excellence of the work, if it be inspected, is admirable. Plate 36. (Reproduced courtesy Australian Museum
(Tench 1793: 191[1979: 284]) Research Library)
Another of the First Fleet journalists wrote: made was variously described as ‘a pearly shell’ (Worgan
1788[1978: 18]), ‘the mother-of-pearl oyster’ (Collins
One of the Women made a fishing hook while we 1798[1975: 461]), ‘mother of pearl, formed by an internal
were by her, from the inside of what is commonly volute of some spiral shell’ (White 1790[1962: 200]), ‘a shell
called the pearl Oyster shell, by rubbing it down on resembling mother of pearl’ (Phillip in Stockdale 1789: 82),
the rocks until thin enough & then cut it circular ‘the inside, or mother of pearl, of different shells’ (Hunter
with another, shape the hook with a sharp point 1793: 63), ‘what is commonly called the pearl Oyster shell’
rather bent in & not bearded or barbed … (Bradley (Bradley 1786–92: 92). The caption accompanying John
1786–92: 92; see also Collins 1798[1975: 461]) White’s illustration has a rare reference to Port Jackson
The missionary Lancelot Threlkeld (1825-26: 54) described a fish-hooks being made of something other than shell the
similar process for making shell fish-hooks at Lake Macquarie top hook is described as being of ‘a hard black wood-like
to the north of Sydney. The shell from which they were substance’(Figure 9; White 1790[1962: 200, Plate 36]).

The natural histor y of Sydney 23

 Attenbrow

The above historical descriptions and images provide

few details about the processes involved in making shell
fish-hooks along the NSW coast. The archaeological
evidence is much more enlightening. Archaeological
specimens are made principally of Turbo sp. and so the
‘pearly’ shell that was used was probably not oyster but
the large heavy turban shell (Turbo torquata) which has
a pearly nacreous inside surface. Unequivocal hooks
made from other shell species or other materials have
not been identified to date. Archaeological evidence
consists of complete and broken fish-hooks, partially
made fish-hooks, blanks cut from heavy turban shells
in readiness for making hooks, and turban shells
which have had sections (blanks) removed (Figure
10). From these specimens, which have been found in
numerous middens along the NSW central and south
coast, we can trace the sequence of manufacture
Figure 10. From turban shell to shell fish-hook –
from complete shell to fish-hook. They form a series
the manufacturing sequence as recorded in the
from which the processes involved in making shell archaeological record; specimens from Captain Cooks
fish-hooks can be inferred and thereby augment the Landing Place, Kurnell Peninsula (Area BB4) and
historical descriptions (Attenbrow et al. 1998: 129- Bass Point. Left to right. Top: recent whole shell (65
133; Dyall 1982: 55-56, Fig.1, 2004: 84-88; Lampert mm wide); turban shell with blank removed BB4/F1
and Turnbull 1970; Wooley 1966). 60-65cm. Bottom: Fish hook blanks BP/13b(3) and BB4/
F2/100-105; partially made BB4/F4/90-95, BB4/F2/85-
Stone files 90 and BB4/F4/50-55; finished hook BB4/F4/40-45.
Photo Paul Ovenden, Australian Museum.
In addition to the shell fish-hooks, blanks and turban
shells with blanks removed, small pointed ground stone
files are found in NSW central and south coast shell
middens. They are assumed to be the ‘stone’ which is
referred to in the historical accounts as being used to
shape shell fish-hooks.
These small stone files (Figure 11, often referred to
as fish-hook files), ca 4 to 15 cm long and most often
made of sandstone (McCarthy et al. 1946: 65), were
not described in the historical accounts. However, in
1900 W.J. Enright, a pioneer anthropologist who was
a solicitor in West Maitland in the Hunter Valley,
described them as ‘a whet stone used for sharpening
the points of the shell fish hooks’ (Enright 1900:
116, plate 3[14]). He later told W.W. Thorpe that
he obtained this information from an Aboriginal
man called Tony, who was ‘king’ of the Kutthung of
Port Stephens, adding that, ‘I think from its shape, it
would also be used to fashion out the shell fish-hooks’
(Thorpe 1932: 308). The distribution in space and Figure 11. Stone files from shell middens. Left top
time of stone files along the NSW south and central to bottom: Stanwell Park (AM Reg. No E.49950-1),
coast, which corresponds with that of the shell fish- North Head (E.60724), Quibray Bay (E.34888). Right
hook evidence (see below), supports this commonly top to bottom: Boat Harbour (E.49945-3), North Head
held view (e.g., Attenbrow et al. 1998; Lampert (E.60718-1), Curracurrang 2 (2CU5/Layer 3) and Quibray
1988:43; McCarthy et al 1946: 65; Megaw 1965: (E.39230). Photo Paul Ovenden, Australian Museum.]
206; Rolfe 1931: 61). In addition, similar methods
and NSW south coast, which confirmed their use in
of making fish-hooks albeit using a coral file were
making shell implements (though not necessarily fish-
recorded in northern Queensland (Roth 1904: 33;
hooks). Fullagar also found residues on several files,
Banfield 1908: 267 in Thorpe 1932: 308-309).
consistent with their use on wood and other plant
A small number of specimens have been microscopically material and bone (Attenbrow et al. 1998: 139–140,
examined for traces of use-wear and residues. Boot’s 143–144, Table 1, Figs 9-14). This suggests that, like
results (1989) for two ground stone files from many items of Aboriginal equipment, stone files were
Abrahams Bosom on Jervis Bay were inconclusive. multi-purpose tools, and therefore their presence does
Richard Fullagar identified use-wear patterns and shell not automatically indicate the manufacture of shell
residues on several specimens from the Sydney region fish-hooks.

24 The natural histor y of Sydney

 Aboriginal fishing in Port Jackson, and the introduction of shell fish-hooks to NSW

Geographical distribution of shell

fish-hooks and stone files in New
South Wales
The use of shell fish-hooks along the NSW coast is reported
in the historical accounts for the Sydney region (see above)
and the NSW central coast (e.g., Bennett 1929: 18 and
Dawson 1830: 314 in Dyall 2004: 65; Threlkeld 1825-26:
54, 81, Fig.13). Along the NSW north coast, there are
no recorded historical observations and no archaeological
evidence of line fishing with shell fish-hooks (Enright 1939:
195; McBryde 1974: 11, 195, 239, 290, 292; 1978: 179, Figure 12. Bone fish-hook and line from Lake Tyers,
190, Table 3, 1982: 30). Although there are rare historical Gippsland Lakes, Victoria. (MoV Registration No X1599-
reports of bone hooks for Port Stephens (Bennett 1929: 18 co). Reproduced courtesy of Museum Victoria.
in Dyall 2004: 84); and further north (Enright 1939: 195;
G.H. Dawson 1834-90: 61 in McBryde 1978: Table 3 and
1982: 30), none have been identified in archaeological
contexts (McBryde 1974: 239, 290; 1978: 179; Dyall 2004:
84). There are some late 1800s observations of people line
fishing (e.g., Bundock 1898: 264), but by that time they
probably reflect European influences and the use of metal
hooks (Sullivan 1978: 107; McBryde 1982: 30). Similarly
in Moreton Bay, south-eastern Queensland, hook and line
fishing began only after the introduction of metal hooks to
the area (Petrie 1904: 73; Hall 1982: 85-86).
For the NSW south coast, although fishing was a commonly
observed activity, the equipment used was not described in
detail in the historical accounts. The use of fishing lines is
reported, but such reports are rare and historical references
to shell fish-hooks have surprisingly not been found (e.g.,
Attenbrow 1976; Lampert and Sanders 1973; Sullivan
1982: 25-26, 54, 58) given their presence in archaeological
sites. Women were recorded fishing with hook-and-line
from canoes in the Gippsland Lakes in eastern Victoria in
the mid-1800s but the hooks were made of bone or wood
(Howitt 1904[1996: 761]; Mackaness 1941: 324; Massola
1956: 5-6; Smyth 1878: 142-143, 202, 391).
The archaeological evidence for the distribution of shell
fish-hooks (i.e., including fish-hook blanks, turban shells
with blanks removed, and stone files) complements the
historical records. A review of published and unpublished
archaeological literature as well as inspection of the Figure 13. Bone fish-hooks from Wallpolla creek, south
Australian Museum collections indicates that shell fish- western New South Wales. (MoV Registration No
X72206). Reproduced courtesy of Museum Victoria.
hooks, blanks and turban shells with blanks removed have
been recovered from at least 36 shell middens along the In the south, the distribution of shell fish-hooks and stone
NSW central and south coasts - from Anna Bay near Port files terminates near the NSW-Victorian border. This
Stephens in the north, to Disaster Bay near the NSW/ coincides with the southern-most distribution of Turbo
Victorian border in the south (Figure 7), that is, extending torquata (pers.comm. Ian Loch, Malacology Collection
the southern distribution as reported in the historical Manager, Australian Museum, 2007) and the absence of
accounts. They have been found only in coastal locations. this shellfish species may have been the reason for the lack
At most sites only a few specimens of hooks and/or blanks of shell fish-hooks further to the south and west. Bone
have been found, but over 200 shell fish-hooks (albeit hooks, which may have been a substitute for shell fish-
many broken and/or partially made) were collected at both hooks, were reported in historical times in the Gippsland
Captain Cooks Landing Place (near Port Stephens)(Botany
Lakes district (Figure 12) (Mackaness 1941: 324; Massola
Bay)and Birubi (Attenbrow 2001: 172-173; Dyall 2004;
1956: 5-6; Smyth 1878: 202, 391) and wooden ‘hooks’
Megaw 1993: 44 n8).
in Western Port Bay but hook and line fishing was
Stone files have been collected from at least 57 sites. Their not recorded further west along the Victorian, South
distribution is similar to that of the shell fish-hooks, except for Australian or West Australian coasts (Massola 1956: 1,
the fact that a few have been found a further 150 km north 5, 14-15). Bone hooks were also reported historically and
than the shell fish-hooks and blanks, extending as far as Point archaeologically in the Lower Murray-Darling Basin (at
Plomer (near Port Macquarie) (Attenbrow et al. 1998: 135; Murray Bridge, Berndt et al. 1993: 14, 96-97; Gerritsen
McBryde 1974: 11, 239, 290; McCarthy 1947: 415).

The natural histor y of Sydney 25

 Attenbrow

Figure 14. Distribution of shell, bone and wooden fish-hooks
2001: 21-22), and two specimens have been excavated,
though undated, at Wallpolla Creek at the junction of
the Murray and Darling Rivers (Figure 13) (Gallus and
Gill 1973).
In the north, there is a gap in the distribution of shell
fish-hooks of some 1000 km between the northern-most
specimens at Port Stephens in New South Wales and
the southern-most specimens on the Keppel Islands in
Queensland (Figure 7; Rowland 1980: 13, 1981; White and
O’Connell 1982:151). In this area of the coast, the gap is
in Eastern Australia.
not due to the absence of Turbo whose distribution extends
north as far as the NSW/Queensland border. However,
Turbo is characteristic of the NSW rocky ocean coastline
and much less common to the north of Port Stephens
where sandy shorelines dominate and the climate is warmer
(Ian Loch pers.comm. 2007). In contrast to New South
Wales where only the single-piece shell fish-hook was used,
in Queensland and Northern Territory there was a range of
different types of fish-hooks, made from different materials
(e.g., coconut and turtle shell) with many made from
several components (Massola 1956: 10-13).

26 The natural histor y of Sydney

 Aboriginal fishing in Port Jackson, and the introduction of shell fish-hooks to NSW
Chronological distribution of shell
fish-hooks and stone files
Many of the shell fish-hooks, blanks and stone files are
in surface collections or from undated excavations.
Excavated relatively well-dated examples of shell
fish-hooks, blanks, turban shells with blanks removed,
and stone files come from only 13 middens, though
each site does not have all items (hooks come from
11, blanks from 9, and stone files from 9). In these
sites shell fish-hooks and pieces identified as definite
fish-hook blanks and stone files occur in levels up
to 1000 years old (Table 2). These figures exclude
specimens that are not accepted as fish-hooks blanks,
stone files, or turban shells with blanks removed,
and where the association between specimens and
radiocarbon ages cannot be established such as at
Curracurrang 2 (Attenbrow et al. 1998; Dyall 2004:
50, 85-89; Glover 1974).
The lack of earlier examples of shell fish-hooks and
blanks is not due to their lack of preservation, as the
earliest accepted specimens are much younger than
the period over which organic materials such as shell
and bone survive in coastal middens, that is, only back
to 3000-3500 years ago in most shell middens. It is
possible earlier securely-dated shell fish-hooks (and
perhaps bone fish-hooks) may be found, but at present I
interpret the evidence as reflecting the relatively recent
introduction of hook and line fishing with the inclusion
of shell fish-hooks into the coastal tool kit almost
1000 years ago and their adoption by people in only a
relatively restricted area of the NSW coast.
Independent invention or diffusion,
and if diffusion from where?
The 1000 km gap between Port Macquarie on the
NSW north coast and Keppel Islands adjacent to
Rockhampton in Queensland in the distribution of
the shell fish-hooks raises several questions in terms
of their origin. How did the idea of making shell
fish-hooks travel to NSW? Was it diffusion from the
north with the idea/concept travelling south but only
being adopted once it reached Point Plomer, or was it
independent invention?
If they were an independent invention along the NSW
coast, Walters (1988:102-103) suggests it unlikely that
they derived from the use of bone points as fish gorges
do not appear to have been part of the NSW coast
fishing gear at 1788 (Lampert 1966; McCarthy 1976:
86), unless, of course, they were used in the past and
the shell fish-hooks replaced them totally. However, it
seems unlikely that bone fish-hooks (as distinct from
gorges) were commonly used in the past and/or used
at an earlier time and that only the shell fish-hooks
survive, as bone normally survives longer and better
than shell in NSW coastal sites (pers.obs.).
Alternatively, Rowland (1982: 118-119) and Walters
(1988: 102, 106) suggest they may have spread
southward from northern Queensland. The southern-
The natural histor y of Sydney
most shell fish-hook in Queensland was found during
excavations in the Keppel Islands (Rowland 1980,
1981, 1999b). The shell fish-hook and a shell disc (fish-
hook blank?) indicate their use and manufacture from
Pinctada. Both items were retrieved from Stratigraphic
Unit 1 in Squares A2 and A3 respectively (Rowland
1999b: 141, Fig. 1). The radiocarbon age for the base
of Stratigraphic Unit 1 in Square A1 is 1080-1331 cal
BP [1.0 probability, 1520±50 BP ANU 2489). The
shell fish-hook from Keppel Islands may therefore be
older than those reported on the east coast of New
South Wales.
If they did come from the north, why were they not
adopted by groups along the coast between Keppel
Island and Point Plomer? Was it that hook-and-line
technology was more suited to the conditions of the
rocky coastlines along the NSW central and south
coasts with their reefs and rock platforms, deep
estuaries and large lagoons, rather than the sandy
beaches and big rivers of the north? (White and
O’Connell 1982: 151).
Another suggestion discussed by Walters (1988: 102–
103, 106) is that they came from the east, that is from
the Pacific, where similar shell fish-hooks were used
on many islands (Little and Ruthenberg 2006: 121-
134). Around 800-600 years ago, New Zealand was
colonised by Polynesian peoples (Anderson et al. 2001:
41). Evidence on Norfolk Island also indicates a brief
period of occupation from the early 13th to early 15th
century AD, that is ca 800-600 years ago (Anderson
et al. 2001: 33, 41). The material culture evidence
and stone raw materials strongly suggest the people
who landed on Norfolk Island were from Polynesia,
probably Raoul Island in the Kermadec Islands, or
from New Zealand via Raoul Island. The timing of
initial occupation of New Zealand and Norfolk Island
while slightly later than the calibrated age ranges
for the Australian east coast shell fish-hooks does
indicate that people were undertaking long-distance
ocean voyages in this general period and supports the
proposition that shell fish-hooks could have arrived
on the NSW central and south coasts from the east.
Oral traditions of the NSW south coast tell of people
arriving at Lake Illawarra by canoe from across the
Pacific Ocean (Bell 1961: 437) or from ‘another land
beyond the sea’ Mathews 1899: 7-10) – this could
mean from somewhere else along the Australian coast,
but could also mean New Zealand or other Polynesian
islands. At present the only other evidence to support
such a proposition, is a series of Polynesian style
ground implements that have been found along the
east Australian coast (McCarthy et al. 1946: 57).
Unfortunately, to date, all come from disturbed and/or
undated contexts, and could well have been introduced
by early European colonists and/or Pacific voyagers
visiting Australia. However, the introduction of shell
fish-hooks from the east is equally as plausible as
independent invention or their coming from the north
with a 1000 km gap in their adoption.
27
 Table 2. New South Wales North and South Coasts. Ages for earliest archaeological contexts in which shell fish-hooks, fish-hook blanks, Turbo shells with blanks removed and stone

28
files have been found. radiocarbon age estimates are based on 2 sigma radiocarbon age calibrations using Calib 5.0.1; for charcoal samples the Southern Hemisphere atmospheric
option; and shell samples the marine option at ∆R=3±69 (Ulm 2006; calibration datasets: Hughen et al. 2004; McCormac et al. 2004
Turbo shell
Fish-hook, BP age range [with probability] and
Fish-hook blank, References (including for
Region Collection place shell [including with fish- Stone file CAL
conventional radiocarbon age associated
shell hook blank/s radiocarbon ages)
partially made] with earliest specimens
removed
Birubi Squares A-B 181, only in 220-223 apparent
4 + 1 317-708 cal BP [0.98] (940±90 SUA-1160)
(Levels 2 to 8 in Squares A-B blanks, 26 trimmed 525
possible shell from Level 8, 75-85 cm deep)
Square A2) (6 in A2/Level 8) (9 in A2/Level 8)
NSW Dyall, LK 2004: 16, 46-47, 50,
Central Coast <1118-1577 cal BP [1.0] (1790±80 BP SUA-1 71, 84, 88-89; 1982:56
183, 5 trimmed; 186 probable 806) shell from C1, Level 2, 15-25 cm deep).
Birubi Square C1-C2,
7 possible in C1/
Levels 1 and 2 Specimens in Level 2 discounted by Dyall as
Level 2, 1 trimmed
indicating age of introduction of fish-hooks.
Great Mackerel Beach,
*-4-342 cal BP[0.85] (220±120 BP ANU-6370 McDonald 1992:39, 45
Sydney region Square 6 spits 1 and 3; 5 2
from charcoal from Square 6 spit 3) Table 12
Square 6a spits 1 and 2
Dallas and Beasley 1977: 2;
Reef Beach, Square 1q, <522-914 cal BP (1150±90 [SUA-401] shell
Sydney region 2 possible O’Donnell and Walker 1982: 3;
spit 1, and auger sample rom near base of midden)
Attenbrow and Bow 2002: 13
Attenbrow

Captain Cooks Landing >239-540 cal BP[0.8] (360±110 ANU-722 for

Place BB4 (various 200 [86 present - present - charcoal from BB4/F/85-90 cm Layer 7); but Megaw, JVS 1974: Table 1;
present - number
Sydney region excavation units, some complete and number not number <972-1345 cal BP[1.0] (1330+-100 BP ANU-721 1993: 44 n8; Attenbrow
not stated
items down to at least 114 broken] stated not stated for BB4/F(165-170 cm) charcoal from lower midden 2010:98

The natural histor y of Sydney

BB4/F2/100-105 cm) above bedrock.
Wattamolla WL/-,
303-691 cal BP [0.99] (560±130 BP ANU-176
Midden Square A1, D1 6 1 1
charcoal from ‘A1 shelly midden strata’
and D2
Megaw & Roberts 1974;
Sydney region
Wattamolla WL/-, Dark 3-4, Table 1,Fig 9[1-12]
509-990 cal BP [0.99] (840±160 BP ANU-177
‘shell-less’ Squares A2, F1, 2 3 3
for charcoal from ‘shell-less’ G1)
G1 and I1
present –
Curracurrang 1CU5/-, 230 cal BP; Modern Gak-462, GaK-483 Megaw 1974: Table 1; 1965:
Sydney region number
CU5/15M (midden) AD.1720-1750 203, 206
not stated
453-662 cal BP [0.8] (570±75 BP ANU-534
Bass Point, Upper charcoal at c.25m depth in H&D Pit E/Bowdler’s Pit III) Bowdler 1970: 61, 1976:
NSW
midden (provenances 8 3 2 possible <740 BP CRA depth/age estimate by Hughes & 254; Hughes & Djohadze
South Coast
not provided) Djohadze 1980 for boundary of upper and 1980: 17-18
lower midden.
 Table 2. continued
Turbo shell
Fish-hook, BP age range [with probability] and
Fish-hook blank, References (including for
Region Collection place shell [including with fish- Stone file CAL
conventional radiocarbon age associated
shell hook blank/s radiocarbon ages)
partially made] with earliest specimens
removed
<<1410±100 NSW-75 at 35-45 cm, and
Currarong 1 Level 1,
1050±100 BP NSW-98 at 45-55 cm). <350
depth unit 1 (0-26 cm 1 4 [+1 in pit] 3
CRA BP depth/age estimate by Hughes &
deep) Lampert 1971: 55, Table 15,
NSW Djohadze for base DU1.
Fig 15; Hughes & Djohadze
South Coast <<1410±100 NSW-75 at 35-45 cm, and
Currarong 1 Level 1, 1980: 12
1050±100 BP NSW-98 at 45-55 cm. 900 CRA
depth unit 2 (26-48 cm 1
BP depth/age estimate by Hughes & Djohadze
deep)
for base of DU2
Abrahams Bosom AB1/ 134-460 cal BP[0.8] (270±70 ANU-6447
1
Square 1/spit 2 charcoal for Square 1/spit 2)
>134-460 cal BP[0.8] (270±70 ANU-6447 Paton & Macfarlane 1989:
NSW Abrahams Bosom AB1/ charcoal for Square 1/spit 2) <281-513 cal 22, 28, 35-36; Boot
South Coast 1 Appendix 3 in Paton and
Square 2/spit 4 BP[0.98] (330±70 BP ANU-6448 for sample
from square 2/spit 8) Macfarlane 1989
Abrahams Bosom AB1/ 268-500 cal BP[0.98] (330+-70 BP ANU-6448
1 possible
Square 2/spit 8 for sample from square 2/spit 8)
259-566 cal BP[1.0] for shell 800±60 BP from
NSW Cemetery Point, Column CP1B/Level 10, also 145-507 cal BP[0.98] for
1 Collier 1975: 15, 28
South Coast C, Level 7 shell 720±60 BP; and <279-532 cal BP[1.0]
for charcoal 390±85 (Paired dates all SUA-260)
St Georges Basin 5,
H19/Level 4 [n=1]
and H20/Level 3 [n=2],

The natural histor y of Sydney

543-722 cal BP[1.0] 710±70 BP ANU-1985 Barz 1977: Appendix 1: xxxi;
[provenance of others 5
NSW charcoal from H18/5a Appendix V; ANU Dating
not given, but four said
South Coast to be within 20 cm of Laboratory Reiner Grun
each other vertically pers.comm. Feb 2008
St Georges Basin 5, H19/ <543-722 cal BP[1.0] 710±70 BP ANU-1985
1
Level 1 charcoal from H18/5a
<312-560 cal BP [0.99] (480±80 Gak-873
NSW Durras North, Levels 1
5 3 2 charcoal from towards the bottom of Level III Lampert 1966: 94-95
South Coast and 2
Aboriginal fishing in Port Jackson, and the introduction of shell fish-hooks to NSW

[excavation unit 21)

<278-574 cal BP. Both fish-hooks are above
ALL dated spits, even above ANU-6931 post
Greenglade, Disaster Bay, AD-1955. Other dates in Trench 2=spit 23,
NSW Colley 1997: 4-7, 15,
Trench 2A, spit 9, and 2 134-527 cal BP[0.9 ANU-6933 charcoal on
South Coast Figs 4 and 7
Trench 2, spit 5 340±120 BP; spit 26, charcoal 278-574 cal
BP[0.9] ANU 460±110 and shell 133-490 cal

29
BP[1] for 690±50 BP SUA-3047 shell
 Attenbrow
Antiquity of the gendered division
of labour in fishing according to
technology along the New South
Wales coast
Irrespective of their origin and how they arrived along the
NSW coast, was it the women who adopted shell fish-
hooks some 1000 years ago and was it only the women
who used them since that time?
Australian Aboriginal societies had a broad division of
labour in subsistence activities with men focussing on
hunting animals and fishing, and women on gathering
plant foods, shellfish and small game, though the way this
was practised varied widely (Berndt and Berndt 1999: 119-
121, 148-149; Keen 2006: 307; Lawrence 1968: 143-147;
Maddock 1982: 169-170). The gendered division of labour
in fishing activities in coastal south-eastern Australia, with
only women using hook-and-line, differed markedly from
other areas of Australia where there was a diverse range
of fishing technologies (Lawrence 1968: 143-144). Where
hooks were part of the fishing technology, either both men
and women used them or, if fishing activities were restricted
to males then, of course, it was only the men, (Bowdler
1976: 249-250; Petrie 1904: 73; Keen 2006: 318-331;
Walters 1988: 107-108). In Moreton Bay, south-eastern
Queensland women did not fish and only began using hook
and line after the introduction of metal hooks to the area
(Petrie 1904: 73; Hall 1982: 85-86).
To explain the coastal south-eastern Australian practice,
Walters (1988: 107-111) proposed that a dual social
system existed there. Under such a system, as described
by Hamilton (1980) for the Western Desert, women had
greater independence in social relations and there was a
different pattern of labour and technology to that where
male hegemonies occurred. Walters contended that the
fact women were able and motivated to take up fishing
with hook and line meant a dual social system existed or
was developing at this time.
Whatever the timing of the events, this gendered division
of labour in fishing according to technology must have
had ramifications for the way subsistence strategies were
organised, particularly the gathering of plants and small
animals, including shellfish, which Australia-wide are
recorded as being the activities of women. Male-female
relationships may also have changed, especially with
regard to the distribution of food gained by each gender
(White and O’Connell 1982:148).
In 1976 Bowdler proposed that the introduction of fish-
hooks not only influenced the catch, but also affected
shellfish collecting strategies since shellfishing was believed
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Pat Hutchings for inviting me to talk
at the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales 2007
Forum. I would like to thank all who have assisted in my Port
Jackson research – archaeological colleagues from all parts of
the discipline, museum colleagues from other disciplines, as
well as numerous students and members of the general public.
I would particularly like to acknowledge the support I have
received from the local Aboriginal organisations, communities
30 The natural histor y of Sydney
to be principally a women’s activity. This hypothesis was
based on evidence from the excavated shell midden at
Bass Point on the NSW south coast, where she said the
earliest fish-hooks and blanks correlated with changes
in the proportion of species and sizes of fishes and in the
abundance of some shellfish species between the Lower
Midden to the Upper Midden. Shell fish-hooks and blanks
were confined to the Upper Midden, the base of which
was dated to 453-662 cal BP (570±75 BP ANU-0534)
(Bowdler 1976: 254). Hughes and Djohadze (1980: 17-18)
place the boundary between the Upper and Lower Midden
at ~740 BP on the basis of a depth/age curve. Bowdler’s
particular hypothesis has not been supported by subsequent
research, as evidence for the manufacture of fish-hooks
occurs at earlier times at other excavated sites (see above);
an analysis of variance showed no significant size difference
between snapper in the pre- and post-hook layers (Owen
1984:82); the change in shellfish composition documented
at Bass Point is not seen consistently in other middens
along the coast (Mackay and White 1987), and may be due
to environmental changes rather than human behaviour
(Rowland 1999a:31-33; and significant chronological
changes in fish species have not been found in excavated
coastal Sydney sites (Attenbrow 2010: 64).
Identifying such gendered behaviours as proposed by
Bowdler and Walters in the archaeological record is thus
difficult – and we have yet to find ways to recognise
these types of behavioural changes in the archaeological
evidence. The implications of the adoption and use of
these small implements by women and the impacts it
may have had on Aboriginal communities in the past still
requires further investigation.
Conclusion
Although there is some uncertainty about the origin of the
shell fish-hooks of coastal NSW and about the antiquity
of the gendered division of labour in their use, these
small artefacts, which appeared on the NSW central and
south coasts 900-1000 years ago, contribute much to the
prehistory of Aboriginal Australia. They assist in identifying
the regional diversity in subsistence strategies that occurred
across Australia, and in particular to the geographic diversity
that occurred in fishing strategies of eastern Australia. They
also play an essential role in identifying and documenting
the changes that occurred over time in coastal subsistence
strategies in this part of Australia. Scenes with women fishing
with hook and line portrayed by the artists of the First Fleet
would, at most, have been seen for only the last 1000 years
or an even shorter period if women were not the sole users of
shell fish-hooks since their adoption along the NSW coast.
and individuals, in addition to funding from The Australian
Institute for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Studies and
the Australian Heritage Commission during my Port Jackson
research. With regard to this paper I particularly thank Ian
Loch, John Paxton and Mark McGrouther of the Australian
Museum, as well as Paul Irish and Jim Specht for their
discussions and information provided, and Sarah Colley and
Mike Rowland for their constructive comments on the paper.
 Aboriginal fishing in Port Jackson, and the introduction of shell fish-hooks to NSW
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