English

Comet and Meteorite Traditions of Aboriginal Australians

History and Philosophy of Physics 2015-06-22 v1

Abstract

Of the hundreds of distinct Aboriginal cultures of Australia, many have oral traditions rich in descriptions and explanations of comets, meteors, meteorites, airbursts, impact events, and impact craters. These views generally attribute these phenomena to spirits, death, and bad omens. There are also many traditions that describe the formation of meteorite craters as well as impact events that are not known to Western science.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1409.1563,
  title  = {Comet and Meteorite Traditions of Aboriginal Australians},
  author = {Duane W. Hamacher},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1409.1563},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, 2014. Edited by Helaine Selin. Springer Netherlands