Risk and economic reciprocity: an analysis of three regional Aboriginal food-sharing systems in Holocene Australia

Abstract

This paper is a theoretical examination of food-sharing systems and archaeological theory. The specific aim is to assess the archaeological indicators of three different food-sharing systems, with the variable relationships between risk-management, social regionalisation, economic reciprocity and exchange. It is suggested that the Bogong moth (Agrotis infusa) festivities in the southern highlands of New South Wales, the Bunya nut (Araucaria bidwillii) gatherings in southeast Queensland and the seasonal food-sharing along the riverine corridors of the Lake Eyre Basin form a continuum between positive and negative reciprocity.