It was the traditional view, based on an assumed stereotype: ie. a simple hunter-gather/agriculture dichotomy that contemporary research hasn't borne out. Indi

It was the traditional view, based on an assumed stereotype: ie. a simple hunter-gather/agriculture dichotomy that contemporary research hasn't borne out. Indigenous Australians certain used hunting and gathering amongst a variety of food-obtaining methods like fish farming and yam cultivation (very various in the different nations). But they did so in landscapes that they actively managed through a range of techniques (including but not limited to use of fire) to make the flora and fauna of their choice readily available in their country (and to keep them available throughout good & bad seasons). Popular accounts of the contemporary research can be found in Bill Gammage's The Biggest Estate on Earth and Bruce Pascoe's Dark Emu. It's a fast-changing research landscape, though, with much left to be discovered.