Before Time Began
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Long before European settlers mapped the Australian continent, its indigenous peoples wove an intricate tapestry of creation stories — and Before Time Began by Charles P. Mountford stands as one of the most authoritative records of this ancient oral tradition. The work chronicles the mythological narratives of Australia's Aboriginal peoples, presenting the Dreamtime stories that explain the origins of the land, its creatures, and the spiritual laws that govern human existence. Mountford, a celebrated anthropologist and ethnologist with decades of fieldwork across remote Australia, brings these sacred stories to life with a depth of cultural understanding rarely matched in the literature of his era. Mountford's writing illuminates the profound relationship between the Aboriginal peoples and their landscape, arguing that these myths are not mere folklore but a sophisticated cosmological system embedded in the physical world itself. His meticulous documentation style preserves the integrity of oral traditions that might otherwise have been lost to time, making this volume an invaluable resource for scholars of anthropology, indigenous studies, and Australian history alike. For any reader curious about the world's oldest living culture and the stories that shaped a continent, this work presents an irresistible invitation to look beyond the horizon of recorded history.
Author: Charles P. Mountford
Format: Hardback
Genre: Australian history
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Long before European settlers mapped the Australian continent, its indigenous peoples wove an intricate tapestry of creation stories — and Before Time Began by Charles P. Mountford stands as one of the most authoritative records of this ancient oral tradition. The work chronicles the mythological narratives of Australia's Aboriginal peoples, presenting the Dreamtime stories that explain the origins of the land, its creatures, and the spiritual laws that govern human existence. Mountford, a celebrated anthropologist and ethnologist with decades of fieldwork across remote Australia, brings these sacred stories to life with a depth of cultural understanding rarely matched in the literature of his era. Mountford's writing illuminates the profound relationship between the Aboriginal peoples and their landscape, arguing that these myths are not mere folklore but a sophisticated cosmological system embedded in the physical world itself. His meticulous documentation style preserves the integrity of oral traditions that might otherwise have been lost to time, making this volume an invaluable resource for scholars of anthropology, indigenous studies, and Australian history alike. For any reader curious about the world's oldest living culture and the stories that shaped a continent, this work presents an irresistible invitation to look beyond the horizon of recorded history.