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Seed Grinding
Archaeological evidence from Cuddie Springs in north-western New South Wales has revealed that Aboriginal people were grinding seeds for food over 30,000 years ago.
In the semi-arid to arid regions of Australia, seed-foods were a major food staple. Aboriginal women made flour from a range of different plant seeds, including those of native grasses, some trees, shrubs, succulents and even ferns. The flour made from these seeds was an extremely nutritious high-energy food that was of vital importance in regions where other more easily processed plant foods were not readily available.
Aboriginal women developed an intricate method of processing the seeds they gathered. Collected material was placed in a coolamon (elongated wooden dish) and skilfully rocked and flicked to separate material of different densities (such as leaves, twigs and sand) so the seeds were easily extracted. Seeds were then winnowed by being rubbed together in handfuls and dropped a short height over the coolamon to allow the fine outer husks to blow away. The seeds were then ground into a meal or flour using a millstone (lower grindstone) and muller (hand-held upper stone) set.
