The Mystery of Narrabeen Man (S)

NARRABEEN MAN - a History Mystery 

In January 2005 a human skeleton was uncovered near a bus shelter in Narrabeen, north of Sydney. Contractors were digging a trench to install electricity cables when they made the gruesome discovery.

At first it was thought the remains were modern so a sample of bone was sent to a laboratory in America for testing. The remains were dated to around 4000 years ago and identified as those of an Aboriginal man, 30 to 40 years of age and 183 centimetres tall.

More disturbing was the realisation that the man had probably died a slow and painful death.

Five small, sharp bone points were found lodged in his spine and there was evidence on his skull of a serious head injury. 

The mystery of the Narrabeen Man is very interesting. It is an investigation of an ancient Australian burial, and gives us some evidence about what happened to people thousands of years ago.

YOUR TASK: To help you through the investigation, write these questions down and answer them in your books.

• What do I know about Narrabeen Man?
• What do I need to know?
• How can I find out?

Once you have answered the questions in your books, send your answers to me, via DISCUSSION 1 - What do I know about Narrabeen Man?

(For students working from home and not online, complete all the tasks in your workbook, take a photo of your work and send it via an email to me. Make sure the Email title is the title and number of the activity please)

YOUR TASK:  Find the evidence as you work your way through this WebQuest to answer the questions below:

Part 1. Where was Narrabeen Man found?

Part 2. How long ago did Narrabeen Man die?

Part 3. What did archaeologists find?

Part 4. What did experts say?

Part 5. What do you think happened to the Narrabeen Man?

Write these questions into your books so you can keep returning to them as you research and investigate. Take notes as you go.

As you work through the PROCESS page, you will be uploading your answer to each of these questions, in the corresponding DISCUSSIONS on CANVAS.

Part 1. Where was Narrabeen Man found?

Narrabeen Man was found next to a bus stop in Sydney.

Use Google Maps to find a picture of what the place looks like now.

Search for ‘Octavia Street and Ocean Street Narrabeen’ in Google Maps: https://www.google.com.au/maps. 

Copy one picture of the street view and one picture of the birds eye (above) view to show where the Narrabeen Man was found, and paste them into a Microsoft Word document. 

Then, upload your document in DISCUSSION Part 1: Where was Narrabeen Man Found?

This is how you copy pictures on the screen:

Step 1: Birds eye view

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4: Street view

Part 2. How long ago did the Narrabeen Man die?

• Create a timeline on a large piece of paper (or using technology if you are that clever!) using the following events to show when in the past the Narrabeen Man died.
• You will need to research when each of these events happened and then place them on your timeline in order.
• Make sure they are in the right place on the timeline!
• You can use these simple illustrations to represent each of the events if you want drawings as well as the title of the event. 

When you have finished, take a photo of your work and upload it to DISCUSSION Part 2: How long ago did Narrabeen Man die?

How many years ago did Narrabeen Man die? upload your answer to  DISCUSSION Part 2 as well!

Part 3. What did archaeologists find?

This is a drawing of the bones in the position they were in in the ground. Some bones were missing.

It also shows artefacts that were found alongside the bones - some were in the bone..

Have a look at a picture of a human skeleton so you know which bits are what and where they are on a human.

Answer these questions below in your books and then post your answers in DISCUSSION Part 1: What did archaeologists find? 

• Why may some of the bones have been missing?
• What did the archaeologists find?

Part 4. What do the experts say?

Watch this episode of 'Catalyst' (copy the web address below and paste into your search engine) about the Narrabeen Man to give you an idea about what happened:

https://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/narrabeen-man/11010512

• After watching the video, write the questions below,  in your book and answer them.
• Upload your answers to DISCUSSION Part 4: What do the experts say?

1.  What was the scientific method used to find the date of Narrabeen Man's death?
2. How long ago did he die? (does this match what you said?)
3. Who were the 3 specialists that the interviewer spoke to?
4. What was the evidence that told them it was the skeleton of a man?
5. What did the aboriginal elder find odd about the size of Narrabeen Man's skeleton? What did this tell him about Narrabeen Man?
6. Describe the evidence that led the scientists to believe Narrabeen Man had met a violent death.
7. List the evidence we have, that tells us Narrabeen Man was not from the area in which he died.
8. Explain the other evidence that supports this idea.
9. What is the theory as to how Narrabeen Man died?

Part 5. What do you think happened to the Narrabeen Man?

What do you think happened to Narrabeen Man? Explain what you think and why using the evidence you have found during this WebQuest.

Remember, we do not know for sure, all the answers the experts use is their best guest, based on the EVIDENCE! You do the same!

Write your response in your book first and then share in DISCUSSION Part 5: What do you think happened to Narrabeen Man?