Ethnographic artefacts: the iceberg’s tip. In F.D. McCarthy, Commemorative Papers (Archaeology, Anthropology, Rock Art), ed. Jim Specht
Abstract
The Australian Museum has over 2000 ethnographic artefacts from south-eastern Australia and these form a major data base for any inquiry into the material culture of this regions Aboriginal inhabitants. Unfortunately this collection is not totally representative since most of the ephemeral items discussed in the ethnographic literature, items that greatly add to our understanding of the richness of Aboriginal life, are not represented. This paper provides an explanation as to why this is so.
