Two possible cases of trephination from Australia

Cranial surgery has been performed for thousands of years among a wide range of cultures. Although the extent of its use has varied, ethnographically the operation has almost always been used as a form of medical treatment following cranial trauma or as a remedy for head pain. This paper describes two cases of cranial trauma on Australian Aboriginal remains from widely separated areas of the continent. The position and morphology of the trauma, as well as other associated features, suggest that these individuals underwent some form of surgical procedure. The features are similar to those found on accepted cases of trephination from elsewhere. If these individuals did undergo some sort of trephination, they are the first to be reported from Australia. Confirmation of the diagnosis would also increase our understanding of the geographical range of the technique in this part of Oceania, which was known previously only from parts of Melanesia.     

Boredom, Time, and Modernity: An Example from Aboriginal Australia

In this article, I explore an anthropologically underresearched topic, boredom, utilizing ethnographic data from the Australian Aboriginal settlement of Yuendumu and situating that research in a comparative perspective. I examine the concept's genesis and meaning at Yuendumu using the social-constructivist approach to boredom as proposed in literature studies, sociology, and philosophy. That approach provides an account of how the emergence of boredom in 18th-century Europe is linked to processes of modernity. That perspective, however, has led to claims that boredom is a Western phenomenon and that its existence elsewhere is because of "Westernization." In this article, I argue against that perspective by linking instances of boredom at Yuendumu to perceptions of personhood and to conceptualizations of being in time—particularly socioculturally specific ways of perceiving time and postcolonial temporalities as generating the emergence of boredom. This boredom is a historically and socioculturally specific phenomenon, arising out of distinct sociocultural engagements with locally particular processes of modernity.     

A palaeodemographic model of late holocene central murray Aboriginal society,Australia

A recent palaeopathological study has indicated that prehistoric Aboriginal society in some parts of southeastern Australia was sedentary and supported large populations. This conclusion generally supports archaeological evidence that a period of socio-enconomic intensification took place over the last 2–3,000 years. Also, concurrent research has focused attention on the possibility of extensive reductions among Aboriginal populations of the area through the introduction of smallpox. This process took place at a very early stage of European colonisation and in regions yet to be explored. As a result, smallpox probably killed large numbers of Aborigens before Europeans knew what the size of indigenous populations were. With these factors in mind, this paper uses both empirically derived data and hypothetical reconstruction to formulate a model for the growth of the Aboriginal population of the central Murray in the late Holocene.     

Endocranial capacity of Western Australian aboriginal crania: comparisons and association with stature and latitude

The endocranial capacities (ECCs) of 73 Western Australian Aboriginal crania were estimated. Using water-standardised mustard seed, ECCs were (in cm3) males--means 1,239, S.D. 92.3; females--means 1,118, S.D. 77.5. The male and female mean values were smaller than those previously published for Australia as a whole; sexual dimorphism (9.7%) was also slightly lower. Comparison of the Western Australian Aboriginal sample with a large Danish sample (Pakkenberg and Voigt, 1964; Holloway, 1980) permitted analysis of factors underlying sex and population differences in ECC. In both samples about 40% of the mean sex differences in ECC could be related to stature differences; for each sex almost 2/3 of the differences between the Western Australian and Danish means appear to be associated with differences in stature and latitude. Allometric adjustments are also involved.     

Genetic and socio-cultural differentiation in the aborigines of Arnhem Land, Australia

Four tribes of Arnhem Land were surveyed for dermatoglyphics; based on pattern intensity indices, total ridge-counts, and a distance statistic combining the two, it was shown that the tribes can be arranged into western (Tiwi, Gunwinggu) and eastern (“Murngin” and Andilyaugwa) groups. This substantiates observations made on Arnhem Land by linguists and social anthropologists. From a survey of allele frequency traits of blood factors and P.T.C. tasting, distance statistics were computed between the four tribes. These confirmed the relative isolation of the extreme Arnhem Land tribes. Distance statistics were also computed between the four tribes and two Central Australian tribes, the Aranda and Wailbri. The Aranda and “Murngin” were relatively close together agreeing with theories that the Aranda are derived from a not too remote southwards migration from north Arnhem Land, as supported by linguistic data. Correlations between the biological, geographical and linguistic distances were positive, and generally agreed with the expectation that socio-cultural and linguistic barriers are important in regulating gene flow between populations. This study emphasizes the need to consider biological distances in association with ecological and socio-cultural factors.     

Human skeletal remains from Mumba Rock Shelter,Northern Tanzania

During their expeditions in Northern Tanzania in 1934/38, Ludwig and Margit Kohl-Larsen (discoverer of Eyasi and Garusi hominids)excavated i. a. the Mumba Rock Shelter. This important excavation yielded human skeletal remains of 18 individuals. The most relevant results of the morphological analyses are presented here. According to the affinities and absolute dating (hominid IX, 3700 B. C. ), the present study supports recent indications of the presence of Negroid groups in East Africa at an early stage in Later Stone Age times.     

High pattern intensity indices and ridge counts from the Milne bay district of Papua-New Guinea and their bearing on the origin of the Australian Aborigines

A population sample from the Milne Bay district of Papua-New Guinea was found to have extremely high pattern intensity indices and total ridge-counts. These fell into the range of certain Australian Aboriginal tribes, and so argue for a possible connection between this region of Melanesia and the Australian Aborigines, although equally strong connections with other regions of Melanesia are known.     

Human skeletal remains from the cave of Hearths,Makapansgat, Northern Transvaal

A detailed study has been made of the oldest South African Upper Pleistocene hominid remains found in Acheulian context in a well-stratified sealed cave deposit, the Cave of Hearths, Makapansgat, Northern Transvaal. Possibly 55,000 years of age, the remains comprise a juvenile right mandibular body with teeth, and part of a right radius. The mandible is highly robust, markedly prognathous, has a slight to moderate bony chin, an appreciable planum alveolare, a low supraspinous foramen, large alveolar part with big tooth roots, parallel upper and lower borders, a superior transverse torus and poorly developed genial apophysis. The teeth are fairly large, narrow and elongate; M₂ is smaller than M₁; both molars have a +5 cusp pattern, and the first molar shows moderate taurodontism. There is good evidence that the jaw shows congenital lack of M₃: after the Chinese Lantian jaw, this is the second oldest hominid mandible and the first African fossil man with this feature. The radius has a relatively large head atop a disproportionately narrow neck; marked angulation of neck on shaft; and a strongly developed bicipital tubercle. The remains show a cluster of features which ally them with African Neandertaloids and earlier hominids of N.W. Africa. These geographically widespread African remains may represent a transitional population between H. erectus and H. sapiens neanderthalensis. This population has been called by Campbell, this author and others H. sapiens rhodesiensis (after the first-discovered specimen from Broken Hill): to this taxon the Cave of Hearths bones are tentatively assigned.     

Bird pollination in South Western Australia: A checklist

At least 560 species of flowering plants distributed in 64 genera and 16 families native to Southern Western Australia are pollinated by birds. This represents 15% of the total flora, and indicates adaptation to bird pollination is a major evolutionary force in this region.     

Categories of race: technologies of knowing and governing Australian aborigines†

This article documents the first decades of the work of the Aboriginal Protection Board in Victoria, Australia in the mid-nineteenth century, as it oversees the establishment of mission stations to gather up Aboriginal peoples and provide protection from settler violence. It augments existing accounts of white settler governance of Aboriginal peoples by examining the social and historical conditions for the emergence of separations and distinctions between Aboriginal peoples through shifting governmental versions of the ‘Aboriginal problem’. The production of race-based categories of persons is highlighted in the State's management of the Aboriginal children through the mission systems and their effects on Aboriginal ties to community and identity.     

Human skeletal remains from cremation urns in the National Museum of denmark

Analysis of the skeletal contents of this random collection of cremation urns provides some very interesting general observations (see Table 1, below). The remains of as many as 19 people have been identified, although fewer actually may be present (e.g., see 875 and 876). Two of these 19 are infants, ages 1 and 3, and a third may be a child of 11 years. Where sex can be identified, ten of the “adults” appear to be females, and only 5 are identified as males. The high proportion of females may be explained by the kinds of cinerary containers here reviewed. The relatively simple urns which are represented in this selection of cinerary containers are typical of those used for women, reflecting the relatively low status of women in the ancient world. Also of note is the fact that 4 of the females were between 17 and 22.5 years of age at death, and another 2 may have been about 25 years at death. This suggests that many women were dying in childbirth. The diverse origins of these vessels prevents us from reaching any specific conclusions regarding their use, but the high proportion of young adult women suggests that they had been married, and probably that they died in childbirth before having achieved high status as the mother of grown children. Therefore, these women received relatively low status interments in inexpensive containers which probably were placed among the more elaborate sarcophagi and other containers in upper class tombs. These were the target of excavations during the 19th and early 20th century.     

Human genome diversity: Ethics and practice in Australia

Researchers who propose projects about the human past frequently fail to distinguish between scientific value and the impact of both the proposal and the possible outcome for participant groups. It is only in recent years, and still in relatively few cases, that Aboriginal Australians have been directly involved in projects about themselves. The legacy of previous research experiences is a lingering distrust of ‘white’ researchers who visit communities briefly, take material/information, publish papers, and are rarely seen again. This distrust is understandable but in turn becomes a barrier which many well-intentioned researchers are unable or unwilling to overcome. The expectations of the scientific community, particularly in the field of molecular biology, simply do not make allowances in terms of time or funding to build a trusting relationship between the researchers and the researched. Sensitivity to indigenous rights and expectations with regard to scientific research brings obligations to scientific investigators with which few are well prepared to deal. The direct involvement of indigenous people in research about themselves is essential to the development of trusting working relationships likely to result in valuable outcomes for all participants and increased opportunities for ongoing research. Well negotiated, co-operative research can provide information of value to both scientific investigators and local participants, but adequate and ongoing consultation, as well as the return of results to the communities in an accurate and appropriate form must be part of research strategy. For example, information about mitochondrial DNA studies may assist Indigenous Australian people, whose families were dispersed during colonisation by Europeans, to trace links with the past, find ‘stolen children’ and by association with other anthropological, linguistic and archaeological data, repossess some remnants of traditional knowledge, but researchers must ensure that participants have a realistic understanding of the limitations of the research.     

Yards,corridors, and mosaics: How to burn a boreal forest

Ethnographic studies have established that, until shortly after World War II, Indians in northern Alberta regularly and systematically fired habitats to influence the local distribution and relative abundance of plant and animal resources. In ways similar to what has been reported for hunter-gatherers in other regions, this pyrotechnology contributed to an overall fire mosaic that, in this case, formerly characterized northern boreal forests. Crosscultural comparisons of these practices with those in other parts of North America, as well as in several parts of Australia, illustrate functionally parallel strategies in the ways that hunter- gatherers employed habitat fires, specifically in the maintenance of fire yards and fire corridors in widely separated and different kinds of biological zones.We would like to thank Ross Wein tor his comments and suggestions on this paper, especially his ideas about the characteristics of fire mosaics as they would occur under natural conditions in boreal forests. We are also indebted to several granting agencies for funds that supported our earlier research. They include the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Museum of Man, Fire Science Center (University of New Brunswick), the Boreal Institute for Northern Studies (University of Alberta), the Australian Institute for Aboriginal Studies, and the Northern Australian Research Unit (Australian National University).     

Morphological distance between australopithecine,human and ape skulls

This paper attempts to quantify the morphological difference between fossil and living species of hominoids. The comparison is based upon a balanced list of craniodental characters corrected for size (Wood & Chamberlain, 1986). The conclusions are: craniodentally the australopithecine species are a unique and rather uniform group, much nearer to the great apes than to humans; overall, their skull and dentition do not resemble the human more than the chimpanzee’s do.     

Eubrachythoracid arthrodires from Gogo, Western Australia

Two monotypic genera of coccosteoid eubrachythoracid arthrodires are described from the Upper Devonian Gogo Formation of Western Australia as Compagopiscis gen. nov. and Gogopiscis gen. nov. They are most closely related to Torosteus Gardiner & Miles, also from the Gogo Formation, and all three are placed in the family Plourdosteidae Vezina, 1990; Compagopiscis and Gogopiscis are jointly the sister-group of Torosteus.     

Myxomycetes from the Kimberley Region, Western Australia

An account of the Myxomycetes of the Kimberley Region of north Western Australia is presented. It is based on collections obtained mainly from the Napier and Oscar Ranges during the Kimberley Research Project, 1988. The thirty-two collections represent eighteen species, four of which are new records for Australia and twelve new to Western Australia. All but one are new to the Kimberley region, from where only four species were previously known.