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theoretical framework of the research with considerable attention
given to understanding assemblage formation. This serves to
highlight the complex range of factors involved in the formation of
lithic assemblages. The nature of the surface archaeological record
as a palimpsest was explored in several sections. The discussion
would have benefitted from a more detailed consideration of
the implications of this for the study, particularly in terms of the
potentially long span of time associated with quarry use compared
to the late Holocene artefact scatters in the more geomorphically
active creek valley below Quarry 35. These artefact scatters become
important later in the study.
The landscape context of the study area is summarised in the
third chapter. From this it is clear that the Mount Wood area is a
very rich lithic landscape with a range of potential raw material
sources. Further, geomorphological and chronological data from
other WNSWAP studies are used to highlight the chronological
context of occupation in the Stud Creek Valley below Quarry 35.
Chapter 4 summarises field and analytical methods which are
critical for understanding the subsequent chapters. The results
of the quarry fieldwork are presented in Chapters 5 through
8. These chapters treat both quarries separately, but essentially
subject each quarry to the same set of technological and spatial
analyses. Several key differences are revealed between the
quarries. In summary, Doelman notes that Quarry 27 exhibits a
limited amount of core reduction compared to Quarry 35.
In Chapter 8 the nature of quarried and non-quarried stone
reduction across the broader landscape is investigated through
the analysis of assemblages from landscape sampling units at
upper and lower Stud Creek. One of these, the Upper Stud Creek
sampling area, was recorded by Doelman, while the Stud 1 and
Stud 2 areas were recorded during WNSWAP fieldwork. Through
the analysis of core morphology and flake characteristics, it is
demonstrated that raw material quality, distribution, nodule size
and form were significant factors that influenced assemblage
composition. A technological strategy of expedient reduction
of the generally lower quality gibber cobbles at the Upper Stud
Creek sampling area is contrasted with the curated reduction of
quarried stone which is used for specialised reduction and tool
manufacture demonstrated at the Stud 1 and Stud 2 locations.
The major conclusions of the study are developed in Chapter
9 where the quarries are compared to evaluate the definition
of what a quarry actually represents. This is an interesting
section of the book where a number of technological analyses
(the proportion of different core types, flake size and platform
characteristics) are undertaken to illustrate key differences in the
reduction strategies employed at both sites. Quarry 35 exhibits a
more intensive pattern of core reduction than Quarry 27 which
is argued to represent a greater focus on blade manufacture. The
second part of this chapter focuses on the relationship between
time and assemblage formation. Here it is argued that the two
quarries were used differently, with visits to Quarry 35 tending
to be longer in duration owing to the more complex nature of
core reduction and the discard of a greater number of tools. The
chapter then moves onto examine the role of different types
of stone resources in assemblage composition throughout the
study area, suggesting that the reduction of stone from gibber
pavements reflects procurement embedded in other activities,
while the quarries reflect a more specialised pattern of use, with
an emphasis on the complex reduction sequence at Quarry
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35 compared to Quarry 27. The chapter concludes with a reevaluation of quarry definitions concluding that quarries are
often different in character, complex and contain material related
to not only to extraction but also core reduction.
I was slightly disappointed that the discussion of quarry
definition did not move beyond the correlation to functional
factors. The quarry as a distinct entity is an anthropological
concept without regard for the variability and time-depth of
the archaeological record. Doelman argues that the use of
stone procured from adjacent gibber pavements at the Upper
Stud Creek sampling area does not represent quarrying as
the material was not removed from the source. I find it hard
to agree with her on the basis that functional conclusions
implied by site types prejudice one type of behaviour over
others by attempting to assign an average behaviour to an
assemblage. As Doelman notes, complex processes have led to
the formation of the archaeological record, and this includes the
different periods over which accumulation occurred. Given the
acknowledged palimpsest nature of the record, there then seems
little justification for inferring models based on ethnographic
notions of site function. All of the assemblages evaluated in the
study exhibit quarry-like behaviour, as they do other types of
behaviour. It is the relationship between these and assemblage
composition through time that is of real interest.
Chapter 10 reaffirms the conclusions of the study drawn from
the previous chapters. Doelman notes that Australian quarry
studies are rare and that further work is required to understand
the role of raw material in technological systems.
I enjoyed reading Time to Quarry. Many years ago I briefly
participated in some of the fieldwork at Quarry 35 and it
is pleasing to see the results of this work in print. My only
observations regarding the presentation of the volume are that
it would have benefitted from careful proof reading prior to
printing and the greyscale format makes it difficult to interpret
some of the maps which are critical to the conclusions drawn
from the data. Some of the typographic errors may reflect the
difficulty of formatting word documents into the BAR style,
rather than errors of the author.
This is an impressive study that provides the justification for
detailed artefact-level analysis of large samples from individual
locations – something I wholly support. Time to Quarry is a must
read for anyone interested in Australian stone artefacts and more
specifically quarry studies.
THE MAKERS AND MAKING OF
INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM
COLLECTIONS
Nicolas Peterson,
Hamby (eds)
Lindy
Allen
&
Louise
Melbourne University Press, Carlton, 2008, vxi+596pp,
ISBN 978-0-522-85568-5
Reviewed by Michael C. Westaway
Queensland Museum, PO Box 3300, South Brisbane, QLD 4101,
Australia
Those interested in gaining a greater appreciation of the history
of acquisition of many of the country’s significant ethnographic
Number 69, December 2009
Book Reviews
collections will not be disappointed with this volume. The 19
chapters of the book provide a comprehensive overview of the
individuals that for various reasons decided to make significant
ethnographic collections. Like many volumes that are produced
as a result of symposia, The Makers and Making of Indigenous
Australian Museum Collections is not an easy read. However, the
individual chapters are easily accessible and provide a good
starting point for an investigation of important collectors. The
book also provides an important resource for those interested
in the motivations behind the collectors of Aboriginal
ethnographic collections.
The volume is divided into four parts. The first part
considers the phase of collecting in an institutional context. I
found Satterthwait’s taphonomic approach in Chapter 1 for
understanding collection management formation processes
quite sensible, although at times his position was perhaps
overstated; for example, ‘the creation of a collection entails the
making of connections, the establishment of associations, that
link together in networks of meaning. Collections are then,
ultimately objects of the mind’ (p.54). Robins’ Chapter 2 provides
a valuable insight into the many reasons behind the general
apathy underlying the Queensland Museum’s (QM) approach to
ethnographic collecting (although it has in times past collected
quite vigorously in the fields of physical/biological anthropology
and archaeology). Robins notes that this circumstance is largely
a result of the failure of the institution to engage a long-term
curator of anthropology, such as a Tindale or McCarthy, but
history has also played a cruel role in the QM’s past, with cadet
ethnologist Lieutenant Ken Jackson being killed in Papua New
Guinea in 1943 and the falling out between Malcolm Calley
and the QM Director George Mack in 1953. It was not until the
appointment of Michael Quinnell that the QM had found a longterm curator committed to devoting much of his professional life
to getting the collection in a state comparable to other Australian
museums. In Chapter 3 Leo notes that it was not until the 1970s
that the number of professionals in Queensland reached a level
where they had a significant impact on Queensland society and
institutions. Leo provides an account of the development of the
University of Queensland’s Anthropology Museum during the
peak phase of QM disinterest in ethnographic collecting. The
development of the UQ Anthropology Museum, largely derived
from the collections of Lindsay Winterbotham, was a catalyst
for the development of its Department of Anthropology. Leo
also discusses at some length the motivating factors behind the
acquisition of ethnographic objects by Winterbotham (doomed
race theory and salvage ethnography).
Part 2 discusses collecting under the influence of social
evolutionary theory. In Chapter 4 Elizabeth Willis introduces
us to the gentlemen collectors of Victoria. It is a very positive
paper as it points the way forward as to how such collections,
even in the absence of good provenance, can continue to play
an important role in interpreting Aboriginal society. John
Mulvaney’s Chapter 5 provides an excellent synthesis of the
work of Spencer, who was the pioneer of many approaches in
museum anthropology; for example he was the first curator to
develop a comprehensive catalogue of the museum’s collection,
a task that was not emulated by any other Australian museum
for another 60 years. Very importantly, Mulvaney points out the
importance of assessing the contribution of collectors in the
intellectual milieu of the time, rather than simply addressing
such issues from a contemporary viewpoint. The importance
of empathy in undertaking historical assessments seems to be
something that many researchers of nineteenth century issues
have forgotten. In Chapter 6 Kate Kahn provides a very solid
account of the significance of Roth’s work in north Queensland.
She notes that Roth was a man well ahead of his times in terms
of his sympathies for Aboriginal people. In the midst of his role
as protector and all the opposition he experienced in the position
he also managed to produce a comprehensive ethnographic
collection and numerous scientific papers and reports. Chapter 7
is an interesting account of the reasons behind the development
of ethnographic collections at the Berlin Ethnological Museum.
It would appear that there was close research collaboration
between ethnography and biological anthropology in order to
develop knowledge in both the fields of human and cultural
evolution which were inextricably linked at the museum. Lally
informs us that the museum was interested in documenting
different levels within human civilisation to establish if there
was a definable pattern of progression towards higher civilisation.
Chapter 8 by Nobbs provides an engaging account of collectors
in the arid region around Cooper’s Creek, including the work
of Samuel Gason and Otto Siebert, and how this was to heavily
influence the writings of Alfred Howitt. Howitt’s 1861 rescue
party, responsible for recovering the sole survivor of the forward
Burke party, initiated a series of ethnographic investigations
and collecting programmes amongst groups in the vicinity of
Innamincka. Ian Coates in Chapter 9 provides an account of the
collecting practices of Henry Hillier at the Lutheran missions
of Killalpaninna and Hermannsburg. Hillier’s collecting
environment was underpinned by a clash between Spencer and
Strehlow, and Coates reveals the complex physical, intellectual
and political environment that the young collector endured.
Ross Chadwick’s Chapter 10 is essentially a historic account
of the naively obedient collector John Tunney. Tunney had no
formal training, collected in the main natural history specimens
and took what would appear to be quite average ethnographic
photographs. Part of his role was to develop a collection to
illustrate the diversity of Aboriginal material culture across
Western Australia and to obtain objects for the exchange of
cultural artefacts from overseas. This he did and Chadwick
informs us that the collection remains largely understudied.
Kaus’ Chapter 11 represents another straightforward historical
account which provides a valuable background to the origins of
the National Museum of Australia’s ethnographic collections. It
also provides a worthwhile definition of the different divisions
of collectors, amateurs and professionals.
Part 3 is an investigation of collecting for the sake of salvage
anthropology. In Chapter 12 Philip Jones provides an account of
the success of the ethnographic collecting activities undertaken
by Norman Tindale. His background in natural history, detail
in documenting provenance and his willingness to adopt new
principles of anthropological analysis resulted in the creation of
arguably the most valuable ethnographic collection in Australia.
The chapter focuses on his two initial collecting expeditions to
Groote Eylandt and Princess Charlotte Bay, and illustrates how
Tindale’s anthropological fieldwork later evolved into an approach
that would appear to be similar to the American four-field model
of anthropological research (social anthropology, archaeology,
Number 69, December 2009
89
Book Reviews
physical anthropology and linguistics). Chapter 13 discusses the
work of Lloyd Warner who would appear from Hamby’s account
to have a clear appreciation of how material culture items were
integrated within the overall structuring of values in Yolngu
society. Considering that sometime after 1935 Warner lost his
eight fieldbooks and other archives in a flood, Hamby has done
an impressive job of getting into the mindset of this collector
through the limited available sources. In Chapter 14 we are
provided with an important insight into the value of the work of
the seemingly indefatigable Donald Thomson. This is an excellent
introduction into the significance of Thomson’s collections and
the importance of his work. Ursula McConnel represents a very
interesting study of ethnographic collecting as she was the only
professionally-trained female anthropologist collecting during the
early 1920s–1930s. In Chapter 15 Anne O’Gorman Perusco reveals
much about the character of McConnel and the objections that
she had to overcome in order to gather collections from the land of
the Wik Mungkan people. Chapter 16 provides a comprehensive
account of the work of the amateur ethnographer Charles
Mountford, discussing amongst many matters the opposition he
received from the professional anthropological establishment of
the time. Mountford was a successful advocate for anthropological
research and coordinated the major multidisciplinary AmericanAustralian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land in 1948, much
to the abhorrence of a number of prominent professional
anthropologists. The history of the expedition and a discussion of
some of its outcomes form a central part of the chapter. I get the
impression that May has just begun to scratch the surface of the
significance of this expedition and it would appear that a much
greater appreciation of the expedition will come to light through
further investigation of its collections and associated archives.
Val Attenbrow’s Chapter 17 focuses on the work of Frederick
McCarthy, a curator interested in gathering both archaeological
and ethnographic collections (in other words a balanced sought
of fellow). This chapter represents an impressive summary of the
significant contribution made by McCarthy and the important
role his work played in establishing the foundations of archaeology
and Aboriginal studies across Australia.
The final section, Part 4, covers the time from around 1980
until the present in a section titled ‘Transformed Collecting’. The
collection of Aboriginal art is a major theme of contributions
grouped here. Chapter 18 provides an account of the work of
Ronald and Catherine Berndt, private people who produced
an enormous record (both published and archival) on their
collections. The Berndt’s did not distinguish between art and
material culture and had an inclusive approach to studying such
collections as complementary documents rather than distinct
elements. The work of Helen Wurm, who collected the magnificent
bark paintings that now reside in the National Museum of
Australia, is summarised in Chapter 19. Wurm’s anthropological
training in Vienna and London provided her with a very different
intellectual approach to that of Mountford (she collected not long
after the time of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition
to Arnhem Land). While Mountford approached bark painting
as fine art, Wurm (where possible) explored the relationship
between bark paintings and their ceremonial and ancestral context.
The final chapter is a very interesting exposé of the origins of an
offshore collection known as the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art
Collection which is currently held at the University of Virginia.
90
Professor Ruhe seems to have been an eccentric character that
underwent a life-changing experience in Arnhem Land, becoming
an Aboriginal art tragic during a Fulbright Scholarship to the
University of Adelaide in 1965, much to the benefit of the Spence
Collection that perhaps would have dispersed amongst collectors
if it was not for his enthusiasm.
At the end of the book it is clear to the reader that different
periods in Australia’s past saw different motivations for collecting.
It is difficult to deny that these collections have played an
important role in not only public education (both domestically
and internationally), but perhaps more importantly in cultural
revival for those Aboriginal communities that have chosen to
employ the collections for these purposes.
One is given the impression that these chapters represent a
re-emergence and reinvigoration of research into the history
of collecting in anthropology and ethnography. This is further
demonstrated by the appearance of a number of conferences that
have included further analysis of the work of ethnographers (e.g.
the recent conference on the Roth family and another this year
on the work of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition
to Arnhem Land). This can only be good news, for if such
collections are allowed to continue to languish in collection
spaces without significant research and Indigenous community
engagement their significance will slip further from view. In this
light, the collection of chapters presented in this volume stand
as a good starting point for students and academics interested in
pursuing research on ethnographic collections.
The importance of the volume is perhaps elevated by the fact
that many of the articles are written by curators and museum-based
researchers with responsibilities for the collections they are writing
about. In some cases, these curators have been working with the
collections for decades and once retired/departed, much knowledge
associated with the collections will likely disappear with them.
Unfortunately not one of the authors is an Indigenous Australian,
despite the fact that all major State museums and galleries employ
Indigenous curators and have done so now for some time. It
would be of great interest to read the thoughts and perspectives of
Indigenous curators undertaking research on such collections.
Finally the study is interesting as it perhaps also tells us
something of the history of the disciplines of anthropology
and archaeology. Outside of the work of Tindale and McCarthy,
there seems to have historically been little interest in exploring
the relationship between material culture and the antiquity of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander occupation. Ethnography was
of greater interest than establishing a geological antiquity of people
in Australia, perhaps reflecting the views prolific in publications of
the nineteenth and early twentieth century arguing that Aboriginal
people were a Stone Age people and therefore much more could
be learnt about them from ethnographic observation and related
collecting activities. Very few people thought that Aboriginal
occupation of Australia had a Pleistocene antiquity until the early
ages were produced from Kenniff Cave in 1960. This perhaps
reveals to us why a greater professional emphasis was placed on
ethnography and anthropology than archaeology for much of
Australia’s scholarly past.
Number 69, December 2009