Torres Strait history Research Papers

The fire that engulfed Sydney’s Garden Palace building in 1882 also destroyed much of the ethnological collection of the Australian Museum. Among the objects presumed lost were items from the Lewis Collection, obtained in the Torres... more

Originally published in T. Rowse (Ed.), (2005) Contesting Assimilation: Histories of Colonial and Indigenous Initiatives. Perth: API-Network.

The Framework for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages (FATSIL) was introduced in 2015 as part of the new Australian curriculum (ACARA, n.d.-a). The current study utilises a methodology of critical discourse analysis in order... more

In 1985 and 1990 a Queensland Museum research team visited the island of Ngiangu (Booby Island) to carry out investigations into the island's Indigenous and non-Indigenous archaeology. Forming the western boundary of Kaurareg traditional... more

This paper examines changes in epitaphic content over 115 years that have resulted in commemorative monuments that, in total, serve as an autobiography of the Saibaian people. On one reading the Saibaians in these biographies can be said... more

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- by Vincent CHARPENTIER and +1
  Ginette Auxiette
- •
- 321
  Organizational Behavior, Architectural Engineering, Religion, Sumerian Religion

This paper presents new radiocarbon dates from an excavation undertaken on the island of Kirriri in Kaurareg Country in south Western Torres Strait (northeastern Queensland). AMS radiocarbon determinations for the Kirriri 4 site places an... more

This paper examines changes in epitaphic content over 115 years that have resulted in commemorative monuments that, in total, serve as an autobiography of the Saibaian people. On one reading the Saibaians in these biographies can be said... more

The materiality of performative ritual is a growing focus for archaeologists. In Europe, collective ritual performance is expected to be highly structured with ritual often resulting in a loud archaeological signature. In Australia and... more

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- by Duncan Wright
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- 7
  Ritual, Performance, Collective Memory, Archaeology of Ancestors

Koey Ngurtai is a small, uninhabited island located midway between the residential islands of Badu and Mabuyag in western Torres Strait. In 2003 and 2004, 100% surveys of the islet revealed 166 cultural sites. Fifty archaeological... more

Koey Ngurtai is a small, uninhabited island located midway between the residential islands of Badu and Mabuyag in western Torres Strait. In 2003 and 2004, 100% surveys of the islet revealed 166 cultural sites. Fifty archaeological excavations were undertaken, revealing a rich history of islet use culminating with the emergence of Koey Ngurtai as a ritual centre after 550–700 cal BP, and a proliferation of ritual structures focused on dugong hunting magic after 350–550 cal BP. Shortly after the arrival of colonial powers in Torres Strait in the 1870s, including pearl shelling and missionary activity, Koey Ngurtai's ritual status was again transformed. This paper reports on these archaeological investigations and historicises Koey Ngurtai as a ritual land-and-seascape.

Archaeology in Oceania

Archaeology in Oceania
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Volume 44, Issue 1
April 2009
Pages 1–17

Koey Ngurtai: the emergence of a ritual domain in Western Torres Strait

Authors

BRUNO DAVID,

IAN J. McNIVEN,

JOE CROUCH,

MURA BADULGAL,

ROBERT SKELLY,

BRYCE BARKER,

KRIS COURTNEY,

GEOFFREY HEWITT,

CORPORATION COMMITTEE

First published: April 2009Full publication history
DOI: 10.1002/j.1834-4453.2009.tb00040.xView/save citation
Cited by: 8 articles

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Abstract

Koey Ngurtai is a small, uninhabited island located midway between the residential islands of Badu and Mabuyag in western Torres Strait. In 2003 and 2004, 100% surveys of the islet revealed 166 cultural sites. Fifty archaeological excavations were undertaken, revealing a rich history of islet use culminating with the emergence of Koey Ngurtai as a ritual centre after 550–700 cal BP, and a proliferation of ritual structures focused on dugong hunting magic after 350–550 cal BP. Shortly after the arrival of colonial powers in Torres Strait in the 1870s, including pearl shelling and missionary activity, Koey Ngurtai's ritual status was again transformed. This paper reports on these archaeological investigations and historicises Koey Ngurtai as a ritual land-and-seascape.

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- by Méry Sophie
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- 197
  Religion, Sumerian Religion, Botany, Marine Biology

Torres Strait history

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