In this talk, Ian McNiven will outline what he calls the “Coral Sea Cultural Interaction Sphere” as a framework to help shed light on why some ethnographic artefact types are shared between northern Queensland and southern New Guinea but other artefact types fail to extend across Torres Strait. Different distributions of artefact types provide new insights into the complex role of Torres Strait as a bridge and barrier to
cultural diffusion.
Ian McNiven is Professor of Indigenous Archaeology in Monash Indigenous Studies Centre (Monash University) and a Chief Investigator in the Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage. His research over the past 30 years has focused on the long-term development of specialised coastal societies of Queensland and New Guinea over the past 5000 years.
This lecture to be held at the Hallstrom Theatre, Australian Museum, Sydney, on June 19th at 6pm for a 6.30pm start. Dinner at a local restaurant afterwards for those interested.
Caption: Armshells such as this were made in Torres Strait and traded northwards into New Guinea but not southwards to mainland Australia. Why?