Oceanic Art Speaks – Ian McNiven

Dr Ian McNiven last spoke to the Oceanic Art Society in 2019 where he talked about artefact distributions between New Guinea and NE Australia via Torres Strait in terms of what he calls the Coral Sea Cultural Interaction Sphere (CSCIS).

Since then, Ian and his team’s research has new archaeological evidence that not only supports the idea of the CSCIS but also provides a chronology for its time depth of around 3000 years. In addition, oral histories have come to light from the Torres Strait that support the idea of Melanesian voyaging down the Great Barrier Reef and trading interactions between Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal peoples.

This important lecture will update current knowledge on artefact sharing between New Guinea and Australia and also add the new archaeological and oral history information that supports ideas on long-term and long-distance interactions between Melanesian and First Nations Australians.