University of Queensland Anthropology Museum

About

The University of Queensland Anthropology Museum is located in Brisbane, Australia. It houses the largest university collection of ethnographic material culture in Australia.

The Museum is located on level 1 of the Michie Building at the St Lucia campus of The University of Queensland

The Museum was formed in 1948 by Dr Lindsey Winterbotham 's donation of over 1,000 objects. The initial focus of the Museum was on the material culture of Aboriginal Australia, but swiftly broadened to incorporate a diverse range of material from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and the broader Pacific region. Early donors to the museum included missionaries, researchers and anthropologists such as Ursula McConnel and AP Lyons.

Under subsequent Directors (Dr Peter Lauer, Dr Leonn Satterthwait and Dr Diana Young), the Museum developed an active exhibition program and strengthened the Museum's involvement in community engagement, research and teaching.

The Museum houses over 28,000 artefacts and over 8,000 photographs. The collection includes field collections and private donations and as a whole describes mid-late 20th century intercultural engagements in Queensland and the Pacific region.

The Museum holds a broad range of stone artefacts from across Australia.

The collection includes smaller collections from southern Africa and Southeast Asia, as well as a collection of colonial surveying equipment from William Landsborough and Augustus Gregory.

The museum has published several series of academic monographs, namely the "Cultural and Historical Records of Queensland" and the "Occasional Papers in Anthropology,' which changed its name to: "TEMPUS: Archaeology and Material Culture Studies in Anthropology". Publication started in 1973 and will be listed below. In addition, the museum also publishes books and/ or catalogues based on specific exhibitions.

Cultural and Historical Records of Queensland

- Number 1: The Simpson Letterbook – transcribed by Gerry Langevad (1979)

- Number 2: Illustrated catalogue of Aboriginal artefacts held in The University of Queensland Anthropology Museum – compiled by Lindy Allen (1980)

- Number 3: Annotations to Publications by W.E. Roth – complied by Lindy Allen and Bernice Borey (1984)

- Number 3: Pottery Traditions in the D’Entrecasteaux Islands of Papua by Peter K. Lauer (1974)

- Number 5: Bow and Arrow Census in a West Papuan Lowland Community: A New Field For Functional-Ecological Study by Hitoshi Watanabe (1975)

- Number 7: Field Notes from the D’Entrecasteaux and Trobriand Islands of Papua by Peter K. Lauer (1976)

- Number 9: Readings in Material Culture (1978)

- Number 11: Australia and her Neighbours: Ethnic Relations and the Nation State by H. Loiskandl (1982)

- Number 12: Over the Edge: Functional analysis of Australian stone tools by Johan Kamminga (1984) The series' name changed to TEMPUS.

TEMPUS: Archaeology and Material Culture Studies in Anthropology

The series' editors were Leonn Satterthwait and Jay Hall.