School of Culture and Communication

In Europe and Africa, fine grained use wear and residue analyses of various organic bead technologies have provided remarkable information about specialist artisans and their affiliate communities. Ethnographic research suggests that personal ornaments represent one of the best ways to explore past human interactions and ethno-linguistic diversity. The study of material culture featured in rock art is now well established in Australia, but few detailed anal- yses have concentrated on personal ornaments recovered from the archaeological record. Fewer still have assessed the potential of this medium for assessing regional variations, des- pite rich ethnographic histories which point to the significance of these objects for self-differ- entiating communities and/or clans. This paper examines a collection of painted shark vertebrae beads recently discovered during archaeological survey in Arnhem Land. Detailed morphometric and use wear analysis is presented for these ornaments, alongside Aboriginal oral traditions, and assessment of similar artefacts held in museum collections across Australia. The potential of this combined approach within the Australian context is discussed, including how these studies add to our understanding of group signifying behaviour.

Formal analysis and testing of glass beads in Indigenous museum objects has the potential to contribute significantly to our understanding of the global economy of trade and exchange in the colonial era. The unique chemical signatures of glass and the formal characteristics of the beads are the product of specific manufacturing processes, and, as such, can offer insights as to the possible identities of manufacturers in Europe and Asia that produced glass beads on an industrial scale
for colonial markets. Where and how glass beads were used by Indigenous peoples provides another essential layer of context within which to consider the global pathways of the distribution and networks of exchange, including Indigenous trade systems, along which glass beads travelled. In this paper, we discuss the result of a preliminary survey of a sample of objects drawn from the Indigenous collections at Museums Victoria in Melbourne. Using a portable X-ray fluorescent analyser (p-XRF),
the chemical composition of glass beads in objects used by Australian Aboriginal groups was identified, the majority being neck chokers from the ‘Top End’. A comparative set of glass beads in objects from neighbouring Papua New Guinea  (PNG) was tested in order to gain a broader understanding of possible pathways along which beads and beaded objects made their way into the Pacific during the colonial and precolonial eras, and to consider the possibility of common origins with those found in Aboriginal objects. The relative absence of glass beaded objects from
Aboriginal Australia is in marked contrast to the experience of PNG, where glass beads
were actively sought in many parts and incorporated into the production of a range of objects, including high status objects where glass beads replaced the highly prized shell beads. We discuss the results of the analysis while also highlighting the limitations of the study and the readings gained from using the p-XRF.