Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- NOTE
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
- CHAPTER II SOCIAL ORGANISATION AND MARRIAGE REGULATIONS
- CHAPTER III INITIATION CEREMONIES
- CHAPTER IV TOTEMIC SYSTEMS AND TOTEM GROUPS
- CHAPTER V SACRED STICKS, BULL-ROARERS, AND CEREMONIAL OBJECTS
- CHAPTER VI BURIAL AND MOURNING CEREMONIES
- CHAPTER VII MAGIC AND MEDICINE
- CHAPTER VIII BELIEFS IN REGARD TO THE ORIGIN OF CHILDREN
- CHAPTER IX TRADITIONS CONCERNING IMBEROMBERA, THE GREAT ANCESTOR, AND ALSO OTHER ANCESTORS OF THE KAKADU NATION
- CHAPTER X VARIOUS TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS, AND BELIEFS
- CHAPTER XI FOOD RESTRICTIONS
- CHAPTER XII WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS
- CHAPTER XIII CLOTHING AND ORNAMENT
- CHAPTER XIV DECORATIVE ART
- APPENDIX
- GLOSSARY OF NATIVE TERMS
- INDEX
- Plate section
- Plate section
CHAPTER XIV - DECORATIVE ART
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2011
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- NOTE
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
- CHAPTER II SOCIAL ORGANISATION AND MARRIAGE REGULATIONS
- CHAPTER III INITIATION CEREMONIES
- CHAPTER IV TOTEMIC SYSTEMS AND TOTEM GROUPS
- CHAPTER V SACRED STICKS, BULL-ROARERS, AND CEREMONIAL OBJECTS
- CHAPTER VI BURIAL AND MOURNING CEREMONIES
- CHAPTER VII MAGIC AND MEDICINE
- CHAPTER VIII BELIEFS IN REGARD TO THE ORIGIN OF CHILDREN
- CHAPTER IX TRADITIONS CONCERNING IMBEROMBERA, THE GREAT ANCESTOR, AND ALSO OTHER ANCESTORS OF THE KAKADU NATION
- CHAPTER X VARIOUS TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS, AND BELIEFS
- CHAPTER XI FOOD RESTRICTIONS
- CHAPTER XII WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS
- CHAPTER XIII CLOTHING AND ORNAMENT
- CHAPTER XIV DECORATIVE ART
- APPENDIX
- GLOSSARY OF NATIVE TERMS
- INDEX
- Plate section
- Plate section
Summary
There is, of course, much that is common, in regard to their Decorative Art, to all the tribes of Central and Northern Australia, especially in respect of the ornamentation of their commoner weapons and implements, so that much of what we have already written on this subject holds true of the tribes now dealt with. On the other hand, there are certain forms of design restricted to special parts of the country and characteristic of different tribes or group of tribes. In the west of the continent we have the incised and painted zig-zag pattern; in the centre there is the strong development of spiral and concentric circles drawn on the ground, rocks, and sacred objects. So again, in the far north, we meet with quite a different scheme of design, the most characteristic being that of the Melville and Bathurst Islanders, whose drawings and decorations are entirely distinct from any on the mainland and suggest contact, in past time, with a people whose art was more akin to that of the islands to the north-east than it is to anything in Australia. Then again, amongst the Kakadu nation, we meet with rock and bark drawings superior to any amongst the central tribes.
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- Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia , pp. 407 - 440Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1914