Universität zu Köln

Kelly, Piers ORCID: 0000-0002-6467-2338 (2020). Australian message sticks: Old questions, new directions. J. Mat. Cult., 25 (2). S. 133 - 153. LONDON: SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD. ISSN 1460-3586

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Abstract

Message sticks are tools of graphic communication, once used across the Australian continent. While their styles vary, a typical message stick is a flattened or cylindrical length of wood with motifs engraved on all sides. Carried by special messengers over long distances, their motifs were intended to complement a verbally produced communication such as an invitation, a declaration of war, or news of a death. It was only in the late 1880s that message sticks first became a subject of formal anthropological enquiry at a time when the practice was already in steep transition; very little original research has been published in the 20th century and beyond. In this article, the author reviews colonial efforts to understand these objects, as recorded in documentary and museum archives, and describes transformations of message stick communication in contemporary settings. He summarizes the state-of-the-art in message stick research and identifies the still unanswered questions concerning their origins, adaptations and significance.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Kelly, Piers UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-6467-2338 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-332361
DOI:	10.1177/1359183519858375
Journal or Publication Title:	J. Mat. Cult.
Volume:	25
Number:	2
Page Range:	S. 133 - 153
Date:	2020
Publisher:	SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
Place of Publication:	LONDON
ISSN:	1460-3586
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Anthropology; Archaeology; Cultural Studies Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/33236