| Coordinates WGS84 | 20°56'S, 139°22'E -20.93, 139.36 |
AMus_E013384
Title: A message stick inviting to join an initiation ceremony, held in the Australian Museum
Description: AMus pdf from 24.02.2023: "Message or letter stick, Kalkadoon tribe, Caloola, 96 [ref reg]; Maker: A member of Kalkadoon people (Ethno. Stud. p.138 and ref reg) [ref LC]; [...] Message or Letter Stick [ref reg]; Message Stick {ref LC); Oblong, thin, flattened, one end rounded, one end squared off; ruddled. Side A: Incised concentric arc, zig-zag and longitudinal lines, short horizontal cuts. Side B: Herringbone pattern either end, zig-zag and narrow longitudinal line in centre. In places, deep incisions on edges [ref LC]; Condition: Complete. Mould [ref LC]."
Roth 1897: Sketch of two facets of one message stick (fig. 335) on plate XVIII of “Ethnological studies” by W. E. Roth. "Kg.335. Made by a Kalkadoon. A=dead-fellows,B=boomerangs. Note the flash-marks (C) identical with those in Fig. 383. This stick is coloured red."
Brisbane Telegraph: Part of an illustration to a fictional series in the Brisbane Telegraph featuring the adventures of Captain Coldweather, Tom Barnacle, Mrs Noah and Bosun Bill. It is likely that this artefact is from the collection of W.E. Roth, who is cited. Two other artefacts in the same photograph can be positively traced to Roth's collection as illustrated in Roth's 'Ethnological studies among the north-west-central Queensland Aborigines' (1897).
Message: «Unknown meaning» From: A once-known Kalkadoon man To: Unknown Re: Dead people and boomerangs "Fig. 335. Made by a Kalkadoon. A = dead-fellows, B = boomerangs. Note the flash-marks (C) identical with those in Fig. 333. This stick is coloured red" PK: Fig 333 is AMus_E013387
Creator of Object: AMus pdf from 24.01.2023: "Maker: A member of Kalkadoon people (Ethno. Stud. p.138 and ref reg) [ref LC];"
Date Created: 1896
Notes on date created: terminus ante quem; this is the date in the AMus pdf
Item type: message stick in a collection
Subtype: traditional
State/Territory: QLD
Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Kalkatungu Austlang: G13 - Kalkatungu / Kalkadoon Glottolog: kalk1246
Notes on linguistic areas: Roth 1897: The message stick is associated with Kalkadoon people, Leichhardt-Selwyn District AMus pdf from 24.01.2023: "REGION: Mount Isa; Caloola. [ref reg]; Caloola, Queensland [ref LC]; No Caloola in Gazetteer. or atlas. Kalcadoon people in Cloncurry River District. see E4086.(Attrib.K.Khan).[ LGC 16/05/96]"
Cultural region: Channel Country
Semantic domains: sd_ceremony_law, sd_person_dead, sd_weapon_boomerang
Dimension 1: 146mm Dimension 2: 27mm Dimension 3: 9mm
Source types: museum collection
Date collected: Acquisition date: 1896 Accession date: 23 March 1905
Institution/Holder file: The Australian Museum object identifier: E013384
Collector: Purchased by: Roth, Dr Walter Edmund
Coordinates: 20°55'55.909200"S,139°21'53.085600"E (-20.932197, 139.364746)
Media copyright: The Australian Museum
Notes on coordinates: Chirila centroid coordinates for Kalkatungu
URL source 1: https://archive.org/stream/cu31924029890328#page/n257
URL source 2: https://archive.org/stream/cu31924029890328#page/n161
Notes: REGISTER
Date: March 23, 1905
Consecutive number: 13384
Name or Description: Message or Letter stick
Locality: Kalkadoon Tribe, Caloola '96
How Acquired: Purch.
Name of Donor or Seller: Dr. W. E. Roth, FigS Bull.8. Pl3 F2, Neg. 2341
Estimated or Market Value: S.17
Destination:Figs. Eth. Studies Pl. XVIII F.338 Text sections 235-6
Remarks:
OTHER NOTES
09.07.2023 PK: This has been merged with WER1897PXVIIIF335. NOTE the Australian Museum documentation has incorrect interpretation for this object. In the AMus Pdf of 24.01.2023 it is written "Function: Sender wants his spears, boomerangs and shields forwarded, as initiation ceremony to be held at Cloncurry River, and addressee is to come and join (Ethno. Sect. 236, p.138)" However, finding the correct sketch in Roth's ethnological studies points to a different object" OT also wrote: The interpretation might belong to a different figure (OT)
Iain Davidson manuscript for 'Art or scribbles?': "One message-stick, made by the Kalkatungu and illustrated by Roth [AMus_E013384], included images of nested arcs seen in rock art sites across the country (Roth, 1897, Fig. 335) (see Figure 0R and Figure 9MAnim). This suggests a connection between some of the markings in rock art and some of the coded marks on message-sticks."
22.06.24 ID: "those are NOT just "arcs" but the sort of thing I call "nested arcs" which have the flat bit at the apex of the arc. These are classic "catenary entoptics" but I avoid calling them that. And I suspect that [KK] is not the best authority on where Caloola might have been. If these were about a ceremony at Cloncurry, then the Mitakoodi would certainly have been the initiators of the stick."
23.01.2026 PK: The diagram for 335 in Ethnlolgocial Studies is sadly NOT annotated with A, B, C, per the text description. One clue that might help resolve it is the line "Note the flash-marks (C) identical with those in Fig. 333.". In this figure the flashmarks are everything that is not beard or vulva, but these are not 'identitical'.
Roth Bulletin 8 (1905):
Fig. 2—Oblong, thin, flattened, although very slightly bi-convex edges obtuse and notched, ends truncate; highly ruddled. Obverse—Two central parallel longitudinal lines, the enclosed space imperfectly subdivided into squares by transverse notches, with, on each side, a continuous zigzag line. Above are four oblique, slightly curved incisions, and below four rudely semicircular cuts, bending in an opposite direction to those above. Reverse—Divided longitudinally by a central continuous incision from top to bottom, and transversely separated into three equal zones, the central of which has on each side, the longitudinal dividing line a similar zigzag incision to those on the obverse, the upper and lower zones bearing numerous transverse sub-parallel cuts. Length, 5 ¾ in.; breadth 1 ½ in.
Kalkadun Tribe. (See “Ethnological Studies,” 1877, pl. 18, f. 335, obverse and reverse.)
Media Files:
Data Entry: Julia Bespamyatnykh, Piers Kelly, Nitzan Rotman, Olena Tykhostup