| Coordinates WGS84 | 20°42'S, 140°30'E -20.70, 140.51 |
AMus_E013413
Title: A message stick held in the Australian Museum
Description: Message or letter stick [ref reg]; Message stick [ref LC] Oblong, may have been coloured black. Both sides, same incised design; 1 end herringbone, opp. end concentric lozenge, innermost lozenge black. Opposed concentric chevrons at both ends next to lozenge, with horizontal line cutting thr. design [ref LC]; Condition: Complete. Some shapes chipped [ref LC].
Date Created: 1900
Notes on date created: Absolute date of collection
Item type: message stick in a collection
State/Territory: QLD
Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Kalkatungu Austlang: G13 - Kalkatungu / Kalkadoon Glottolog: kalk1246
Notes on linguistic areas: The origin of the message stick is Cloncurry, Mount Isa, Queensland. AMus pdf from 24.01.2023: "REGION: Mount Isa; Cloncurry [ref reg]; Cloncurry, Queensland [ref LC]"
Cultural region: Channel Country
Dimension 1: 122mm Dimension 2: 36mm Dimension 3: 13mm
Source types: museum collection
Date collected: Acquisition date: 1900 Accession date: 24 March 1905
Institution/Holder file: The Australian Museum object identifier: E013413
Collector: Purchased by: Roth, Dr Walter Edmund
Coordinates: 20°42'16.099200"S,140°30'19.900800"E (-20.704472, 140.505528)
Media copyright: The Australian Museum
Notes on coordinates: Absolute coordinates for Cloncurry, Queensland, per Google maps. Wikipedia: Cloncurry is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Cloncurry, Queensland, Australia. It is informally known by local people as The Curry.
Notes: REGISTER
Date: March 24, 1905
Consecutive number: 13413
Name or Description: Message or Letter stick
Locality: Kalkadoon Tribe, Cloncurry 1900
How Acquired: Purch.
Name of Donor or Seller: Dr. W. E. Roth
Estimated or Market Value: S.46
Destination:FigS Bull.8. Pl3 F8, Neg. V. 2341
Remarks:
OTHER NOTES
23.01.2026 PK: This is similar in appearance, yet distinct, from this message stick in Trove: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-522116003/view?partId=nla.obj-522143324#page/n15/mode/1up
Roth Bulletin 8 (1905):
Fig. 8.—Oblong, compressed, biconvex, obtuse edges, truncate ends; light-coloured wood, with traces of blackening. Both obverse and reverse are divided into three unequal panels by transverse horizontal incisions passing continuously round the stick. Obverse—The upper and smaller panel contains a single rhomb described by five incisions on each of its sides. The middle panel has in its centre a kind of hour-glass shaped figure containing a “Greek cross” above, two transverse lines in the centre, and a “St. Andrew’s cross,” obliquely placed, below; this figure is surrounded by variously curved lines. The lower and largest panel contains oblique diverging lines above with an oblique longitudinal incision below reaching to the truncate end, and from which oblique incisions diverge from above downwards on each side to the lateral margins of the stick. Reverse—The upper panel has a rhomb as on the obverse, with two oblique short notches in the centre. The centre panel presents a slight modification of the hour-glass shaped figure seen on the obverse, but there are no contained figures. In the lower panel there is above a rhomb with four parallel transverse notches, and below the former similar oblique diverging incisions to those on the obverse, but cut from below upwards. Length, 4 ¾ in.; breadth 1 3/8 in.
Kalkadun Tribe, Cloncurry.
Media Files:
Data Entry: Julia Bespamyatnykh, Nitzan Rotman, Piers Kelly