AMus_E013416

Title: A message stick held in the Australian Museum

Description: Message or letter stick [ref reg]; Message stick [ref LC] Elongated, oval stick, blackened in parts. Incised herringbone design both surfaces, 2 longitudinal lines incised one side [ref LC]; Condition: Complete. Chipped one side (ref LC).

Date Created: 1900

Notes on date created: terminus ante quem

Item type: message stick in a collection

State/Territory: QLD

Notes on linguistic areas: The origin of the message stick is Burketown, Gulf Country, Queensland. AMus pdf from 24.01.2023: "REGION: Gulf Country; Burketown [ref reg], Burketown, Queensland [ref LC]"

Dimension 1: 139mm Dimension 2: 20mm Dimension 3: 4mm

Source types: museum collection

Date collected: Acquisition date: 1900 Accession date: 24 March 1905

Institution/Holder file: The Australian Museum object identifier: E013416

Collector: Purchased by: Roth, Dr Walter Edmund

Coordinates: 17°44'27.200400"S,139°32'51.201600"E  (-17.740889, 139.547556)

Media copyright: The Australian Museum

Notes on coordinates: Absolute coordinates for Burketown, Queensland, per Google maps. Wikipedia: Burketown is an isolated outback town and coastal locality in the Shire of Burke, Queensland, Australia.

URL institution: http://collections.australianmuseum.net.au/amweb/pages/am/Display.php?irn=5609&QueryPage=%2Famweb%2Fpages%2Fam%2FQuery.php&highlight_term=message+stick

Notes: 14.12.23 NR: although the acquisition date is listed on the AMus pdf from 24.01.2023 as 1900, it is also listed as "Burketown, 1901" in a different location on the same PDF.

Media Files:

Data Entry: Julia Bespamyatnykh, Nitzan Rotman