The Walter Edmund Roth Collection of Queensland Aboriginal Artefacts 1894-1904

Brief description

This collection of about 2,200 artefacts is the most extensive collection of its kind assembled and documented by English physician and anthropologist Walter Edmund Roth (1861-1933) in north-east Queensland.

Full description

The bulk of this collection was assembled during Roth's extensive travels and field observations in the last few years of the 19th century and the first few years of the 20th century. Roth worked in Queensland in various roles, chiefly as Medical Officer and Protector of Aborigines. Roth had a keen interest in evidence rather than theory. During his fieldwork he conducted extensive ethnographic studies supplemented by the large collection of artefacts. His observations were published in eighteen bulletins in Queensland Parliamentary Papers and the Records of the Australian Museum, covering the various aspects of Aboriginal cultures, predominantly in north-east Australia. Extensive catalogues of this collection were published by the Australian Museum between 1993 and 2004 http://australianmuseum.net.au/journalfinder?type=2&title=&author=&year=&keyword=Khan&x=34&y=15