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dc.contributor.authorMay, Sally K
dc.contributor.authorWesley, Daryl
dc.contributor.authorGoldhahn, Joakim
dc.contributor.authorLitster, Mirani
dc.contributor.authorManera, Brad
dc.date.accessioned2017-08-29T00:55:33Z
dc.date.available2017-08-29T00:55:33Z
dc.date.issued2017
dc.identifier.issn1092-7697
dc.identifier.doi10.1007/s10761-017-0393-6
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/345213
dc.description.abstractDepictions of firearms in Australian Aboriginal rock art provide a unique opportunity to archaeologically explore the roles that this type of material culture played in times of culture contact. From the earliest interactions with explorers to the buffalo shooting enterprises of the twentieth century—firearms played complex and shifting roles in western Arnhem Land Aboriginal societies. The site of Madjedbebe (sometimes referred to as Malakunanja II in earlier academic literature) in Jabiluka (Mirarr Country), offers the opportunity to explore these shifting roles over time with an unprecedented 16 paintings of firearms spanning the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This rock art provides evidence for early firearms as objects of curiosity and threat to local groups, as well as evidence for later personal ownership and use of such weaponry. Moreover, we argue that the rock art suggests increasing incorporation of firearms into traditional cultural belief and artistic systems over time with Madjedbebe playing a key role in the communication of the cultural meanings behind this new subject matter.
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherSpringer New York LLC
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom690
dc.relation.ispartofpageto707
dc.relation.ispartofissue3
dc.relation.ispartofjournalInternational Journal of Historical Archaeology
dc.relation.ispartofvolume21
dc.relation.urihttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/ARC/DP160101832
dc.relation.grantIDDP160101832
dc.relation.fundersARC
dc.subject.fieldofresearchAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander archaeology
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode450101
dc.titleSymbols of Power: The Firearm Paintings of Madjedbebe (Malakunanja II)
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.descriptionC1 - Articles
dc.type.codeC - Journal Articles
dcterms.licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.description.versionVersion of Record (VoR)
gro.facultyArts, Education & Law Group, School of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences
gro.rights.copyright© The Author(s) 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
gro.hasfulltextFull Text
gro.griffith.authorMay, Sally K. K.


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