When the Foreign Becomes Familiar: The Glass Bead Assemblage from Madjedbebe, Northern Australia

Mirani Litster, Lynley Wallis, Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
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Abstract

By investigating the materiality of colonial encounters, specifically the consumption of introduced commodities by Indigenous peoples, archaeologists can explore questions concerning value, agency, consumer choice and localization. This has the significant capacity to broaden understandings of intercultural encounters and challenge colonial narratives. Glass beads represent one of the earliest foreign material culture introductions to the Indigenous peoples of Australia. The rock-shelter site of Madjedbebe, best known for yielding the oldest evidence to date for human occupation in Australia, also contains one of the largest assemblages from an Indigenous site context in Australia—51 glass beads and associated fragments. We present here an analysis of these objects—through attribute and microwear analysis—in concert with the archival record, to reveal the ways in which Bininj (Aboriginal people) incorporated glass beads into their own lifeways.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)421-438
Number of pages18
JournalCAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Volume34
Issue number3
Early online date1 Feb 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2024
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Indigenous archaeology
  • Colonial encounters
  • Madjedbebe
  • Glass beads

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