Toponyms from 3000 years ago? Implications for the history and structure of the Yolŋu social formation in north‐east Arnhem Land
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6038296 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Frances Morphy (0000-0003-2036-2319, Australian National University, corresponding author), H Morphy (0000-0001-6488-662X, Australian National University), Patrick Faulkner (0000-0002-1876-6915, The University of Sydney), M Barber (0000-0002-7735-008X, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 153-167 |
| Publication date | 2020-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Archaeology in Oceania/Archæology & physical anthropology in Oceania (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0728-4896 • E-ISSN: 1834-4453 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/arco.5213 |
| OpenAlex | W3032648950 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 27 |
The paper focuses on a set of toponyms found on the coast of Blue Mud Bay in northern Australia, in an area today occupied by Yolŋu (Murngin) peoples. In the first part of the paper, we present an analysis, based on geomorphological, archaeological, anthropological and linguistic evidence, to suggest that these toponyms have been in place for at least 3000 years, and that they are early Yolŋu toponyms. We then argue that certain social practices and cultural mechanisms, which continue today, work to form a complex, multi‐media and multi‐sensory archive of names‐in‐place, within the frame of a robust system of intergenerational transmission. It is plausible that such a system has considerable time‐depth. Yolŋu oral histories suggest, indeed, that Blue Mud Bay was the origin point from which Yolŋu‐Matha languages and Yolngu forms of kinship and governance then spread inland to the north, west and south
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| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,2 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |