DR. D. S. DAVIDSON, Associate in Archaeology left late in December for Australia, to study both the archaeological remains and the few surviving aboriginal tribes of the northwestern interior. The Australian aborigines, with the possible exception of a few pigmy tribes of Africa, have preserved the most primitive material culture on the globe today. In physical feature and in culture they perhaps resemble men of the Neanderthal race that inhabited Europe during the old stone age. On the other hand, although they have no clothing, pottery, or basketry, only the most primitive of shelters and tools of stone, bone and wood, yet they have developed the most complex social organization of any living race. To determine the material culture of these aborigines will be the ultimate object of the project. Dr. Davidson will start into the interior from Sidney, New South Wales, early in January.
The Australian Project
Originally Published in 1930