The Arunta: a Study of a Stone Age People

Abstract

NO anthropological book has had so favourable a reception or given rise to such voluminous discussions as “The Native Tribes of Central Australia,” by Prof. Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen, on its publication in 1899. Twenty-eight years later, Sir Baldwin Spencer has issued a new edition under the title of “The Arunta.” The first edition was the result of several years' work; in the new edition is embodied the record of later investigations down to 1926, and thus the accounts of imperfect or partly understood native ceremonies and beliefs have been amplified and rectified. Comparison between the two editions will show, however, that a great deal has remained unchanged, because the earlier contained careful descriptions of what the authors actually observed, and being a record of facts, must remain valid for all time. It is in such matters that the anthropologist has the advantage over most scientific men, for observations in the field when made, as in the case of the Australian, on a vanishing people, cannot be repeated by future students, and therefore researches of this kind will never become out-of-date. The impossibility in many cases of subsequent checking of his statements thus imposes on the anthropological observer a grave responsibility. Sir Baldwin Spencer was a scientifically trained zoologist when he began to study the natives of Central Australia, and we can rely entirely on his account of what he witnessed. The late Mr. Gillen had for a long time gained the confidence of the natives and was thus an indispensable colleague.

The Arunta: a Study of a Stone Age People.

By Sir Baldwin Spencer late F. J. Gillen. In two volumes. Vol. 1. Pp. xxviii + 390 + 87 plates. Vol. 2. Pp. xvi + 391 - 646 + 64 plates. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1927.) 36s. net.