The Anthropology and Archaeology department documents, cares for and researches collections related to social and cultural anthropology and archaeology, exploring and communicating the complex relationships between society, culture, and language.
The Anthropology and Archaeology department specialises in cultural anthropology and archaeology.
The department’s research, collections and public programs focus on understandings of what it is to be human, to understand cultural diversity, and to explore complex relationships between society, culture, language, sociality and economy.
The department cares for over 10,000 cultural objects connected with Western Australian Aboriginal people, stone tools from locations throughout WA and other parts of the world, and 5000 objects from other parts of the world such as Papua New Guinea, Melanesia and Africa.
The department works together with various communities to manage and builds its collections focussing on repatriation, exhibitions, research projects and cultural maintenance.
As our Australian Olympians prepare to head to Paris for the 2024 Olympics, we are celebrating our own gold medal!
Renowned Western Australian sportsman and Olympic gold medallist John Winter was one of only two Australians to win a gold medal at the 1948 London Olympic Games.
Thanks to the generosity of his family, this Olympic medal is now on display at WA Museum Boola Bardip for all visitors to see up close.
Derived from the language groups of the five artists featured, the word ‘Lurrtjurni’ shared across all, evokes a sense of togetherness and connection to the present.
WA Museum Anthropology and Archaeology staff have had the pleasure of hosting special guests from Kalumburu, Melbourne and Brisbane.
This week, we were privileged to welcome Yawuru community members to our Collections and Research facility in Boorloo / Perth for their official cultural ceremony for the return of their ancestor "Roebuck Bay Man" from the Smithsonian Institute in the United States.
This online interactive experience of the Gija Creation story ‘Jirraginy joo Goorrarndal: Frog and Brolga’ is an adaptation of the Gija permanent interactive display panel situated in The WA Museum’s Boola Bardip Origins Gallery.
As one of the most widely spread cultural practices in the world, basketry is more than a simple technology. Malleable, tangible, and mutable, baskets and the technique of basketry can represent the identity of a weaver, their cultural practices, and a discovery of art form.
The representation of Western Australian Aboriginal cultures has been a significant focus of the Museum since its inception in 1892. The early collections reflect hunting and gathering lifestyles, and personal adornment of the peoples of the South West, Pilbara, Desert and Kimberley regions.
The Archaeology Collection focuses on Western Australian Aboriginal archaeological materials, predominantly stone tools, but including plant and faunal materials from excavated sites.
The Global Collection is an assemblage of objects collected by West Australians that does not fit within traditional cultural boundaries, or within the framework of existing collections.
Anthropology and Archaeology work with Aboriginal peoples and other source communities to care for cultural materials and share stories.
Current research is focused on understanding the WA Museum’s Egyptian collection of around 400 items.
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