Board of Anthropological Research (1926 - 1974)

Summary

The Board of Anthropological Research was established in 1926 by the University of Adelaide at the instigation of John B. Cleland, T. Draper Campbell and Frederic Wood Jones. Its purpose was to mount annual expeditions into Central Australia to conduct systematic physical anthropological studies of the Aboriginal people. For nearly 50 years multidisciplinary teams from the University of Adelaide and the South Australian Museum recorded evidence of anthropological, sociological and cultural data including linguistics, kinship, relationship to the land and spirituality. The Museum also contributed materials and equipment in support of the expeditions. Over 120 publications resulted from these studies, many of which stressed the conjunction between Aborigines and their environment. Leading South Australian scientists participated in the work of the Board as Board Members and as participants in expeditions. The records of the Board and related collections are held by the South Australian Museum, the collection being included on the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register in 2015. In 1974 the Board's name was changed to the Board of Aboriginal Studies.

Related entries

Published resources

Journal Articles

• Jones, P. G., 'South Australian anthropological history: the Board for Anthropological Research and its early expeditions', Records of the South Australian Museum, 20 (1987), 71-92. Details