Letter, detailing Aboriginal carved trees at Burburgate Station, near Gunnedah, NSW, including pen and ink sketches of six trees and a diagrammatic map of the site, 5 February 1894
Matthew Thomson
From the papers of Alan Carroll, c. 1823–1902
ML MSS 2137
Dr Alan Carroll was a founder of the Royal Anthropological Society of Australasia, and editor of their journal Science of Man from 1896 to 1913. This letter from Matthew Thomson, bookkeeper at Burburgate Station, shows the contribution of rural workers to the society’s understanding of Aboriginal cultures. Thomson writes:
Dear Sir, I enclose sketchings of carvings on trees, believed to indicate an Aboriginal Burial-ground, situate half a mile from Burburgate Head Station, + seven miles from the township of Gunnedah, about 150 yards from the right bank of the Namoi River. The trees are box, six in number, + their relative position + leaning towards the cardinal points is shown in the plan. The cuts are at present from ¾ in to 1 inch deep.