Ngadlu tampinthi ngadlu Kaurna Miyurna yartangka. Munaintya puru purruna ngadlu-itya. Munaintyanangku yalaka tarrkarriana tuntarri.

We acknowledge we are on Kaurna Miyurna land. The Dreaming is still living. From the past, in the present, into the future, forever.

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Fenner cranial data cards

Archive Collections / Prof. Frank John Fenner / Series AA91/3 / Fenner cranial data cards

This collection of groups of cards is kept in a metal drawer in the Board for Anthropological Research (BAR) collection (AA 346/4/20). It records the results of research undertaken by Frank Fenner in 1936 and 1937. Fenner conducted a 'detailed examination of 1,182 adult Australian Aboriginal crania' between August 1936, and the end of January 1937. The crania he examined came from the collections of the following institutions: the South Australian Museum; the University of Adelaide; the National Museum, Melbourne; the University of Melbourne; the Australian Museum, Sydney; and the Australian Institute of Anatomy, Canberra. The research was funded by the Council of the University of Adelaide and David Murray Scholarship funds.

The results of this research are described in Fenner, F (1939) 'The Australian Aboriginal Skull: Its non-metrical morphological characteristics', inTransactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, Vol. 63, No. 2, pp. 248-306. Fenner is described in the subheading of the paper as 'Honorary Craniologist, South Australian Museum, Adelaide'. He noted that 'each skull was examined in detail, and the results of the examination recorded on cards, which were printed by and are preserved in the South Australian Museum' (p. 249). He also described his work as 'a contribution towards a comparative racial study' (p. 303).

There are 16 groups of cards, grouped by the institution in which the specimens were held. Most groups are ordered by what appear to be institution-specific item numbers. All cards are in the following format: printed cards on which data has been recorded under the following headings: Number, Tribe, Name, State, Sex (known/estim.), Age (known/estim.), Date of collection, Locality, Other data, Date, Observer. In the second section are three columns for recording specific measurements (identified only by initials) and on the reverse of the card are two further columns for recording measurements. The final line on the front of the card states: Anthropology Department, South Australian Museum'. Most cards have 'F. Fenner' recorded as 'Observer'.

Creator: Prof. Frank John Fenner
Control: AA 91/3/4
Date Range:  1936  -  1937
Quantity:  22cm,   1   metal drawer in BAR collection (AA 346)
Series:  AA91/3
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