Author(s): Baldwin Spencer; Francis James Gillen

Australiana

This massive anthropological study of the central Australian tribes is one of the primary sources for information on these cultures. Based on first-hand scholarly study just prior to the twentieth century, Spencer and Gillen describe their complex rituals and belief systems, including initiation ceremonies, kinship, mythology and material culture. The picture that emerges is that of a sophisticated culture living under what most others would consider very marginal conditions.