17 Number 65, December 2007 Liam M. Brady and Kaurareg Aboriginal Community A MIDDLE GROUND? Recent Archaeological Investigations from the Kaurareg Archipelago, South-Western Torres Strait, Queensland Liam M. Brady¹ and Kaurareg Aboriginal Community² Abstract Collaborative rock art research in the Kaurareg Archipelago, south-western Torres Strait, has systematically documented an assemblage consisting of 232 rock paintings from three islands. Using computer enhancement techniques, analysis of Kaurareg rock art has revealed a dataset that incorporates artistic influences from both Cape York and other western Torres Strait islands. Initial archaeological surveys have also revealed a lack of the distinctive Torres Strait ritual sites (e.g. dugong bone mounds and bu shell arrangements) already noted from the broader region. Using these preliminary data, we evaluate Kaurareg cultural history in the context of inter- regional interaction, and recent discoveries in Torres Strait archaeology. We conclude that the Kaurareg’s geographical location – off the tip of Cape York – was the central transition zone between cultural influences from Aboriginal Australia and Island Melanesia. Introduction Recent archaeological research in Torres Strait has allowed Indigenous Islander and Aboriginal communities, and archaeologists, to learn more about local cultural histories, the history of broader social relationships, and the overall dynamic nature of the region. Since the late 1990s, considerable insights have been made into the pre-European culture of Indigenous Torres Strait communities. However, much of these archaeological data have been acquired primarily from research carried out in the mid- and north-western (e.g. Mua, Badu, Pulu, Dauan and Koey Ngurtai), central (Tudu) and eastern islands (Mer and Dauar). With the notable exception of limited research undertaken on Muralag by Moore in the 1970s (e.g. Moore 1979, 1986), the lack of archaeological research from the south-western islands – a large subgroup of islands located off the tip of Cape York – represents a substantial gap in our understanding of the spread of cultural dynamics, and recently identified chronological patterns in the Torres Strait archaeological record. The Kaurareg Archipelago (the term used in the 2001 Native Title Determination to refer to islands traditionally owned and used by the Kaurareg) is of considerable interest to archaeologists given its potential to provide details on the nature and scale of interaction with neighbouring Aboriginal groups at Cape York and Torres Strait Islander communities to the north and east (Figure 1). These islands and Cape York were also the scene of intense social interaction between mainland Aboriginal groups (especially the Gudang – an Aboriginal group on the adjacent mainland at Cape York) and Kaurareg. Ethnographic accounts from the 1800s clearly attest to a strong social link between Gudang and Kaurareg (see below), while other Islanders in the region also recognised Kaurareg as the group who had the primary link with mainland Australia. However, Kaurareg interaction with neighbouring Torres Strait Islanders was also frequent. In our first major paper on Kaurareg archaeology, we review previous research on Kaurareg cultural history and present new data – primarily rock art and preliminary results from archaeological surveys carried out over the past four years – that address influences on Kaurareg cultural practices and evaluate Kaurareg archaeology in the context of recent discoveries in Torres Strait. In this paper, we argue that the geographical location of Kaurareg – at the frontier between mainland Aboriginal groups and Melanesian-influenced Torres Strait Islanders – represents a distinctive transition zone where sustained interaction has resulted in a combination of cultural influences that are reflected in the pre-contact culture of the Kaurareg. The Kaurareg Archipelago and Ethnography Muralag is the acknowledged home island of the Kaurareg, although present-day Kaurareg, ethnography, and historical texts reveal that the surrounding smaller islands (e.g. Kirriri, Mawaii) were also used seasonally for subsistence and as trading and initiation centres (among many other uses) (e.g. Haddon 1904; ¹ Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia ² c/o Kaurareg Elders Corporation, PO Box 60, Thursday Island, QLD 4875, Australia Figure 1 Map of the Kaurareg Archipelago, south-western Torres Strait, Queensland. Left inset: Ngiangu, c.25km west of Muralag.