Archaeology of Torres Strait turtle-shell masks: the Badu Cache

Abstract

Turtle-shell masks are distinctive Torres Strait Islander objects that were used during ritual performances, and carefully curated, during ethnographic times. Yet the history of these rituals and their material expressions are poorly understood. The numerous instances of turtle-shell masks collected during the nineteenth century and currently held in museum collections around the world, and the chance discovery of one such mask cached in a rockshelter on the island of Badu, now allow for their historicising through a program of AMS radiocarbon dating. Initial results are reported.