NG —Last Hope Of The Anthropologists

Evidence of Australia’s and Papua-New Guinea’s established place as the last hope of anthropologists and sociologists is the increased num bei of learned books on the area being turned out by overseas publishers.

LATEST is Aborigine Culture History, by Dr. Arnold R.

Pilling, Assistant Professor of Anthro pology at Wayne State University, Detroit.

He calls his book a “survey of publications, 1954-57”. In effect it is a restricted bibliography— restricted because he appears to have made do with Australian magazines and journals available in Detroit, plus other sources from his own know ledge (he spent two years as a Fulbright scholar in Australia, 1953-54).

He takes his subject State by State, with Papua and what he calls Aus tralian New Guinea treated separately in the same way. He then makes a survey of what has been printed about each region, under general

heads of history, archaelogy, ethnology, material advancement, administration, etc., in the years under review, naming the source.

Without being unduly swelled headed about this, it is pretty obvious that his sections on Papua and New Guinea were based largely on what was published in the Pacific Islands Monthly in those years, the PIM being quoted 126 times, plus quotes from individuals such as Tolala, Tudor and Robson.

In treating his material Professor Pilling has given a thumb-nail sketch of native culture in the different areas but has as well, as all good biblio graphies should, provided ready-made source material for future researchers.

The only fault that could be found with it is that it stops short, almost six years ago. In the time since 1957 there has been more cultural change in such places as Papua and New Guinea than in all the other years of history put together.

(Aborigine Culture History.

Published by Wayne State University Press, Detroit 2, Michigan, USA. Price, $3.95.)