Kurturniaiak (Badu) and the archaeology of villages in Torres Strait

01st December 2006

Bruno David and Marshall Weisler

Despite more than 30 years of archaeological research, not a single detailed site report has ever been published for a village site in Torres Strait. This paper presents the results of small-scale excavations at the 700 year old village of Kurturniaiwak on Badu island in mid-western Torres Strait. It represents the first in an ongoing series of systematic excavations of village sites in this part of Torres Strait. Initial results support conclusions of major socio-cultural change for the region as recently proposed by McNiven, and indicate that a major reconfiguration of settlement-subsistence-ritual systems probably took place in western Torres Strait sometime between 600 and 800 years ago.

Image caption: The site of Kurturniaiwak viewed from the south (published in Australian Archaeology 63:22).

Authors: Bruno David and Marshall Weisler
Title: Kurturniaiak (Badu) and the archaeology of villages in Torres Strait
Date: December 2006
Volume: 63
Pages: 21-34
Type: Article
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