PastMasters
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PastMasters conducts historical research in northern Australia. It is a Charity, registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) {ACN 658 745 058}. It is a registered public company, limited by guarantee - registered in the Northern Territory of Australia on 12th April 2022. On 11th July 2022 we were granted an Australian Business Number (ABN) 36658745058.
We aspire to being recognised as an Australian Research Institute and to be granted Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status which will enable us to receive grants and charitable donations, in excess of $2, which the provider will be entitled to claim as a tax deduction. PastMasters has the Charitable Purpose of ‘Advancing Culture’ - which includes ‘caring for, preserving and protecting Australian heritage’. In this context 'Advancing' includes 'protecting, maintaining, supporting, researching and improving'. (S.16 Charities Act 2013) |
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The Past
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Since its inception, during the Macassan History Symposium at ANU Canberra in 2012, PastMasters has grown as a group of heritage professionals and knowledgeable associates - drawn from across the spectrum of scientific and historical enquiry - by a shared interest in the exploration of Australia's past and in particular the earliest contact. Our methodology is to work with local Aboriginal people to combine oral history with western scientific process - a 'shared-learning & history making experience' of benefit to all Australians.
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Up to the Present
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Over the last decade we have undertaken a major expedition each year {pre-Covid} - beginning in 2013 with our Ancient Coins in Arnhemland Expedition in pursuit of the medieval Kilwa coins, found in the Wessel Islands in 1944, which are Australia's oldest foreign artefacts. The coin quest continues but our other finds include rock art of a double outrigger sailing canoe which we believe to be the oldest vessel to visit these shores. The ship's knee MH7 which led to the story of the Japanese sinking of HMAS Patricia Cam in 1943, the names of all the Yolngu involved and the location of the island from which the survivors were rescued and where Stoker Percy Cameron & Milirrma Marika of Yirrkala were buried side-by-side and their remains never recovered. Along the way we have discovered, stumbled upon and been led to much more besides from a Bradman Buckle to a Roman Villa.
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We have given lectures, conducted workshops and field demonstrations; written papers and published articles. We've been on television programs such as Coast and All 4 Adventure - been the lead feature in The Guardian in Australia, UK & America - been interviewed by hundreds of radio stations and journalists throughout Australia and around the world. We've raised monuments and dedicated plaques from Australians Bay to Brisbane Water.
We've dated the sand down the barrel of the Dundee swivel gun; we've found a lost WWII Radar Station and Australia's first international Undersea Cable whilst helping many others to identify & conserve their finds. We've knocked lumps off a previously unrecorded 109kyo beach ridge; put some very odd things through CT scanners and electron-microscopes and even re-united childhood sweethearts through the on-going Pat Cam story. But we've also amassed a great backlog of incomplete projects, unresolved mysteries and unrealised community expectation. |
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Nobody else does what we do - no other group has the experience, skills & contacts that we have and every time we go out we add to the backlog of major discoveries and litany of outstanding research. We've proved the ground and gathered the support base, so now we are looking to raise the funds by grants & donations - the vast majority of which require us to be incorporated as a Not-for-Profit organisation and recognised as a Deductible Gift Recipient.
The Future
PastMasters
Pandora Archive
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Our Principal Sponsor
Minelab Metal Detectors
We are working with Minelab & MD experts to integrate metal detection into normal archaeological process and to encourage responsible private practice by encouraging a portable antiquities scheme - similar to the UK.
The PastMasters' inaugural expedition 2013 - L>R Michael Hermes, Mike Owen, Ian McIntosh, Barry Johnson, Peter Lane & Tim Stone - a Bob Sheppard image
PastMasters welcomes those who wish to contribute to our collaborative history building project. We aim to bring together the widest possible range of perspectives and experiences to investigate historical anomalies - delve into the memories, archives and oral histories, apply technologies and techniques from other industries and applications - participate in sensitising Yolngu Rangers, Norforce personnel and 'people on country' to the abundant archaeology and to provide a panel of experts to advise on finds and newly exposed sites, so that together we may solve the mysteries of Arnhem Land.
Ian McIntosh
Professor Ian McIntosh Co-founder
A Co-founder of Past Masters - Australian anthropologist Ian McIntosh PhD is an adjunct professor in anthropology at Indiana University's Indianapolis campus where he currently lectures in cultural anthropology and reconciliation from a global perspective. He is the chairperson of our research committee.
An applied social scientist, Professor McIntosh is a former Managing Director of the Harvard-based Indigenous rights organization Cultural Survival Inc., and the former senior editorial advisor to the Cultural Survival Quarterly, the world’s premier journal focusing on the rights, voices and visions of indigenous peoples. Professor McIntosh has published two books and over 100 articles on Indigenous issues and conflict resolution. In 2010 he was named a Rotary International World Peace Fellow.
Professor McIntosh has worked extensively in Aboriginal Australia, especially in North-east Arnhem Land as a linguist and educator. In West Arnhem Land he was Regional Anthropologist with the Northern Land Council; the foremost Aboriginal land rights and advocacy group in northern Australia. Professor McIntosh, an adopted member of the Wangurri clan, has intimate knowledge of the people, land and culture of the Yolngu people of NE Arnhem Land and maintains strong ties throughout the region.
A Co-founder of Past Masters - Australian anthropologist Ian McIntosh PhD is an adjunct professor in anthropology at Indiana University's Indianapolis campus where he currently lectures in cultural anthropology and reconciliation from a global perspective. He is the chairperson of our research committee.
An applied social scientist, Professor McIntosh is a former Managing Director of the Harvard-based Indigenous rights organization Cultural Survival Inc., and the former senior editorial advisor to the Cultural Survival Quarterly, the world’s premier journal focusing on the rights, voices and visions of indigenous peoples. Professor McIntosh has published two books and over 100 articles on Indigenous issues and conflict resolution. In 2010 he was named a Rotary International World Peace Fellow.
Professor McIntosh has worked extensively in Aboriginal Australia, especially in North-east Arnhem Land as a linguist and educator. In West Arnhem Land he was Regional Anthropologist with the Northern Land Council; the foremost Aboriginal land rights and advocacy group in northern Australia. Professor McIntosh, an adopted member of the Wangurri clan, has intimate knowledge of the people, land and culture of the Yolngu people of NE Arnhem Land and maintains strong ties throughout the region.
McIntosh, I. S 2004 ‘The iron furnace of Birrinydji’, in A. Rumsey and J. Weiner (eds), Mining and Indigenous Lifeworlds in Australia and Papua New Guinea, Wantage, UK: Sean Kingston Publishing, pp. 12–30.
MacIntosh, I S 1996, ‘Islam and Australia’s Aborigines? A perspective from north-east Arnhem Land’, Journal of Religious History 20(1):53-77.
MacIntosh, I S 1996, ‘Islam and Australia’s Aborigines? A perspective from north-east Arnhem Land’, Journal of Religious History 20(1):53-77.
MO at Bristol Uni. Xradia 520 Versa
Michael B. Owen Co-founder
As principal of the Top End Heritage Services, Michael Owen specializes in Cultural Heritage and Community Engagement. He has over 40 years experience of working in remote communities across Northern Australia. In the early 1990's he was the founding CEO of Miwatj Health which hosted the first MPH&TM Units in a remote area of the NT and participated in studies into Machado Joseph Disease - Cycad Neurotoxicity and a number of critical Public Health issues.
A combination of bush experience & a passion for history, led Michael to develop the ‘Community Engagement in Heritage Strategy’ for north-east Arnhem Land – unique in being of actual interest to Aboriginal people. As part of this strategy, Michael completed a Macassan Sites Mapping, Imaging and Management Report for the NT Government which took him to the ANU Macassan Symposium in 2012 and a term appointment onto the Northern Territory Heritage Council.
He is called 'the history man' by the Yolngu which reflects his role as the historian/archivist for the group and Director/Secretary of PastMasters. MO wrote the story of the PMs 1st Expedition for Australian Geographic magazine - he manages the photographic record of expeditions and is the webmaster - images on the website are taken by him, unless otherwise attributed. (Image shows the DT Coin {found by MH at Elcho Island} following 14 hrs in the Xradia CT scanner at Bristol University in the UK.
As principal of the Top End Heritage Services, Michael Owen specializes in Cultural Heritage and Community Engagement. He has over 40 years experience of working in remote communities across Northern Australia. In the early 1990's he was the founding CEO of Miwatj Health which hosted the first MPH&TM Units in a remote area of the NT and participated in studies into Machado Joseph Disease - Cycad Neurotoxicity and a number of critical Public Health issues.
A combination of bush experience & a passion for history, led Michael to develop the ‘Community Engagement in Heritage Strategy’ for north-east Arnhem Land – unique in being of actual interest to Aboriginal people. As part of this strategy, Michael completed a Macassan Sites Mapping, Imaging and Management Report for the NT Government which took him to the ANU Macassan Symposium in 2012 and a term appointment onto the Northern Territory Heritage Council.
He is called 'the history man' by the Yolngu which reflects his role as the historian/archivist for the group and Director/Secretary of PastMasters. MO wrote the story of the PMs 1st Expedition for Australian Geographic magazine - he manages the photographic record of expeditions and is the webmaster - images on the website are taken by him, unless otherwise attributed. (Image shows the DT Coin {found by MH at Elcho Island} following 14 hrs in the Xradia CT scanner at Bristol University in the UK.
Tim Stone
Dr Tim Stone is an independent Consultant Archaeologist, Geomorphologist and Geochronologist with over 25 years experience in cultural heritage management and academic research. He holds both a Bachelors and a Masters degree from the Australian National University and a PhD from the University of Melbourne.
Tim's Masters research, undertaken on the Weipa shell mounds, developed methods for distinguishing Aboriginal shell middens from natural shoreline deposits. The landscape history of the Murray River was the subject of his PhD. Here, he specialized in optically stimulated luminescence & other radiometric dating techniques.
His research has been published in international academic journals & popular magazines including Australian Geographic & Australasian Science. In 1988, he was engaged by the Aboriginal Sacred Sites Protection Authority to map sacred sites in the Cape Wilberforce area of north east Arnhem Land important to the Warramirri clan, in particular David Burrumarra and Terry Yumbulul, one of the senior traditional owners of the Jenson Bay site. During the course of this work & long association with Yolngu peoples Dr Stone has gained a deep appreciation of the region & its rich cultural diversity.
Tim's Masters research, undertaken on the Weipa shell mounds, developed methods for distinguishing Aboriginal shell middens from natural shoreline deposits. The landscape history of the Murray River was the subject of his PhD. Here, he specialized in optically stimulated luminescence & other radiometric dating techniques.
His research has been published in international academic journals & popular magazines including Australian Geographic & Australasian Science. In 1988, he was engaged by the Aboriginal Sacred Sites Protection Authority to map sacred sites in the Cape Wilberforce area of north east Arnhem Land important to the Warramirri clan, in particular David Burrumarra and Terry Yumbulul, one of the senior traditional owners of the Jenson Bay site. During the course of this work & long association with Yolngu peoples Dr Stone has gained a deep appreciation of the region & its rich cultural diversity.
Michael Hermes
Archaeologist Michael Hermes [BA{hons}, Grad.Dip.Ed, M.Litt] is currently an archaeological consultant to development companies in Queensland, where he identifies, records & assesses Indigenous & historic heritage places.
This often involves managing large teams conducting excavations & detailed field recording. He has previously worked in remote Aboriginal communities in east Arnhem Land teaching in bilingual schools & also in western Arnhem Land and the Centre, teaching cultural heritage management to Kakadu and Uluru Indigenous Park Rangers for Batchelor College.
In the 1990’s he was involved in training Indigenous heritage rangers in Hobart for the Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service. Michael has a broad range of archaeological & community liaison experience in Qld, the NT, Tasmania and SA spanning more than twenty years.
Michael also has a Grad. Dip Ed from Charles Darwin University & Masters in Cultural Studies from the Central Qld University.
This often involves managing large teams conducting excavations & detailed field recording. He has previously worked in remote Aboriginal communities in east Arnhem Land teaching in bilingual schools & also in western Arnhem Land and the Centre, teaching cultural heritage management to Kakadu and Uluru Indigenous Park Rangers for Batchelor College.
In the 1990’s he was involved in training Indigenous heritage rangers in Hobart for the Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service. Michael has a broad range of archaeological & community liaison experience in Qld, the NT, Tasmania and SA spanning more than twenty years.
Michael also has a Grad. Dip Ed from Charles Darwin University & Masters in Cultural Studies from the Central Qld University.
L>R Ian McIntosh, Mike Owen, Tim Stone, Michael Hermes - a Matt Cupper image Hopeful Bay 2018
Terry & Clely Yumbulul
Terry & Clely Yumbulul of Wigram Island, English Company Islands NE Arnhem Land.
Terry Yumbulul, traditional owner of the Wessel Islands group which includes Wigram, Cotton and Truant Islands. He is a highly accomplished artist who has been featured in major galleries across the globe. He is the son of Burrumarra who was friend, mentor and key informant to PastMasters Co-founder Ian McIntosh.
Clely hails originally from the southern Italian city of Brindisi - she and Terry have been married for many years, much which has been spent living on Wigram Island. Clely has a profound fascination for history and archaeology as well as a fine understanding of Yolngu and Balanda systems. Both Terry & Clely have a long association with Miwatj Health Aboriginal Corporation.
Terry Yumbulul, traditional owner of the Wessel Islands group which includes Wigram, Cotton and Truant Islands. He is a highly accomplished artist who has been featured in major galleries across the globe. He is the son of Burrumarra who was friend, mentor and key informant to PastMasters Co-founder Ian McIntosh.
Clely hails originally from the southern Italian city of Brindisi - she and Terry have been married for many years, much which has been spent living on Wigram Island. Clely has a profound fascination for history and archaeology as well as a fine understanding of Yolngu and Balanda systems. Both Terry & Clely have a long association with Miwatj Health Aboriginal Corporation.
Matt Cupper
Dr. Matt Cupper - is an independent Consultant Archaeologist, Geomorphologist and Geochronologist with over 25 years of experience in cultural heritage management and academic research.
Matt has a wide range of experience in cultural and natural heritage management and an academic background in archaeology, geology and botany, including a PhD in the palaeoecology and early Aboriginal occupation of the Darling River.
He has 16 years experience as a consultant archaeologist and an excellent track record of producing workable outcomes for private industry and government clients.
Of particular relevance is his extensive project experience in Aboriginal cultural heritage management for the resource, energy and infrastructure sectors.
Matt has a wide range of experience in cultural and natural heritage management and an academic background in archaeology, geology and botany, including a PhD in the palaeoecology and early Aboriginal occupation of the Darling River.
He has 16 years experience as a consultant archaeologist and an excellent track record of producing workable outcomes for private industry and government clients.
Of particular relevance is his extensive project experience in Aboriginal cultural heritage management for the resource, energy and infrastructure sectors.
Daryl Wesley
Dr. Daryl Wesley is with Flinders University in Adelaide after relocating from ANU in Canberra. Since 1992 Daryl has worked in various roles studying, researching, and managing Indigenous archaeology and cultural heritage in Australia's Northern Territory.
He completed his Masters in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies at CDU on the archaeology and management of Indigenous cultural heritage places in Litchfield Park and the Reynolds River. His research interests include stone tool technologies, Indigenous settlement pattern analysis, and rock art recording.
Major projects have included the repatriation of ancestral human skeletal remains to Aboriginal communities and, of special interest to the PastMasters, cultural contact between Indonesians (Macassans), Europeans, and Indigenous communities in north western Arnhem Land near the Goulburn Islands and the Wellington Ranges.
He completed his Masters in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies at CDU on the archaeology and management of Indigenous cultural heritage places in Litchfield Park and the Reynolds River. His research interests include stone tool technologies, Indigenous settlement pattern analysis, and rock art recording.
Major projects have included the repatriation of ancestral human skeletal remains to Aboriginal communities and, of special interest to the PastMasters, cultural contact between Indonesians (Macassans), Europeans, and Indigenous communities in north western Arnhem Land near the Goulburn Islands and the Wellington Ranges.
Daryl led a small team, including Michael Hermes and Peter Lane, analysing the Kilwa Coins which were on loan from the Power House Museum in Sydney. Following ethanol bathing, oven drying and low humidity treatment - to remove organic copper impurities from prolonged storage - Daryl imaged the coins using the JEOL6000 SEM/EDS desktop machine at the Department of Archaeology and Natural History at the ANU. All Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) data was analysed by Ian MacLeod - who spent many years at the Western Australian Museum before establishing Heritage Conservation Solutions, a consultancy specializing in the decay of materials - notably those relating to marine environments. The four relatively modern Dutch coins in the Marchinbar Hoard demonstrated exposure to a marine environment whilst the Kilwa coins were consistent with an archaeological deposit somewhat inland and perhaps near the presence of birds as the likely source of phosphate minerals present in the corrosion matrices. Other such sources include phosphate rich coral reefs & the holds of ships carrying phosphate for fertiliser and gunpowder.
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The Kilwa Coins - courtesy of The Power House Museum Sydney NSW & Morrie Isenberg
Bob Sheppard
Bob Sheppard - studied archaeology at the University of Western Australia and completed the honours programme (archaeology) in 2013. In 2017 he completed a Graduate Certificate in Forensic Anthropology at UWA. From 2013 to 2015 he was project manager for the Barrow Island Archaeology Project and responsible for on island logistics. In 2016 he assisted Jun Kimura and Ian McCann in the search for evidence of the San Francisco (1606) wreck at Iwawada , Japan.
He has been working with archaeologists since 1987 including staff from the Maritime Archaeology Department and the Conservation Department of the Western Australian Museum. Sites include VOC terrestrial sites associated with the Zuytdorp (1712), Batavia (1629) and Vergulde Draeck (1656) as well as post-colonial historical sites including the Perseverant (1841), the Bunbury whalers, the Deadwater wreck, convict sites, Dundee Beach, Marchinbar Island, and the Perth Deanery. In 1998 he was co-finder of the intact St Allouarn (1772) annexation bottle on Dirk Hartog Island and in 2008 he provided expert geophysical survey services to Dig International and La Trobe University at the site of the Kelly gang siege site at Glenrowan.
He has been working with archaeologists since 1987 including staff from the Maritime Archaeology Department and the Conservation Department of the Western Australian Museum. Sites include VOC terrestrial sites associated with the Zuytdorp (1712), Batavia (1629) and Vergulde Draeck (1656) as well as post-colonial historical sites including the Perseverant (1841), the Bunbury whalers, the Deadwater wreck, convict sites, Dundee Beach, Marchinbar Island, and the Perth Deanery. In 1998 he was co-finder of the intact St Allouarn (1772) annexation bottle on Dirk Hartog Island and in 2008 he provided expert geophysical survey services to Dig International and La Trobe University at the site of the Kelly gang siege site at Glenrowan.
Peter Lane
Peter Lane
Peter is a South Australian based numismatist with over 50 year experience. He has been the Honorary Numismatist at the Art Gallery of South Australia for more than a decade.
He has lent specimens for a number of public institutions including the WA and SA Maritime Museums, SA Museum, Migration Museums in SA and Victoria, Mint and Barracks Museum Sydney, and the Manly Art Gallery.
He is a numismatic expert examiner under the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986.
A regular author on Australian numismatics for referred publications and has presented conference papers in Australia and New Zealand. Peter has been a member of the Past Masters since 2013 having participated in the Ancient Coins in Arnhemland Expedition.
Peter is a South Australian based numismatist with over 50 year experience. He has been the Honorary Numismatist at the Art Gallery of South Australia for more than a decade.
He has lent specimens for a number of public institutions including the WA and SA Maritime Museums, SA Museum, Migration Museums in SA and Victoria, Mint and Barracks Museum Sydney, and the Manly Art Gallery.
He is a numismatic expert examiner under the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986.
A regular author on Australian numismatics for referred publications and has presented conference papers in Australia and New Zealand. Peter has been a member of the Past Masters since 2013 having participated in the Ancient Coins in Arnhemland Expedition.
Bruce Wildcard Davey
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Bruce Davey - is the renowned master of MFV Wildcard which is a commercial mackerel fishing vessel that is increasingly moving into high-end fishing and eco-history safaris through the Wessel & English Company Islands.
Over many decades, fishing the Top End coast, Bruce has developed an intimate knowledge of the islands and their history - which he has come upon through working these waters during both the Dry & Wet Seasons when the islands quit arid Australia to join the Spice Islands and the Indo-Pacific World. Bruce & Juanita have raised a family on the Wildcard and now are handing over to son Tiger & his wife Prue so they can focus on grandchildren and the pursuit of matters archaeological. Bruce is an ardent advocate and a great collector of documentation and memorabilia for the commercial fishing industry which is critically endangered. |
2018 PastMasters Expeditioners' Pointing Competition Round One L>R Jarrad Kowlessar, TS, DW, MO, MH & MC - a Karen Dempsey image