Article ID: CBB001221507

Comets in Australian Aboriginal Astronomy (2011)

unapi

We present 25 accounts of comets from 40 Australian Aboriginal communities, citing both supernatural perceptions of comets and historical accounts of historically bright comets. Historical and ethnographic descriptions include the Great Comets of 1843, 1861, 1901, 1910, and 1927. We describe the perceptions of comets in Aboriginal societies and show that they are typically associated with fear, death, omens, malevolent spirits, and evil magic, consistent with many cultures around the world. We also provide a list of words for comets in 16 different Aboriginal languages.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001221507/

Similar Citations

Article Hamacher, Duane W.; Norris, Ray P.; (2011)
Eclipses in Australian Aboriginal Astronomy (/isis/citation/CBB001221512/)

Article Hamacher, Duane W.; Frew, David J.; (2010)
An Aboriginal Australian Record of the Great Eruption of Eta Carinae (/isis/citation/CBB001034829/)

Article Haebich, Anna; (2012)
Aboriginal Assimilation and Nyungar Health 1948--72 (/isis/citation/CBB001200705/)

Book Jenny, Green; Peltharr, Kitty; (2000)
Alherramp-Areny Angkety Arelh-Kenh: Women's Stories from Laramba (/isis/citation/CBB000102167/)

Article Wyatt, Geoffrey; Stephenson, Toner; Stevenson, Toner; Hamacher, Duane W.; (2014)
Dreamtime Astronomy: Development of a New Indigenous Program at Sydney Observatory (/isis/citation/CBB001451561/)

Article Hamacher, Duane W.; (2013)
Aurorae in Australian Aboriginal Traditions (/isis/citation/CBB001214520/)

Article Philip A. Clarke; (2019)
Australites. Part 2: early Aboriginal reception and use (/isis/citation/CBB661447014/)

Chapter Yengoyan, Aram A.; (2000)
Essentialisms of Aboriginality: Blood/Race, History, and the State in Australia (/isis/citation/CBB000102254/)

Chapter Holbrook, Jarita C.; (2012)
Celestial Navigation and Technological Change on Moce Island (/isis/citation/CBB001422694/)

Article Carter, Christopher; (2012)
Meteors, Prodigies, and Signs: The Interpretation of the Unusual in Sixteenth-Century England (/isis/citation/CBB001200755/)

Article Hamacher, Duane W.; (2015)
Identifying Seasonal Stars in Kaurna Astronomical Traditions (/isis/citation/CBB001551811/)

Book Bruce Pascoe; (2018)
Dark Emu: Aboriginal Australia and the Birth of Agriculture (/isis/citation/CBB972180438/)

Article McGregor, William B.; (2008)
Missionary Linguistics in the Kimberley, Western Australia: A History of the First Seventy Years (/isis/citation/CBB001211639/)

Article Barry J. Cooper; James B. Jago; (2018)
Robert Bedford (1874-1951), the Kyancutta Museum, and a unique contribution to international geology (/isis/citation/CBB114084262/)

Book Douglas, Bronwen; Ballard, Chris; (2008)
Foreign Bodies: Oceania and the Science of Race, 1750--1940 (/isis/citation/CBB000951626/)

Book Julia Martínez; Adrian Vickers; (2015)
The Pearl Frontier: Indonesian Labor and Indigenous Encounters in Australia's Northern Trading Network (/isis/citation/CBB168147946/)

Authors & Contributors
Hamacher, Duane W.
Gray, Geoffrey
Martínez, Julia
James B. Jago
Vickers, Adrian
Bruce Pascoe
Concepts
Indigenous peoples; indigeneity
Australian races
Traditional societies and cultures
Astronomy
Science and religion
Traditional knowledge
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
Prehistory
21st century
20th century, early
16th century
Places
Australia
Sydney (Australia)
Fiji
Micronesia
Melanesia
Polynesia
Institutions
Sydney Observatory
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment