Mandu Beads

Jewellery

World’s oldest jewellery?

Could this be some of the world’s oldest jewellery? These 32,000-year-old shells feature delicate holes through which Aboriginal people once threaded string to fashion body ornaments such as necklaces, belts or bracelets. Such artefacts reveal that Aboriginal people were creating jewellery at the same time or even earlier than ancient Europeans. The original beads are featured in the new WA Museum - Boola Bardip.

Available at:

Gwoonwardu Mia - Gascoyne Aboriginal Heritage and Cultural Centre

Celebration of Aboriginal heritage and culture

The spacious and modern Gwoonwardu Mia Gascoyne Aboriginal Heritage and Cultural Centre celebrates the culture and country of five Gascoyne Aboriginal language groups. You can learn much about the...

Address:

146 Robinson St
Carnarvon WA 6701
Australia

Tel:

(08) 9941 1989

Email:

gwoonwardumia@museum.wa.gov.au

Open Hours

Mon to Fri 9.30am - 3.30pm

Return to collection to read more

Gwoonwardu Mia - Gascoyne Aboriginal Heritage and Cultural Centre Overview

Emu Egg by Bill Poland

Emu egg artistry

Like many Shark Bay people, Bill Poland was a man of both the sea and land. As a boy he worked on one of his dad’s five sail-powered pearling luggers. In the book Yammatji, published in 1992, he is...

Grinding Stone

Return of the grindstone

How many hands have held this grinding stone over the millennia? When did they use it last? Station people came upon the grinding stone and some spears at a campsite and corroboree ground along the...