1. Home
  2. Education
  3. Archaeology

The Murray Black Collection

By K. Kris Hirst, About.com

Definition: The Murray Black collection was a huge collection of human skeletal material in Australia, amassed in the 1940s and 1950s by G. M. Black. Black donated his collection to the University of Melbourne, where they were stored in the Anatomy Department until 1984, when they were impounded by court order. The Murray Black Collection was an important early part of the repatriation movement in Australia, and the rest of the world. By the 1990s, all of the Murray Black materials had been repatriated to their originating aboriginal communities.

This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Sources for the term include the references listed on the front page of the Dictionary, and the websites listed in the sidebar. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst.

Explore Archaeology

More from About.com

  1. Home
  2. Education
  3. Archaeology
  4. Archaeology 101
  5. Glossary
  6. M Terms
  7. The Murray Black Collection

©2008 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.