Off the Ground
1997; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 8; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/10331867.1997.10525108
ISSN2164-4756
Autores ResumoRobert Irving has throughout his career been an empiricist and synthesist, and also an exceptionally generous scholar, as I and other colleagues know full well. The use of stumps is one topic which he might easily have pursued, as it involves synthesising the work of others to develop a national picture, but he has not to my Knowledge done so. In pursuing it I must rely heavily on others in some areas, but I am sure that those concerned—especially Peter Bell and Donald Watson—will be happy to join me in repaying some of Irving's kindnesses of the past. Some scholarly attention has been paid to the high-set house of Queens land, but in reality this is easier to explain than the more modest stumps of the south. The high-set house, in one form or another, is found in many tropical areas, and has precedents going back to the neolithic period. The ordinary stump was viewed with surprise by English visitors, for it is alien to the European tradition, and is not easily explained. The nearest analogies are in certain farm building types, including the rick stands which actually reached Australia in various patented forms. The ant cap, so often associated with the stump, is not necessarily an Australian invention, but it is a characteristic local detail. The analogy with the stone steddle is obvious, but until now the intermediate forms which suggest a genuine connection have not been explored.
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