In Januuary 1915 a Mr T.I. Brister of Hobart took some human bones he had found at Eaglehawk Neck to the Tasmanian Museum. Clive Lord, Curator of the Museum, went with Brister and a Mr WH Clemes to the site – where “a slight sandslip had occurred on the south-eastern face of one of the large sand dunes forming Eaglehawk Neck.”

Some small bones were on the surface and they dug along the slope of the sand dune, uncovering larger bones and several skulls. It was very hard to dig the bones out because many were filled with the roots of boobialla plants which covered the dune. The bones were very brittle due to age, many completely decayed but some perfectly preserved.

They were “evidently a whole party, probably numbering a score [twenty]….All ages are represented, there is a clavicle [collar bone] of a child barely two years old, a lower jaw of a child of between seven and nine years old, others …still young at the time of death, while there are other various grades through to old age.” Lord estimated they had been buried in the sand “for probably a century” and also suggested that they “met their deaths at this spot” although he gave no reason why he thought this. [Lord 1919:118-9]

Later examination of the bones found “no evidence of ante-mortem [before death] injury”, leading to the speculation “that a tribal group perished from some natural cause”, such as an epidemic disease or some natural occurrence. Many of the bones had been broken while digging them out, and although the cranial [top] part of the skulls were intact, the bones of the faces were in fragments and could not be identified as belonging to any particular cranium. Limb bones were also found, but many were broken. [Wunderly 1939:317; 1935:460]

One of the skulls (EH A555; incomplete) has since been dated as about 9,000 years old. [TMAG: List of human remains in the collections. 1983:3]

A separate skull found earlier, in 1910 by Parker, on the beach at Eaglehawk Neck is also considered to be part of the larger group. This is an adult skull (TM 11500(or9?) without the jawbone, very weathered. [Crowther & Lord 1920:139; Wunderly 1935:460].

Earlier commentators assumed the group all died together at the same time at this spot. No evidence is given for this assertion. They speculated that epidemic disease or natural disasters such as tidal waves or lightning were the cause of death. [Lord 1919:119; Wunderly 1935:460]

Another possibility is that it was a burial area. No mention is made of any signs of burning on the remains, although cremation of the dead seems to have been the usual practice in the south east (from reports from the d’Entrecasteaux expedition in 1793 and Robinson’s 1830s journals). Given the 9,000 year old dating of one of the skulls, it is possible that burial may have been an earlier practice in the area.

Identifying numbers

Wunderly examined 5 of the crania: Tasman series nos. Male: 79, 80, 81. Female: 78. Juvenile:82 (A559) & measured 9 femora [thigh bones] and 6 tibiae [bone from knee to ankle]. The femora were numbered and the tibia lettered. These were the only crania and bones considered well preserved or unbroken enough to examine. [Wunderly 1939:317, 333, 335]

The Eaglehawk Neck collection of remains all have the museum prefix (EH) and are numbered from EH555 to EH886, a total of 331 numbered items [Crowther & Lord 1920:140-152]. Some numbers have (a), (b) and (c)s, and some include large numbers of pieces: eg EH 872 comprises 100 fragments; EH 873 comprises 87 bones; EH 883 is 50 vertebrae; etc. So there are very many pieces.

On 1.5.1991, fragments of the right temple bone of an adult head (A EH 567)were returned with other, non EH items. Eaglehawk remains returned in 1993 were 9 sets of items numbered L167-172, 174-176.

The 9 sets of items returned in January 1993 were put back in the dunes at Eaglehawk Neck in a ceremony on 16 March 1993 [John Wells, then state Sec. pers comm to AR 5.05]

In January 2005 more remains from the Eaglehawk Collection, were found at the Moonah Store of the Museum These are: skull bone fragments – EH 560; EH 561; EH 562; EH 563; EH 566 (a&b??); left maxillae EH590; hip bone portion EH 701; L173. (3 sets of skull bones; 2 sets of skull bone fragments; upper jaw; portion hip bone; rib fragments)

Eaglehawk Neck 8 sets of items

A EH 560 skull bones

A EH 561 skull bones

A EH 562 skull bones

A EH 563 skull bone fragments

A EH 566 skull bone fragments

A EH 590 upper jaw

A EH 701 portion hip bone

6269/L175 rib fragments

In 2006 these were returned to the Aboriginal community with other remains. They are intended to be returned to Eaglehawk Neck at a later date.

W.L.Crowther & CE Lord: Descriptive Catalogue of the Osteological Specimens Relating to the Tasmanian Aborigines Contained in the Tasmanian Museum. Pap. & Proc. Roy. Soc Tas for 1920. pp140-152.

Clive E Lord: Preliminary Note Upon the Discovery of a Number of Tasmanian Aboriginal Remains at Eaglehawk Neck. Pap & Proc.Roy. Soc. Tas., 1919.p118-9.

J. Wunderly: The Cranial & Other Skeletal Remains of Tasmanians in Collections in the Commonwealth of Australia. Biometrika, Vol XXX. Parts III & IV. Jan 1939.p317, 333.

J. Wunderly, National Museum, Melbourne: The Tasmanian Crania in Collections in the Commonwealth. The Medical Journal of Australia, 13 April 1935. pp455-461.