For help on how to use and navigate this database please visit the “User Guide” page. Users must first be logged in to the database for the search function and the links to work; you can do this by visiting https://database.frontierconflict.org and registering as a new user (it will take about 30 seconds).

Archaeology

The heart of this project was to understand the NMP through the material remains left behind at their camps. Eight NMP camps were excavated for this project: Wandai Gumbal (1851–1861), Mistake Creek (1863–1879), Puckley Creek (1874–1876), Lower Laura (1875–1894), Burke River (1878–1885), Glenroy (1882–1887), Eyre’s Creek (1882–1895) and Musgrave (1889–1900). These camps are spread across Queensland and span most of the time period of the force’s operation.

The moveable objects retrieved from these sites are held by the Queensland Museum. They have been catalogued partly by material (ceramic, glass, metal and bone) and partly by distinctive object types (buttons, weapons and ammunition, and lithics, or Aboriginal stone artefacts). Other artefacts include trees that were modified by Aboriginal people to make traditional bark and wooden objects, but that obviously were not collected for the project.

For specialist excavation context data relating to excavated sites, please contact the database authors. Click on one of the icons to search the database for those items.