[Anthropgrad] Wednesday seminar by Ian Keen, October 24

[Alan Rumsey]

Anthropology seminar for Wednesday, October 24:

Ian Keen, School of Archaeology and Anthropology, ANU

Number and Sociality: Counting and Exchange in Oceania

Abstract

The ethnographic literature on number systems in Oceania records many 
variants of body-tallies and indigenous base systems. The paper treats 
number systems as ‘symbolic instruments’ with their roots in the 
language system, shaped by agents for a variety of purposes. A 
widespread use of counting in Oceania has been in exchange; the paper 
examines the relationship between forms of number systems, on the one 
hand, and on the other the character and scale of exchange. Finally, 
certain features of the number systems have implications for hypotheses 
about the elements of number systems and the history of number as 
proposed by scholars such as Wiese.

Coombs Seminar Room A, 9:30-11:15am

Inquiries to Alan Rumsey
alan.rumsey at anu.edu.au
6125-2365