Everyday body adornments were mainly limited to waist belts and arm bands, used to carry items such as a stone knife, hatchet, or other small items. Similarly, any small lizard caught during the day could be tucked into the waist belt, leaving the hands free. More decorative items, such as necklaces and headdresses, were usually saved for wearing at ceremonial times.

 

Men and boys with ceremonial body paint, prepared for a coroboree. The man at far left wears a headband with shell pendant over his forehead, nose bone, a large pearlshell pendant from his neck, and a European brass buckle belt. Other men wear nose bones and hold shields, spears, long sword-clubs and a boomerang.

 

A man from Atherton wearing a parrot feather headdress, a mussel shell headband, a nose bone, a necklace with a pearlshell pendant amulet, and horizontal scars over his chest and upper abdomen. A leaf has been added to a modern leather belt for modesty.

 

Emu feathers tied to a bone point, used to wear as a decoration fastened into the hair.

 

Covering worn over the genitals, more for decoration than to cover nudity.

 

Two necklaces made from cut pieces of cane grass (left), and Tusk (Dentalium) shells (right).

 

Hair decoration made from human hair string with native bees wax resin and three teeth from a tree kangaroo.

 

Man holding a spear and spearthrower with shell handle. He wears an armband and waist belt made from plant fibres. The waist belt is used to carry small items tucked around it. Cape York Peninsula.