Coolamon

container · Australia · Aboriginal

The coolamon is the carved wooden carrying dish of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia, shaped from the root growth of eucalyptus trees or cut from bark, and used to hold water, food, seeds, fire and babies. A single piece of wood is gouged and shaped so that the dish has a curved bottom, and it is carried on the head, in the hand or under the arm, with smaller coolamons made as cradles for infants and larger ones used for grinding seeds and winnowing grain. The dish is a working tool of daily life, used especially by women in food gathering, and it can be painted with the clan designs of the

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