PastMasters

20/09/2026

The countdown to the launch of our book ‘Territory Treasures’ has begun. Each few days we will post a story on those remarkable centuries-old artefacts found on the NT coastline whose origins may never be fully understood. This is PastMasters co-founder IM with the Dundee Beach swivel gun. Our testing of the contents of the barrel at the University of Melbourne showed that this gun had been lying on the seabed southwest of Darwin for up to 300 years (and we sourced the metals to Andalusia). This was well before the start of the trepang industry, and there has never been any commercial trepanging in this area. Mystery lies at the heart of ‘Territory Treasures,’ the foremost example being Arnhem Land’s African coins.

17/09/2026

The estimate of the pre-colonial Indigenous population in Australia has increased substantially, up to 2.2 million or more.

"These research findings challenge us to rethink the scale of what happened after 1788." https://www.sciencealert.com/australias-indigenous-population-was-7-times-larger-than-estimated-study-finds

16/09/2026

The stone pictures of Wurrwurrwuy in Lamamirri/Gumatj country south of Nhulunbuy are a Territory Treasure. They are shown here both in 1973 and in our photos from more recent years. A Lamamirri father and son, Yumbul and Dhatalamirri, are credited with creating these pictures during the late 1800s and they depict Macassan praus, canoes, fish traps, and trepang processing camps in Murrnginy lands.

15/09/2026

Look forward to reviewing this book. The theme is very powerful. However, it is set in the 1600s, which is problematic if they are talking about Macassans. The trepang industry did not begin until the mid-1700s.

A novel based on the oral history of Yolŋu people has taken out the fiction prize at this year's Prime Minister's Literary Awards, with judges describing it as a "profound work of remembrance and re-imagination".

14/09/2026

By what means and through whose hands did those rare 900 year old African coins find their way across the Indian Ocean from Kilwa (Tanzania) to the Wessels in Australia’s Top End? Join us for the launch of ‘Territory Treasures’ at Darwin's Burnett House, Myilly Point on Friday 16th October 5-7pm where all your questions will be answered. A cash bar & jar for gold coins to help The National Trust maintain this landmark. Copies - $35 at the launch & thereafter via the NTHS website:-https://www.historicalsocietynt.org.au/books - all profits assist NT Historical Society publish future heritage works. RSVP to [email protected] to help us get a sense of numbers.

13/09/2026

This spectacular lagoon at Jensen Bay on the Wessels is the key to it all. As the only permanent freshwater source on Marchinbar, is it any wonder that this is near where Arnhem Land’s African coins were found?

10/09/2026

One of the NTs ‘Territory Treasures’, a rare African coin found on the north Australian coast in 1945. Now held out of sight in a back room in Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum, this and other treasures deserve to be in Darwin where they would be appreciated as part of our unique heritage.

09/09/2026

The new Larrakia Cultural Centre in Darwin is now open.

07/09/2026

We are pleased to announce that our book ‘Territory Treasures’—on the search for clues on North Australia’s African coins—will be held from 5-7pm on Friday October 16 at Burnett House, the historic, two-storey tropical home located in Darwin’s Myilly Point National Trust District. If you’d like to be there and meet the PM team, please register by emailing [email protected]