[Previous title: Maps - 'Australia' subject maps]

This series contains 102 small annotated base maps of continental Australia and the world. Each map contains data compiled by Tindale on a particular subject relating to the distribution of material culture, mainly in Australia. Areas of research represented include physical anthropology, archaeology, geography and botany. Also included in the series is a map entitled 'Field Stations of N. B. Tindale 1921 - 1965' (AA 338/22/66) and a map of 'N. B. Tindale's Journey into Western Desert', 1957 - 1964 (AA 338/22/67).

The exact date range of the annotations is unknown. However, dates recorded in Tindale's annotations, c1890 to c1979, refer to his journals, manuscripts and other unpublished and published sources. A number of maps contain extensive notes recorded over time in various ink, pencil and crayon colours. Subjects covered in this series include the distribution of customs and traditions associated with burial, circumcision and subincision, Aboriginal terminology for plants and animals, vegetation distribution and use, 'tribal' distribution and systems of social organisation, population 'types', smallpox, stone implements, trade routes and markets, 'culture sequences' and climate.

In addition to Tindale's data, notes refer to artifacts or objects held in the South Australian Museum collections, 'basic data published' in Records of the South Australian Museum and earlier published and unpublished sources. Many maps contain references to the 'Journal on Campsites and Stone Implements of the Australian aborigines; and others; Notes, etc., by Norman B. Tindale.' 1940-1989 (AA 338/1/40). There are several versions of the black and white base maps, which vary in size. The 23 small maps comprising AA 338/22/70 are housed in an album. The six maps comprising AA 338/22/75 were sketched by Tindale on tracing paper.