Mid 20th century AD or earlier. A lentoid-section stone totemprising two faces engraved with different geometric designs, bothposed of concentric circles joined by simple lines. See Durkheim, E., The Elementary Forms of Religio Life, Karen Fields translation, The Free Press, 1995 (1912); Kempe, H., Vocabulary of the Tribes Inhabiting the Macdonnell Ranges, RSSA, v.XIV, 1898, pp.1-54, for discsion; Spencer, B. ed., The Arunta-A study of a Stone Age People, Vol. II, Macmillan, London, 1927, p.571, forparable; Strehlow, T.G.H., Aranda Traditions, Melbourne University Press, 1947, pp.85-6, for discsion ofparable. 1.3 kg, 32.5cm (12 3/4"). Acquired in the late-1980s. Property of a UK collector. A churinga or tjurunga is an object considered to be of great religio significance by Central Atralian Aboriginal people and were mostmonly circular, oval or oblong in shape and made from polished stone or wood. In the early 20th century and before, only initiated males were able to see or touch them. Each churinga has its own 'name', which was sung or chanted whenever it was inspected or handled. In mythology, the ancestors believed the churingas were an integral part of their own being, sometimes stolen away by those who stole the stones. The stones were of great interest to European anthropologists and sociologists of totemic religion and the Sacred; the renowned Emile Durkheim considered the churinga to be an archetype of the sacred item. [No Reserve]