Although the work of the Board was focussed on physical anthropology, the expeditions also resulted in research across a range of fields, such as linguistics and botany, and also broader aspects of anthropology, including the documentation of social organisation, tribal/language boundaries and songs and ceremony.
The records of the Board for Anthropological Research, (and related collections held in the South Australian Museum Archives), contain detailed information in a range of formats about many Australian Aboriginal groups and individuals.
The collection comprises: minutes; drafts and proofs of publications; papers related to expeditions; data cards; genealogies; photographic prints and negatives; crayon drawings; and film.
The Board was formed by Draper Campbell,[1] (Sir) John Cleland,[2] Henry Fry[3] Frederic Wood Jones,[4] Robert Pulleine,[5] and Archibald Watson.
[6] Numerous South Australian Museum employees and presidents of the Royal Society of South Australia have been members of the Board, including: