Mervyn John Meggitt (20 August 1924 – 13 November 2004 New York State) was an Australian

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

and one of the pioneering researchers of highland

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

and of

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

cultures.

Early life

Born in

Warwick, Queensland Warwick ( ) is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in southeast Queensland, Australia, lying south-west of Brisbane. It is the administrative centre of the Southern Downs Region Local government in Australia, local go ...

and educated at the

Anglican Church Grammar School The Anglican Church Grammar School (ACGS), formerly the Church of England Grammar School and commonly referred to as Churchie, is an independent, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, Day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in ...

(formerly the Church of England Grammar School) in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Meggitt served in the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Following demobilisation, he studied psychology and anthropology at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, and between 1953 and 1979, on the suggestion of A. P. Elkin, he carried out research amongst the Warlpiri (Walbiri) of Central Australia and the people of Engan Province,

Teaching

Throughout the 1950s he was a lecturer in anthropology at Sydney, but in the 1960s he took up a position as a professor of anthropology at the

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

. His works include ''The Lineage System of the Mae Engan'' and ''Desert People: A Study of the Walbiri Aborigines of Australia''. But perhaps his most noted work is "Blood is Their Argument," an intensive analysis of the warfare habits of the Engan tribes. The book is widely considered to be among the first ethnographic studies of warfare. In his work on the people of Enga in

Meggitt found a firmly patrilineal system. This was unusual as compared to other highland groups, which tended to be organized on a basis of residence as well as descent. Restudies of his material as well the Engan suggest that Meggitt overstated the case, and the Engan may be more like other highland groups than was thought in previous decades. In his 1970 doctoral dissertation, Arthur Saxe used Meggitt's observations to form the basis of what became known as the

Saxe–Goldstein hypothesis In archaeology, the Saxe–Goldstein hypothesis is a Middle-range theory (archaeology), middle-range theory about the relationship between a society's burial practices and its social organization. It predicts a correlation between two phenomen ...

, a general prediction about the relationship between social organization and funerary practices.

Notes

1924 births 2004 deaths Australian expatriates in the United States People educated at Anglican Church Grammar School 20th-century Australian anthropologists Australian expatriates in Papua New Guinea {{Australia-anthropologist-stub