Portion of Jawbone

The jawbone is likely to be from a camelus dromedarius, a one hump camel. The Burke and Wills 1860-61 expedition made great use of camels, with the team eventually needing to eat the camels during the difficulties of their return journey to Melbourne. This camel was named Linda, and was killed by Burke on his return to Cooper Creek.

This jawbone was transferred from the Art Gallery of South Australia to the History Trust of South Australia in 1984. This jawbone is part of the Historical Relics collection. Burke and Wills were two of the early European explorers of Australia. The exploration of Australia was important to the European settlers who strived to be the first to explore the land. This now forms a key stage of Australian colonial history.