Meriam People Pointed Dome (Amur Meta)

Indigenous Australian Torres Strait Islander people are hunter-fisher-gatherers and skilled seafarers, speaking theTrans–New Guinea language group--a part of the Austronesian Language group. They are aboriginal to Australia but distinctfrom Australean Aborigine peoples. Paul Memmott describes the Meriam people's house architecture: they constructed pointed domes until the end of the 19th century with the arrival of missionaries. The typical dome is 5.7 meters in diameter and 3.75 meter high. A dome could accommodate a nuclear or extended family.

Materials consist of bamboo canes arranged in traverse arcs and tied together, a cladding of blade grass fastened with split bamboo lathers. There is a central post, essential for the construction of the dome.

Data for CG model:
1. Memmott, Paul, & Go-Sam, & O'Rourke,Tim, 1995 ; Gunyah, Goodie + Wurley: The Aboriginal Architecture of Australia, University of Queensland Press, 1995,