About Stone Tools

ABOUT STONE TOOLS


"In Australia stone tools were seen in use by the early navigators from Dampier to Cook, by the First Fleet chroniclersand by the explorers who traversed the interior. During the 19th and 20th centuries brief observations were made on the manufactureand uses of implements by settlers and others in contact with the Aborigines, and later by archaeologists who have photographed some of the processes...In 1946 the Australian Museum published a memoir on the stone implements of Australia in which was described for the first time the known range of these implements together with a systematic classification of them"(McCarthy 1976: 9).

Since 1946, many archaeologists have produced and published many articles and books describing and classifying stone tools and their manufacture. (Click here to view Bibliography)

The collecting of Aboriginal stone tools has become a hobby for many people wanting to learn more about Aboriginal culture. Unfortunately in removing stone tools from their sites, takes much of the archaeological and anthroplogical information from the site also. However, in the past many of the larger and more distinctive stone tools (for example - grinding stones,axes and others) were often removed from sites and kept in private collections or placed elsewhere. But, in doing this an irreplaceable record of the site has been removed. Therefore in all Australia's States and Territories it is illegal to remove any artefact from an archaeological site, unless granted a permit. However, it is still possible to see artefacts in Australias landscape as part of surface campsites across Australia. These sites often contain smaller artefacts such as flakes, blades, scrapers and others.

Large study collections of Australian stone tools have been established by musuems and universities, to be used for study and display purposes across Australia. In establishing these collections everybody is able to learn from all the different types of stone tools manufactured in the past. Many of which their function is still uncertain as they have never been witnessed in use. Also many of these artefacts are no longer found in situ, as they have been removed from the sites by collectors and curious passers-by.

"In Australia stone implements occur in abundance on the old campsites. Along the coasts, river and lake shores thay are usually associated with shell middens, which, as they are broken down by rain and wind, spill out implements on to the sand dunes and shores. In the forest country the campsites have been covered by leaves and other debris and are difficult to find. On the well grassed tablelands, and on the river flats between mountains and coast, the sites have beencovered with windblown sand and aaluvial from flood. In these areas, campsites are revealed in ploughed paddocks, and are often found on eroded spots along low ridges, and creek and river banks, and year after year, as weathering processes act on them, implements are yielded constantly. Numbers of implements are to be found on the claypans and sand dunes, free of burrs and other irritants in the arid interior. In tropical Arnhem Land the campsites are usually situated beside the lagoons and creeks"(McCarthy 1976: 13).
Therefore stone artefacts are wide spread across the whole of the Australian continent and can be found when looking in the correct places for sites.

While studying Australian stone tools, you may discover the use of stone tools in other cultures such as the adzes from Oceania, projectile points from the Americas and ancient European hand-axes. In doing this you will be broadening your own cultural and technical knowledge regarding the manufacture and use of stone tools, but you will also be developing a greater understanding of where Australian Aboriginal stone tools fit in with stone tools across the world.


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