Abstract
AUSTRLALIAN STONE IMPLEMEENTS.—A paper on stone implements found on the camping grounds formerly used by Australian aborigines, by Mr. A. S. Kenyon, in The Victorian Naturalist, vol. 43, No. 10, which describes the character of these implements and their uses, suggests certain general considerations which are not without interest to students of the use of stone in prehistoric times in other parts of the world. The Australian camping grounds are of three types—those of a purely temporary character, where the remains are of food entirely; those where good shelter and varieties of food were obtainable, but here implements are sparse and of a crude nature; and thirdly, those that were permanent and at which aborigines were always to be found, and where the old men and women stayed and practised their arts and crafts. The first evidence of a camping ground is the presence of foreign stones, which may be either implements or fire stones; and the second the presence of food remains, often large quantities of shell of an edible kind. Raised beaches, especially around Port Phillip, have often been mistaken for kitchen middens. Examination reveals that the foreign stones fall into the following groups, apart from fire-stones: (a) small but definite shapes, mostly retouched; (b) larger shapes, much less definite, with secondary working of a much coarser nature; (c) similar fakes without retouching; (d) large pieces with coarse chippings; (e) cores. By far the greater number show no sign of working, but cannot be classed as ‘wasters.’ The aboriginal did not spend time on the elaboration of an implement when once he had obtained the edge he required, and it was thrown away perhaps after a few strokes, when once the edge showed the effect of use.
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Research Items. Nature 119, 939–941 (1927). https://doi.org/10.1038/119939a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/119939a0