I was out for a walk in my "office" this morning and I noticed a piece of what seemed to be fair quality flaking stone (I play about flaking stone tools, but I usually work with glass). It was not as good as I initially thought, but on the way back in roughly the same area I noticed a second piece of stone that showed signs of being edge-ground - that is, rubbed on sandstone to produce a sharp edge. I tried the two pieces for fit - and they matched. I had the centre piece and cutting edge of a stone hatchet. It made me wonder if any more of the tool had survived. A couple of minutes scanning the area turned up the top part.


The three pieces are not very exciting on their own, but they tell a story (arranged conveniently around some wallaby tracks). The first piece found is in the centre, the cutting piece is on the left:





The cutting edge showing the effect of polishing on sandstone. The starting piece would have been a conveniently shaped chert (low grade flint) cobble. It has been flaked on the left side to produce a rough cutting edge. The remains of that flaking are still visible on the left. They were not quite polished out.







The three pieces reassembled. It was a neat stone hatchet head about 110 mm (4 1/2 inches) long - the kind of item that would have been hafted as a general purpose hatchet. Damage suggests that an attempt was made to thin the top section, possibly so it could be re-hafted. The top part may have split off when this happened. Subsequent attempts to flake other cutting tools such as micro-blades from the pieces were unsuccessful. The stone was just not good enough and so it was discarded. But it is still something to contemplate when put back together.

[RoxnDox]

Very cool that you were able to find all the major pieces!

Now you have to post some pics of your work too 😉

[PJ1]

Now you have to post some pics of your work too

Thanks RoxnDox. Work is a mixture of running a cattle property and trying to develop some cultural heritage tourism. The website more or less sums it up: Ballancar Cultural Heritage

[Bruce Clark]

Thanks for posting this. As a youngster in Mt Isa we found many places where stone implements were made. Primarily in the bed of the Leichardt River downstream from Lake Moondarra. The stone used there was a greenish basalt like material. We never found a finished artifact, just piles of stone chips and a few rough "axe heads." What we called axe heads were in all probability discards. The edges showed no signs of polishing and there was no notching to fit a handle. I still have one in the shed. I will dust it off in the morning and post a photo of it.

[PJ1]

Thanks for looking, Bruce. I would like to see your photo. Piles of stone chips are certainly more common than finished items. But a lot of our stuff is on campsites rather than quarry areas, so we do find tools as well. Most of them are from the later "micro-blade" or "thumb nail scraper" tradition and we often find the smaller cores from which these implements were struck, as well as the implements themselves. Worn out adzes ( really more like a small chisel) are common although of course the hafted handles are long gone. Silcrete is the material to watch out for. Once you have an eye for it, stuff jumps out at you everywhere and landscapes take on a whole new meaning.

[RoxnDox]

Thanks RoxnDox. Work is a mixture of running a cattle property and trying to develop some cultural heritage tourism. The website more or less sums it up: Ballancar Cultural Heritage

Actually, I meant your stone-work pieces you've done Although you do have a very cool workplace there!

Jim

[plantej]

You gotta have a trained eye for this sort of thing. Interesting.

[PJ1]

I meant your stone-work pieces you've done

Sorry. I thought you might have assumed I was an archaeologist. I really only know enough to be dangerous. But I went back this morning and found the fourth major piece. I thought it would be a broken flake if here was anything but it was a substantial lump. Also including a Kimberley point copy that I have done in glass. The Aboriginal people started using glass as soon as Europeans arrived. In the 1870s they frequently disrupted the overland telegraph line across Central Australia (Adelaide to Darwin - and from there to Singapore and the rest of the world) by climbing the poles and stealing the insulators and make tools from them.

Anyway, here is the update:

"Back" of the axe with the fourth piece and the fourth piece in place.
Thanks for looking plantej, (

You gotta have a trained eye for this sort of thing

. I guess you do need an eye for it. But the Aboriginal people say "If the old people want you to see it, they will show you." The more time I spend in the bush, the more I incline to that view. All I can say is I am grateful for many of the things I have been privileged to see.






And here is my Kimberley point (The Kimberley is the Northwest od Western Australia). The points are distinguished by their serrated edge. Also including a pic of some of them from a book and an illustration of how they were mounted with resin.

[RoxnDox]

Very nice work... I have played around with some cherts and a few flint pieces picked up here and there, its a fun diversion from modern days. Mine are less pretty ��

[Bruce Clark]

As promised here is the "axe head" from the Mt Isa area.






On picking this up for the first time in many years I was amazed at how it fits into the right hand. Despite its rough appearance, think moulded grip on a Pentax DSLR. It is that comfortable. Clearly this was made by human hands for a human hand.



It may be difficult to see from the photo but there are ridges, dips, and flat surfaces that align perfectly with the fingers on my right hand. The reverse side also has an indentation that fits the thumb. While I was playing with it my wife was wondering what I was doing and as I explained she was quite skeptical. Skeptical that is until I convinced to hold it.


In my inexpert opinion this was made for use as a hand tool for chopping in a downwards motion. Quite possible for cutting up game.

[PJ1]

Quite possible for cutting up game

Yes, they do fit the hand nicely. And the "chopper" is a very common implement. It is probably the oldest form of stone tool because it goes back around 2.5 million years. I guess butchering is butchering in any age and the stone butchering tool had no need to change. Stone knife shapes are also echoed in modern knife blade designs for specialised purposes like leather working.

[plantej]

Aboriginal people say "If the old people want you to see it, they will show you."

Awesome bits of indigenous wisdom and culture. Really cool collection. Looks like obsidian those spearheads. To ascertain their age would be phenomenal. Fascinating stuff. I hope the "old people" show you many more things on your "walkabouts", looks like they have been good to you so far.