Australian Archaeology
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Full Citation Details:
Lampert, R.J. 1975. A Preliminary report on some waisted blades
found on Kangaroo Island, South Australia. 'Australian
Archaeology', no.2, 45-48.
i n which t h e i s l a n d was p a r t i c u l a r l y r i c h . I am indebted t o
Gibbney of t h e Research School of Social Sciences,
A.N.U.,
f o r bringing t h e s e references t o my a t t e n t i o n .
Mr H.J.
There i s evidence f o r Aborigines having v i s i t e d
o t h e r o f f s h o r e i s l a n d s along t h e south coast of New South
Wales. In h i s journal o f 1797, t h e explorer George Bass
r e f e r s t o Aborigines on Brush Island, 1 km offshore from
k r r a m a r a n g Point. Writing i n t h e Proceedings of the
Geographical Society o f Australia f o r 1883, J . F . Mann t e l l s
o f Aboriginal canoe voyages t o t h e Tollgate Islands, 3-4 km
o u t from t h e headlands flanking t h e entrance t o the Clyde
River. Like Montagu Island, both Brush Island and t h e Tollgates
have muttonbird rookeries.
R. J. Lampert
A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON SOME WAISTED BLADES
FOUND ON KANGAROO ISLAND, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
While examining s u r f a c e c o l l e c t ions of Kartan t o o l s
from Kangaroo Island, I saw s i x implements t h a t bear a s t r i k i n g
resemblance t o t h e flaked waisted blades of Papua New Guinea.
O f t h e f o u r i l l u s t r a t e d here, A - C were found r e c e n t l y on a
p a s t o r a l l e a s e and a r e owned by t h e farmer, while D, together
with another waisted t o o l , was discovered by t h e archaeologist
H.M. Cooper. Both of t h e specimens collected by Cooper a r e i n
t h e South Australian Museum and a r e already on record (Cooper 1968).
A s i x t h implement, i n t h e museum a t Kingscote, came t o l i g h t on a
p a s t o r a l l e a s e n o t f a r from t h e one on which specimens A - C were
found. The d e s c r i p t i o n s given here a r e based on photographs taken
with a hand-held camera, b r i e f notes and a few basic measurements.
F u l l e r d e t a i l s w i l l follow a f u t u r e examination.
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With t h e exception of one, made on a q u a r t z i t e pebble,
t h e t o o l s a r e made on f l a t t i s h s l a b s t h a t appear t o have formed
by s p l i t t i n g along p a r a l l e l n a t u r a l f r a c t u r e p l a n e s i n t h e s t o n e .
The most c h a r a c t e r i s t i c f e a t u r e of t h e t o o l s i s a p a i r of almost
i d e n t i c a l , opposing notches flaked b i f a c i a l l y i n t o t h e i r long
s i d e s . A s well a s t h e notches, most of t h e r e s t o f t h e margin of
a t o o l is flaked b i f a c i a l l y , providing f a i r l y s h a r p edges, except
on one specimen ( f i g . B) which has f l a t t i s h , unflaked ends.
Archaeologists working i n Papua New Guinea assume t h a t
very s i m i l a r waisted blades found t h e r e functioned as axes, t h e
ends o f a t o o l being i t s c u t t i n g edges and t h e notches a h a f t i n g
device (Golson 1971, Allen 1972, Bulmer forthcoming)
Compared
with t h e New Guinea t o o l s , those from Kangaroo I s l a n d f a l l w i t h i n
t h e range o f forms given by Bulmer (forthcoming) and appear t o
share t h e same techniques of manufacture. I n l e n g t h , t h e s i x
t o o l s range between 15 and 26 cm w i t h a mean of 19 cm. By c o n t r a s t ,
t h e Yuku waisted blades, which a r e t h e l a r g e s t among t h e New Guinea
c o l l e c t i o n s , range between 8.5 and 21.5 cm with a mean o f 12.1 cm.
These ranges overlap, but t h e mean v a l u e s a r e d i s s i m i l a r enough t o
suggest t h a t Kangaroo Island t o o l s may be g e n e r a l l y l a r g e r than
t h e i r New Guinea counterparts.
.
A s well a s t h e Kangaroo I s l a n d specimens, Cooper (1968)
records two, o r possibly t h r e e , o t h e r f l a k e d t o o l s with opposed
notches from mainland South A u s t r a l i a . I saw another i n a p r i v a t e
c o l l e c t i o n made near We1 l i n g t o n , New Sauth Wales. McCarthy (l967 :53)
describes 'Mackay h a m e r s t o n e s as,
"large, roughly-made implements fashioned from weathered
f l a t pieces of [stone]. Most o f them a r e deeply waisted
on each s i d e and occasional specimens are f u l l y grooved.
.The waist was shaped by f l a k i n g , and was t h e n
apparently b a t t e r e d by u s e . No d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e i r u s e
e x i s t s . They a r e from 4 t o 7 inches long, and up t o
almost 7 pounds i n weight. The b e s t s e r i e s known i s
from Mackay d i s t r i c t i n Queensland, but o t h e r s have been
found i n e a s t e r n New South Wales."
. . ..
I examined t h r e e M a c k a y ~ e r s t o n e s ,i n c l u d i n g t h e specimen f i g u r e d
by McCarthy (1967:72), a t t h e A u s t r a l i a n Museum. T h e i r l e n g t h s
a r e 16, 16 and 24 cm, and they have opposing, b i f a c i a l l y f l a k e d
notches a s described f o r t h e Kangaroo I s l a n d specimens. Only one,
McCarthyVsi l l u s t r a t e d example, is b i f a c i a l l y f l a k e d a t t h e end;
t h e o t h e r two have unflaked, f l a t t i s h ends formed by weathered,
n a t u r a l f r a c t u r e planes. No pecking, t y p i c a l o f hammerstone u s e ,
was seen on t h e s e s u r f a c e s . My impression, based on r a t h e r
inadequate samples, is t h a t t h e Queens land and Kangaroo I s land
t o o l s do not d i f f e r g r e a t l y .
The above evidence, l e a d s m e t o suggest t h a t waisted b l a d e s
have a widespread d i s t r i b u t i o n i n A u s t r a l i a but a r e n o t conmon
enough t o have a t t r a c t e d notice. Other specimens could e x i s t i n
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museum c o l l e c t i o n s , w i t h t h e i r i d e n t i t y obscured simply through
n o t b e i n g named by t h e r e c e n t l y coined term, waisted blade.
In New Guinea t h e e a r l i e s t waisted blades have an
a n t i q u i t y o f a t l e a s t 26,000 years and t h e i r use continued well
i n t o t h e p o s t - P l e i s t o c e n e (White e t al. 1970). On e u s t a t i c
evidence t h e Kangaroo I s l a n d specimens a r e almost c e r t a i n l y o l d e r
than 10,000 y e a r s (Lampert 1972) , while t h e i r massiveness
s u g g e s t s d i r e c t a s s o c i a t i o n with t h e Kartan industry which has a
probably a n t i q u i t y exceeding 16,000 years and may be considerably
o l d e r (Lampert forthcoming) .
Before t h e Kangaroo Island specimens came t o l i g h t ,
flaked waisted blades had n o t been recognised anywhere i n
A u s t r a l i a . Because A u s t r a l i a and New Guinea were joined
throughout t h e P l e i s t o c e n e , t h e presence of waisted blades a t
s e v e r a l s i t e s of P l e i s t o c e n e age i n New Guinea, and an apparent
absence o f t h e t o o l s i n A u s t r a l i a , had been seen e i t h e r a s
p e r p l e x i n g (Allen 1972: 185) o r a s i n d i c a t i v e of regional
d i v e r s i t y w i t h i n t h e c o n t i n e n t of Australia-New Guinea (Howells
1973: 188). However, t h e presence of waisted blades i n A u s t r a l i a
s u p p o r t s t h e view t h a t t h e o l d land mass had a broadly uniform
technology, an opinion advanced by Allen (1972) and Jones (1973)
through s i m i l a r i t i e s t h e y saw i n o t h e r t o o l s of flaked stone.
R.J.
Lampert
Bib1iography
Allen, J.
1972
The f i r s t decade i n New Guinea archaeology.
Antiquity 4 6 : 180-90.
Bulmer, S. (forthcoming). Waisted blades and axes. A f u n c t i o n a l
i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f some e a r l y stone t o o l s
from Papua New Guinea. In Wright, R.V.S.
(ed .) Stone tools as cuZturrzZ markers.
Cooper, H.M.
1968
A f u r t h e r d e s c r i p t i o n of l a r g e stone
implements from South Australia.
&S.
15: 581-603.
Rec.
South Aust.
Golson, J.
1971
Both s i d e s of t h e Wallace Line: A u s t r a l i a ,
New Guinea and Asian Prehistory. ArchueoZogy
and PhysicaZ AnthropoZogy i n Oceania
6: 124-44.
Howells, W.
1973
The P d f i c Islanders.
6 A.W. Reed.
A.H.
Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au
Wellington:
Jones, R .
1973
Lampert, R.J.
Emerging p i c t u r e o f P l e i s t o c e n e A u s t r a l i a n s .
Nature 246: 278-81.
1972
A carbon d a t e f o r t h e Aboriginal occupation
of Kangaroo I s l a n d , South A u s t r a l i a .
Mankind 8:223-4.
Lampert, R. J. (forthcoming) Kangaroo I s l a n d and t h e a n t i q u i t y of
Australians. I n Wright, R . V . S . (ed.)
Stone too 2s as c u t t u r a t markers.
McCarthy , F. D.
1967
AustraZian AboriginaZ stone hpZements.
Sydney:
White, J.P.,
K.A.W.
The A u s t r a l i a n Museum.
Crook and B.P. Ruxton 1970 Kosipe: a Late
Pleistocene s i t e i n t h e Papuan Highlands.
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society
36~152-70.
FIELDWORK IN NORTH QUEENSLAND
-
A s p a r t o f a f i e l d survey of t h e Herbert/Burdekin d i s t r i c t
i n North Queensland, f o u r small excavations were undertaken d u r i n g
1974. These were a t t h e foot of t h e range t o t h e west o f Kennedy;
n e a r Jourama, about 15 kilometres south-west o f Ingham; a t t h e b a s e
o f Herveys Range, 25 kilometres west of Townsville; and n e a r Mount
Roundback, approximately 20 kilometres n o r t h o f Bowen.
S h e l l material, not yet analysed, was obtained from a l l
s i t e s , and bone was a l s o found in a l l s i t e s , although markedly l e s s
a t Mount Roundback.
Analysis o f t h i s m a t e r i a l i s i n progress.
Preliminary examination of t h e s t o n e a r t i f a c t s and waste m a t e r i a l
shows a predominance o f quartz, p a r t i c u l a r l y a t Mount Roundback where
t h e deposit consisted almost e n t i r e l y o f q u a r t z , with only a few
d e f i n i t e s i g n s o f u t i l i z a t i o n . The t h r e e s i t e s t o t h e n o r t h a l l
produced a g r e a t e r amount and more v a r i e d u t i l i z e d m a t e r i a l t h a n
Mount Roundback, p a r t i c u l a r l y Herveys Range and Jourama. In no case
however does t h e t y p i c a l typology seem t o apply: u t i l i z e d p i e c e s a r e
q u i t e i r r e g u l a r and t h e r e i s very l i t t l e evidence of secondary retouch.
A t t h i s stage available d a t e s are:
Kennedy
(40-50 cms)
Mount Roundback (10-15 c m )
(25-30 crns)
Jourama
(15-25 c m )
685 it 105 BP
130 BP
1130
1650
1450
+
120 BP
110 BP
GX3666
GX3670
GX3669
GX3667/8
He l en Brayshaw
Department o f H i s t o r y
James Cook U n i v e r s i t y
Townsville
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