tasnat 1907 vol1 no3 pp1-6 noetling implementstasaborigines

7/30/2019 TasNat 1907 Vol1 No3 Pp1-6 Noetling ImplementsTasAborigines

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, \ ~ ~ \ \ ~ ~ ' A N N 4 t l J ~~ THE]::: THE ~ ~ ~ ;Tosmonion Field Noturolists' Club.Vol. 1 . D E C E M B E R , I907. No. 3.

Some Jmplements of toe 1.9asmanian:Jlborigines.BY FRITZ XOE].1LTIXG, );1.A., Ph.D.

vVhenever f.n old camp is carefully examined, a number OIf more or less rounded stones, most of which arf', however,in nbroken. all(} frr.gmentary cond'ltion,Ican be picked up. Complete specimensare very rare, llnd. wben in a preservedcondition they exhi-bit quite pewliar features. Alway'." one, but mostly the two,0PFo,;ite fiat sides show in the centre arough sl1ght 1y cone:\ ,'e i l ~ ' p r e s ~ I i o n , produced by repeatpd blows. On closer examination, i t will be seen that frequentlythe edge alw shows strong trulee" of u s ~ .Little attention il"S so farbe('n paid tothese remari


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THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.which, fo r want of a ,better tei'm, wemay designate ,the upper side. shows fldia,tly concave rath'ilr rough depression of4cl;.in. by 4in. dlameter. I f a ruler isplaced on tile top, , i t ~ deepesL part isa'bout lin. below the ruler's ~ d g e , but asit is fair to assume that the 'original ,surface was not a,bsoluDely flat, it is proba'ble that a lenticular part o'f the pe,bb!e,mea'Buring 4!in. ,by 4in., and ,having agreatest thickness of !in., has been 'removed. The surface is rough; but it isalso unquestionable that the originalroughnes's has been smoothed downby rubbing or grinding. The op posite lower side is, slightly convex, and in i t s centre there is anirregularly shaped, very rough markof about 2:l:in. diamilter. This mark cleflrly shows that it. has been produced bynumerous blows applied to this part ofthe surface. Th';) peripheral ed'ge io:!rounded and smooth. Specimen I Jepres,sion of a'bout !in. diaometer, ani) aroundthe 'Surface is nic'illy polished andsmooth. Exactly c has 'been most elaboratelypolished and ground. Th-e g r j n d ~ T i g haseven been extelloled to the per;pheral'part. and a fine edge has heen produceCJ.When held in foavoura,ble light, threerough marks can be seen cross'lng obliquely; it is probwble tilutthese are parts of th'il original surface,whidl have been preserved dl1riFlg thegr-lnding. The specimen is well preserved,exc'ept for a large fragment broken 'offfrom the margin. The a'bove are only afew of the specimens I have eJCamine'tJ,but th,ey serve as good illustrations ofth'e type"'! met with, and We flfC now ableto draw a few general eon


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THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.lCharacter. This compressed shape speaks.rather against the US'tl as a ham:ner-stone,!:IS it can easily be proved by experimentthat one' of the more globular boulderswould ssrve thi" purpose m11ch betterthan a ' flat specimen, as i t re"ts much'ootter in ,the hand than the latter. Thesize was aJ.so 1mmaterial. The iargestspEcimen iiitherto found m e ~ ,ures Sain.jn length and weighed! 7lb. 5-oz.; but therearc numerous specimen" which aril muchsmaller; apparently the most procurablesize was about; I) to 6 inches in length.

~ r h e s e flat pebb.les had the1r naturalLysmooth surface improved by polishing.As to that th'cre cannot be tile s.'ghtestdoubt. Perhapol this view might bequestioned with regard to specimens Fig;1, Fig. 3, and Fig. 4, though the tracesof polish'lng are very conspicuou.s in Fig.4 ; 'but there


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!D ..U N E B 1 P L ' ~ M g N T S OF TASMAN IAN ABOIUGINES, showing", that the o r i ~ i inh abitantsof th e Island tlHclerstood the ar t of grinding stones. P robably a . ~ s with l'cligiollS ce remonies.

I all I lA- Bou lder or Pcblole l mpicmcut, inches in lcnq:th, cnriollsly shaped , found by Mrs.O l d l l ~ d o w

'! anti - Qmll'tzitic Sandstone, 6.1 inches in diameter, round ue:l r Kemplon.( 4)


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STONE I \ { P L ! : M g N T ()F l 'AS;\.'IAN I A'\! A BOHHH l\'E'::':, showing that the oT 'ig inal inhabitant IJof th e Is\;\ nrl Illlllc l' s too(1 th e art of g rill(ling f'rokl.hlyas socia,tea with rel igious ce remonies.21l- Qllartzitic Sa.nli stone, in diam eter , fOHlld Ilear J\cmpto!l.il - :3 in ches in length Cl'ys talline Diabas, found lI.t Sonth Arm.4- 7 inches long. made out o f ; ~ f\11t pebble , found,at Pontvil l c.5 -P eculial' O,' al P ebble. fOHlld at the famOll s Old Bea,ch Camp by .i'dr. Anthony.

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tasnat 1907 vol1 no3 pp1-6 noetling implementstasaborigines

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