Late Holocene edge-ground axe production and marine shell beads from Brooking Gorge 1 rockshelter, southern Kimberley

Abstract

Excavation of Brooking Gorge 1 rockshelter, located within Bunuba Country, southern Kimberley, Western Australia, demonstrates a late Holocene record of edge-grinding technology and scaphopod bead use. Excavated in 1993, we report here for the first time the summary data, radiocarbon dates and important finds. The stone tool technology from the site documents a rare focus on edge-ground axe manufacture. Scaphopod beads, significant in the symbolic material culture of the region, were also found.

Keywords:

• Edge-ground axe
• marine shell beads
• scaphopod
• macrobotanics

Acknowledgments

We express our thanks and respect to the Bunuba community for supporting this research. The paper was written with support from Australian Research Council grant LP100200415 ‘Lifeways of the first Australians’ with contributions from the Kimberley Foundation of Australia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.