USE BEYOND MANUFACTURE: NON-FLINT STONE ARTIFACTS FROM FOWLERS GAP, AUSTRALIA

Abstract

Stone artifacts from Fowlers Gap western New South Wales, Australia, were manufactured from silcrete, quartz, and quartzite. Conchoidal flaking was used to manufacture artifacts from all three materials. However, it is the use of these artifacts rather than simply their manufacture that explains the composition of the archaeological assemblages. Artifacts made from the three materials were used in a range of ways, for a range of purposes. The loss of flakes through selection and transport together with the presence of expended tools suggests mobility rather than prolonged occupation, an inference made possible by considering what was abandoned rather than what was intended through manufacture.

Keywords:

• Cortex
• Utility
• Quartz

Acknowledgments

Carlos Rellán encouraged us to submit this paper and wish to thank him for his support. We thank the Broken Hill Local Aboriginal Land Council for their support and permission to conduct the project on which this study is based. We also acknowledge the permission of the University of New South Wales Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station Management Committee to conduct this research on Fowlers Gap Station. The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service provided a research permit under which the artifact surveys and hearth excavations were carried out. Funding for the project was initially provided by an Australian Research Council Large Grant (A59925016) to Simon Holdaway and Patricia Fanning (1999–2001 inclusive), a Macquarie University Research Grant (1999) to PF and a University of Auckland Research Committee New Staff grant (1999) to SH.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Simon Holdaway

Simon Holdaway teaches archaeology at the University of Auckland, New Zealand and has research interests in stone artifacts, coastal archaeology and the landscape archaeology of arid regions. He has research projects investigating the Neolithic of Egypt, shell mounds in northern Australia and the early settlement of New Zealand. His most recent book Geoarchaeology of Aboriginal Landscapes in Semi-arid Australia co-authored with Patricia Fanning was published by CSIRO in 2014.

Correspondence to: Simon Holdaway. Email: [email protected]

Matthew Douglass

Matthew Douglass teaches at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His research interest include, stone artifacts, landscape archaeology, and the prehistory/history of the North American Great Plains. He is currently involved in research projects in the Great Plains and Kenya.