Open AccessSmall unifacial pebble cores from Fraser Island, southeast Queensland
Author(s) -
Ian J. McNiven,
Peter Hiscock
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
queensland archaeological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.303
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 1839-339X
pISSN - 0814-3021
DOI - 10.25120/qar.5.1988.164
Subject(s) - pebble , prehistory , archaeology , woodworking , range (aeronautics) , morphology (biology) , geology , geography , paleontology , engineering , aerospace engineering
During the 1970's Lauer (1977, 1978) identified and collected numerous surface scatters of stone artefacts from Fraser Island in an attempt to reconstruct prehistoric Aboriginal activities. The assemblages which he recovered displayed a wide range of artefact forms, including some which had not previously been described. One class of artefact, which Lauer (1978:65-6) termed the "pebblescraper", has a distinctive morphology which he interpreted as a reflection of a woodworking function. In this paper we argue that many of these artefacts are cores made on small, thin pebbles, and that their morphology reflects an attempt by prehistoric knappers to effectively work small pieces of stone