Establishing a typology for Australian pointed bone implements

Abstract

Australian Aboriginal people have been producing pointed bone technologies for at least 46,000 years. Frequently observed by Europeans on their arrival, it was noted that a great range of items, produced by both men and women, were used in a wide variety of economic and social tasks. In archaeological contexts too, an assortment of bone implements has been recovered. These, however, have simply been described as ‘bone points’, thus overlooking myriad morphological and use differences which could provide significant insights to researchers. With no consistent terminology or overarching classification system developed for Australian industries, excavators have largely focused on site-specific descriptions—effectively sidelining a large part of past Australian technocomplexes. This paper proposes a typology for Australian pointed bone technology. Based on examination of both archaeological and ethnographic implements, this new classification system will allow archaeologists to compare collections across the continent and, ultimately, relate them better to various aspects of subsistence, symbolism, and non-osseous technologies.