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INTRODUCTION The Holocene Period has been identified as a time when major changes occurred in the Australian archaeological record. One of these changes was the development of what has been termed the "Small Tool Tradition", and is marked by the "appearance of typologically regular implements" such as bifacial points, backed blades and tula adzes (Hiscock 1994a: 268). While the Small Tool Tradition is interpreted as a pan-continental phenomenon, its components are restricted to particular regions of the continent (Flood 1995; Bowdler 1981; Mulvaney 1969). Explanation for the appearance of the Small Tool Tradition has largely centred on diffusionist theories. The implements are seen to have arrived in Australia with prehistoric migrations into Australia. However, the distribution of implements such as bifacial points, indicates that the potential developmental process is influenced by more localised forces. Risk minimisation proposes a new model to explain the appearance of the Small Tool Tradition components. This represents a strategy adopted by a hunter-gatherer group to reduce the potential of being unsuccessful in resource procurement (Hiscock 1994a). Focusing on a single component of the Small Tool Tradition, namely bifacial points and its associated variability, it is possible to examine specific strategies such as risk minimisation in detail unlike the "broad brush approach" used by Hiscock (1994a: 286) Research ProblemThe problem addressed by this study is: What does the variability of stone points in the Top End reveal about resource availability? To deal adequately with the research problem, it is necessary to address two related issues; these are outlined as follows:
Emerging technologies, such as digital image capture and digital analysis software, provide new tools for implement analysis; while computer based packages, such as Video Pro 32©, offer the potential of rapid attribute determination and measurement. These technologies also provide a quantitative description of images for numeric and graphic plots. A thorough explanation and evaluation of this new technology is detailed in the section "Determination of Attributes" in Chapter 4. To determine morphological variability in stone points, assemblages containing large numbers of bifacial and unifacial points were examined from sites across the Top End of the Northern Territory. Numerous attributes from each stone point were then measured and recorded. I will argue that the variability of stone points demonstrates that the concept of typologically regular implements forming discrete types is no longer valid. With the discarding of this concept, I will also propose a new interpretation of resource exploitation in the region that is reflected in the stone technology. I will examine the variation in morphology of a single implement type, namely "points", produced by the use of differing raw materials. These differing morphologies and implement densities will demonstrate raw material preferences. To overcome the properties of the various raw materials used, prehistoric knappers developed differing technological strategies. An implement is a stone that demonstrates evidence of secondary modification by retouch and/or use (Schrire 1982:38). In this study, there has been no attempt to identify any use wear or evidence of use on the stone point. Therefore, all discussions of "implement" will refer to what Hiscock (1997) has termed as design, which may or may not involve evidence of use. Where evidence of use exists, or is implied, then the term stone tool will be used. Points in the Top EndAllen & Barton (1989) provide a very detailed account of archaeological investigations in the Top End of the Northern Territory. In this account, it becomes obvious that unifacial and bifacial points have featured in many of the investigations. One of the earliest descriptions of stone points is by Davidson in 1935. Davidson excavated rockshelters in the Katherine and Victoria River area. Whilst commenting on the paucity of the area’s archaeology, he recorded numerous large quartzite points in the upper levels of the sites he excavated, and what Allen & Barton (1989) believe were smaller bifacial and unifacial points in the lower layers. MacIntosh (1951) excavated the Tandandjal Cave, southeast of Katherine in 1948. MacIntosh (1951) identified numerous quartzite bifacial and unifacial points. The range of implements located at Tandandjal Cave lead MacIntosh to emphasise a continuous range of variation within the implements and posited that they were "part of a continuum" (MacIntosh 1951). Flood (1967) analysed the material excavated by Stanner from the Yarar site. Bifacial points at Yarar were smaller than the unifacial points and tended to increase in the early levels of the deposit. Thirty-one years after MacIntosh, Carmel Schrire repeated the concept of a continuum between unifacial and bifacial points. The question arises as to whether this dichotomy is simply a function of the manufacturing process in that unifacial points may simply be incomplete bifacial ones (1982:246). Berndt (1951), Allen & Barton (1989) and Jones & Johnson (1985) all indicate that bifacial points were traded throughout western Arnhem Land. In post-Macassan contact this trade extended from Western Arnhem Land southwest towards Pine Creek (Mitchell 1993). Recent discussions by Smith & Cundy (1985) and Hiscock (1994a, 1994b) have returned to the unifacial to bifacial continuum model. Allen & Barton (1989) raised the effect of environmental change on the resource exploitation of prehistoric groups. Hiscock (1994a) has proposed that bifacial points are multi-purpose implements that resolved issues of risk minimisation that arose due to environmental change, as detailed by Allen & Barton (1989). This study examines Hiscock’s proposal of bifacial points being a response to risk minimisation and Allen & Barton’s environmental influence on prehistoric groups. Outline of ThesisIn Chapter 2, the extent of the study area will be presented, and individual sites from which the sample of points were derived are examined in detail. The current and past environmental and geological history of the study area will also be presented. This is necessary for the interpretation of the study results, and will be shown to be influential in the variability of the stone points. In order to provide a background to the issues and conclusions presented in this thesis Chapter 3 will review the current archaeological literature. This will provide the theoretical foundation upon which this research study is based. Chapter 4 details both the digital technologies and the more conventional techniques used to analyses points in this study. Results of the study are presented in Chapter 5, and I will show that there are several variables that have an influence on the variability of stone points. The interpretation of these variables emerges as an essential issue in understanding stone resource exploitation strategies within the study area. Chapter 6 puts forward a hypothesis regarding the underlying conditions that prompted a change in resource utilisation strategy in the region during the Holocene Period. This chapter will bring together the typological issues raised in Chapter 3 and the study results in Chapter 5 to develop a new interpretation of the stone resource utilisation in the region.
Author: Wayne
Roddom, Dept. Archaeology and Anthropology |
