In discussions of the maximum antiquity of tulas it is important to conceptually separate functional adzes from the morphologically specific tula form. Archaeologists have identified 'adzes' in many time periods (often using the term 'adze' rather loosely). However tulas are clearly more restricted in time. The vast majority of tulas found in dated, stratified deposits are less than 4-3,000 years old.

                Claims for substantially older dates for tulas are dubious. Much of the debate has centered on interpretations of artefacts from the Puntutjarpa rockshelter in arid Western Australia. At that site Gould (1977) identified tula "micro-adzes" as old as 8-10,000 years BP. Re-examination of those specimens by Hiscock and Veth (1991) demonstrated that they did not conform to the conventions of the tula form and could not be classed as tulas. This reinterpretation meant that the oldest tulas at Puntutjarpa were dated to at most 4-5,000 years BP. While the chronology of tulas remains ill-defined the available evidence indicates that tulas have been manufactured for about 4-5,000 years.

                Since tulas were used in the historic period it is clear that the form was manufactured until it was replaced by other materials (such as metal).

For additional information see:

Gould,R.A. 1977 Puntutjarpa Rockshelter and the Australian Desert Culture Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, vol.54.

Hiscock,P. 1988 A cache of tulas from the Boulia District, Western Queensland, Archaeology in Oceania 23(2):60-70.

Hiscock,P. and Veth,P. 1991 Change in the Australian desert culture: a reanalysis of tulas from Puntutjarpa rockshelter, World Archaeology 22(3):332-345.