Welcome to a growing resource designed to introduce you to the archaeology of stone artefacts in Australia. This is an introduction to stone artefacts found in archaeological sites in Australia. Stone artefacts are the most abundant component of the archaeological record and are found throughout Australia. Archaeologists rely on the study of stone artefacts to provide them with knowledge of the ancient past. Stone artefacts such as the one pictured above are not only aesthetically pleasing but are also rich in information about the lifestyle of people in prehistory. Throughout this century archaeologists have studied stone artefacts obtained from archaeological sites in Australia, and some results from that work are presented here.

                PLEASE NOTE: This area employs lots of high resolution images (ie. 24 bit colour). To get the best possible images set your screen resolution to high.

                The following pages assume at least a basic familiarity with stoneworking and the terminology archaeologists use when describing stone artefacts. If you are not familiar with stone artefacts take a few minutes to learn by visiting the Introduction to stoneworking . . . .

                The size of this resource is limited by available server space and funding, but an expansion of the information is planned. In the meanwhile gradual improvements are constantly occurring. Currently Australian Prehistoric Artefacts deals only with artefacts made through flaking, and emphasis is placed on recognising some of the implement types that are found in Australia during the Holocene.

CONTENTS

Catalogue of Australian implements. These pages illustrate some of the kinds of artefacts that were used during the prehistory of Australia.

Photographs to accompany: Hiscock, P. and V.Attenbrow 1998 Early Holocene backed artefacts from Australia. Archaeology in Oceania. Hi-res photographs of the early specimens cited in the paper.

Online articles about Australian artefacts. Papers about the kinds of artefacts that were used during the prehistory of Australia.