Kimberley points
Kimberley points are a type of Aboriginal stone tool made by pressure flaking[1] both discarded glass and stone.[2] Best known for the points made on glass, these artifacts are an example of adaptive reuse of Western technology by a non-western culture.
They are often used as an indicator that an archaeological site is a post-contact Aboriginal site.[3] There is debate in archaeological literature about the use and significance of these points, with some claims that they were made for sale to tourists and as status items, and not as hunting tools.[4]
References
- ^ Elkin, A.P. (October 1948). "Pressure Flaking in the Northern Kimberley, Australia". Man. 48: 110–113. JSTOR 2791788.
- ^ Balfour, Henry (1903). "On the methods employed by the natives of NW Australia in the manufacture of glass spear heads". Man. 3: 65. JSTOR 2839799.
- ^ Harrison, Rodney (2002). "Australia's iron Age: Aboriginal post-contact metal artefacts from Old Lamboo Station, Southeast Kimberley, Western Australia" (PDF). Australasian Historical Archaeology. 20. Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology: 67–76.
- ^ Powell, Eric A. (2008). "What's the Point?". Archaeology. 61 (5). Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- Harrison, Rodney (April 1, 2004). "Kimberley points and colonial preference: new insights into the chronology of pressure flaked point forms from the southeast Kimberley, Western Australia". Archaeology in Oceania.
Akerman Kim and Bindon, Peter. 1995. Dentate and related stone biface points from Northern Australia. The Beagle. Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory. 12:89-99.
Akerman, Kim., Fullagar, Richard and van Gijn, Annelou. 2002. Weapons and Wunan: production, function and exchange of Kimberley points. Aboriginal Studies 2002/1:13-42.
Akerman, Kim. 2008.‘Missing the Point’ or ‘What to Believe – the Theory or the Data’. Rationales for the Production of Kimberley Points. Aboriginal Studies 2008/2:70-79. AIATSIS Canberra.