244 RECORDS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM. 



around wliicli the index finger can be slightly bent, and thus 

 provide a firm grip of the tool when in use. 



No. V. — Pl. xlii., Group 3. 



Included in this group are a number of straight, slender points, 

 with clean cut edges, and devoid of any secondary working ; they 

 are generally more or less triangular in section in the distal two- 

 thirds, while the proximal third has been flaked off, so that in 

 section they are four-sided. 



No. VI. — Pl. xlil. Group 4. 



There are a number of instruments generally slaaped like spear- 

 heads or ai-row-points, frequently triangular in outline, mostly 

 longer than broad, and sometimes elongate. It is difficult to con- 

 jecture wdiat they were used for, but it appears highly probable 

 that most of them were intended to be mounted on the end of a 

 short handle of wood, the larger kind forming a short spear and 

 the smaller being vised as knives, drills, skinners, or perhajjs even for 

 shredding bark fibre. They are mostly clean cut, and secondary 

 working is evident only in the form of small notches on one or 

 both mai'gins. 



No. VII.— Pl. xliv.. Group 2. 



By far the most abundant objects obtained were flakes resem- 

 bling those formerly, and still, used for making one form of 

 barbed spear. Although mere flakes, without any trace of 

 secondary chipping or flaking, these implements, when well made, 

 have usually a very definite character, irrespective of their size 

 or exact contour, and ai^e very neat in outline. 



The most perfect forms are triangular in outline, tlie basal part 

 is thick and often elongate centrally, at least on one side ; in 

 many examples there is a longitudinal ridge, and from the latter 

 the surface slopes away to the lateral margins. One or both 

 edges are extremely thin, and, in many specimens, often jagged 

 in outline ; the edge on one side is thick or blunt, or the stone 

 may be flaked a little to produce a non-cutting edge. Apart 

 from the well-formed bai'bs there are many thin flakes which 

 were used for the same purpose. The implements were manufac- 

 tured in great numbers as barbs for the fighting or " death " 

 spear, which had a shaft eight or ten feet long, and the terminal 

 or distal portion grooved on one or both sides, the grooves start- 

 ing at a short distance from tlie point of the spear for about 



