﻿486 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  corresponding 
  closely 
  to 
  the 
  Paleolithic 
  forms, 
  though 
  occasionally 
  

   polished. 
  They 
  also 
  employ 
  bones, 
  shells, 
  and 
  wood 
  for 
  the 
  manu- 
  

   facture 
  of 
  tools, 
  and 
  make 
  simple 
  baskets. 
  

  

  The 
  collection 
  in 
  the 
  National 
  Museum 
  consists 
  of 
  polished 
  and 
  

   partly 
  polished 
  celts 
  of 
  lava 
  and 
  trap 
  rock, 
  a 
  spearhead 
  of 
  quartzite, 
  

   rude 
  points 
  and 
  scrapers, 
  chips, 
  and 
  bones 
  of 
  a 
  dog. 
  

  

  TASMANIA. 
  

  

  Tasmania 
  is 
  an 
  island 
  of 
  Australasia 
  in 
  the 
  southern 
  ocean, 
  150 
  

   miles 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  colony 
  of 
  Victoria, 
  from 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  separated 
  

   by 
  Bass 
  Straits. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  British 
  colonial 
  possession 
  and 
  has 
  an 
  area 
  

   of 
  26,216 
  square 
  miles. 
  It 
  is 
  named 
  after 
  the 
  Dutch 
  navigator, 
  Abel 
  

   Janszoon 
  Tasman, 
  who 
  discovered 
  it 
  in 
  1642. 
  

  

  The 
  aborigines 
  became 
  extinct 
  in 
  1876, 
  except 
  a 
  few 
  half-castes 
  

   who 
  survive. 
  They 
  remained 
  in 
  the 
  lowest 
  stage 
  of 
  culture, 
  lower 
  

   even 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Paleolithic 
  man 
  of 
  Europe. 
  They 
  lived 
  on 
  the 
  

   chase 
  of 
  animals, 
  which 
  they 
  roasted 
  whole 
  in 
  the 
  skin, 
  and 
  on 
  shell- 
  

   fish, 
  which 
  they 
  obtained 
  by 
  diving. 
  Cooking 
  by 
  boiling 
  and 
  the 
  

   art 
  of 
  fishing 
  by 
  hook 
  or 
  net 
  were 
  alike 
  unknown 
  to 
  them. 
  They 
  

   wielded 
  a 
  wooden 
  spear 
  and 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  knob 
  berry. 
  Fire 
  was 
  ob- 
  

   tained 
  by 
  stick 
  rubbing. 
  They 
  had 
  rafts, 
  or 
  floats, 
  but 
  no 
  boats. 
  

   Their 
  fundamental 
  stone 
  implement 
  was 
  a 
  hand-grasped 
  rude 
  knife, 
  

   or 
  scraper, 
  generally 
  chipped 
  only 
  on 
  one 
  side 
  and 
  quite 
  devoid 
  of 
  

   symmetry. 
  The 
  long 
  cutting 
  implements, 
  characteristic 
  of 
  the 
  stone 
  

   industry, 
  both 
  of 
  the 
  Paleolithic 
  and 
  Neolithic 
  periods 
  of 
  Europe, 
  

   are 
  absent. 
  Next 
  to 
  these 
  most 
  primitive 
  implements, 
  and 
  used 
  for 
  

   cutting, 
  scraping, 
  sawing, 
  chopping, 
  etc., 
  may 
  be 
  mentioned 
  the 
  

   anvil, 
  a 
  chipped 
  round 
  stone 
  plate 
  upon 
  which 
  the 
  animal 
  bones 
  

   were 
  broken 
  to 
  extract 
  the 
  marrow, 
  using 
  another 
  stone 
  as 
  a 
  hammer. 
  

   Flint 
  being 
  unknown 
  in 
  Tasmania, 
  the 
  aborigines 
  used 
  a 
  fine-grained 
  

   sandstone 
  or 
  phthanite, 
  which 
  is 
  not 
  as 
  tractable 
  as 
  flint, 
  and 
  this 
  

   may 
  partly 
  account 
  for 
  the 
  limited 
  variety 
  of 
  the 
  stone 
  implements 
  

   of 
  the 
  Tasmanians 
  and 
  the 
  inferiority 
  of 
  the 
  workmanship. 
  

  

  The 
  collection 
  includes 
  a 
  hammer 
  and 
  anvil, 
  cores, 
  knives, 
  and 
  

   scrapers. 
  

  

  Ancient 
  Bronzes. 
  

  

  Bronze 
  antiquities 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  period 
  when 
  stone 
  was 
  gradu- 
  

   ally 
  failing 
  into 
  disuse, 
  and 
  iron 
  was 
  either 
  practically 
  unknown 
  

   or 
  only 
  partially 
  adopted 
  for 
  tools 
  and 
  weapons. 
  The 
  beginning 
  

   and 
  duration 
  of 
  this 
  period 
  varied 
  in 
  different 
  countries, 
  and 
  was 
  

   overlapped 
  by 
  the 
  stone 
  age 
  on 
  the 
  one 
  side 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  iron 
  age 
  on 
  

   the 
  other. 
  No 
  two 
  prehistoric 
  periods 
  can 
  be 
  separated 
  by 
  a 
  hard 
  

  

  