216 



4 



igneous dyke rocks/ 3 ) the present specimen is made from a 

 siliceous sandstone. The Aboriginal "tomahawk" was ground 

 and polished at the edge, and, sometimes, up to the middle 

 of the implement. The Stuart Creek specimen, now under 

 description, was carefully chipped to a cutting edge, but the 

 edge has been rendered so smooth that it seems probable that 

 some amount of grinding of the edge has been done to improve 

 its cutting qualities. It must be either that, or age and 

 weathering have reduced the prominences which marked the 

 outlines of the individual chips struck off in its manufacture. 

 It is certainly a unique specimen of its kind. 



IV. Origin of the Implements. 



(a) POSSIBLE THEORIES. 



As the stone implements which occur in the tableland 

 country of Central Australia differ, in many respects, from 

 those commonly found elsewhere in Australia, the question 

 naturally arises as to their age and origin. That they have 

 a very considerable antiquity is manifest from their condition 

 by weathering, the presence of a natural glaze seen 'om most 

 of the specimens as a consequence of age, and also from the 

 ochreous "skin" by which they are commonly coated. There 

 are several possible explanations as to their origin. 



1. They may be only local variations of the artefacts 

 produced by the existing native tribes of the country, but 

 possessing a considerable prehistoric antiquity. 



2. They may be the earlier and cruder attempts at the 

 making of stone implements which the existing Aboriginal 

 people passed through before attaining the greater skill shown 

 in later stages of their history. 



3. They may be the remains of an earlier race of people, 

 as the Tasmanians, for example, which may have occupied the 

 ground in the far past as the true Aboriginal race, but were 

 displaced, or exterminated, on the mainland, by the present 

 natives of Australia, who exhibit greater virility and a more 

 aggressive spirit than the Tasmanians possessed. 



Something can be said in favour of the first of these 

 suggested possible origins of the tableland implements. Habit 

 in the Aborigine is, to a large extent, regulated by surround- 

 ing conditions, as happens also with the more civilized races. 



(3) In the Adelaide Museum there are a number of implements 

 labelled "wedges" that are hatchet-shaped, resembling, but of 

 thicker make than the common "tomahawks." They are made 

 from a greyish-coloured quartzite, are symmetrically shaped, 

 ground to a smooth surface throughout, and the majority have a 

 transverse groove for hafting. All these implements were received 

 from the Eiver Darling country, mostly from Albemarle. The speci- 

 men, now described (No. 16), is quite distinct from these. 



