224 



choppers) of complex section, with carefully chipped points 

 and lanceolate flakes. 



9. Magdalenian Stage. Scrapers, etc., of simple section 

 and covering a variety of forms that were well finished by 

 chipping . 



The Magdalenian implements may be taken as represent- 

 ing the highest order and greatest differentiation of types 

 within the Palaeolithic succession. What follows is the 

 Neolithic, with its highly-finished chipped and polished 

 implements. ( 6 ) 



To which of these stages in the development of stone 

 implements can the Tasmanian artefacts be most consistently 

 referred 1 Professor Sollas says, "The Tasmanians, though 

 recent, were at the same time a Palaeolithic, or even, it has 

 been asserted, an 'Eolithic' race . . . the most unprogressive 

 in the world, which, in the middle of the nineteenth century, 

 was still living in the dawn of the Palaeolithic epoch. . . . 

 The question as regards the 'implements' is an extremely 

 difficult one. A great number of the Tasmanian forms are 

 so rude and uncouth that, taken alone, we should have little 



reason to suspect that they had been chipped by man 



If we judge the Tasmanian implements by the best examples, 

 we should, in fairness, extend the same treatment to the 

 plateau 'implements.' The best of these do, indeed, show 

 some superficial resemblance to the Tasmanian, especially in 

 general form, and this is particularly true of the hollow 

 scrapers." [xxiv., pp. 70, 89-90]. 



It stands to reason that some crude examples of stone 

 chipping must occur throughout the whole range of the 

 Stone Age. Many stones, after testing, would be found 

 unsatisfactory and be rejected without any attempt to com- 

 plete the implement. Youths would have to learn the art, 

 and their earlier attempts must account for many failures. 

 The most expert manipulator would, sometimes, roughly edge 

 a stone for immediate use and then discard it. Such con- 

 siderations explain the commingling of roughly chipped and 

 undefinable forms occurring in association, at times, with the 

 most highly finished implements. The stage of culture, 

 indicated by any particular group of artefacts, is determined 

 by the highest and most characteristic types in the group. 

 Thus the polished implement clearly defines the Neolithic 

 stage, while the relative diversity of type-forms and the finish 

 shown in the workmanship are made the basis in distinguishing 

 the respective stages that preceded the Neolithic standard. 



(6) A succinct account of the Palaeolithic stages and their 

 typical implements will be found in the work of Professor 

 Sollas [xxiv.]. 



