THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST 
Page Five 
July 1, 1948. 
The eroded surface upon the cliff top where 
it was discovered was first noticed by 
chance from a small patrol vessel during 
the war years, and when later examined from 
the shore, the carving was found in associa- 
tion with many stone implements. 
Most rock carvings in South x\ustralia 
have been executed upon suitable vertical and 
horizontal rock surfaces in situ, but carved 
stones have been occasionally reported. A 
small boulder, from near Parachilna, exhibi- 
ted at the South Australian Museum is an 
example. 
Weight of carved stone slab figured — 7 
pounds fourteen ounces; size — 13 1 inches x 
111 inches x 1 inch. 
“NOSED” SCRAPER. Shortly after the 
discovery of Kangaroo Island by Captain 
Matthew Flinders in 1802 — at that time un- 
inhabited — certain runaway sailors, together 
with other fugitives and adventurous spirits 
began to arrive and settled on the Island, 
some bringing Tasmanian native women with 
them. In 1936 the writer found evidence of 
human occupation at two localities, one be- 
hind the coastal sand dunes at the western 
end of Antechamber Bay and the other in 
the vicinity of Cape Hart on the southern 
or other side of the Island. Flint implements 
were collected on both sites, associated with 
fragments of glass and iron, gun flints and 
other evidence of European occupation. 
These two camp sites have been attributed by 
Findale (1937) to the Europeans and Tas- 
manian w omen referred to above, and during 
several subsequent visits many more imple- 
ments, all of flint and identical in design 
with those found in Tasmania were ob- 
tained. The three drawings show a well 
executed, typical scraper of “nosed” design 
from Cape Hart, where 72 implements in all 
were found. It is difficult indeed to deter- 
mine the reason for a settlement at such 
a bleak and secluded spot as this, upon an 
open and unhospitable coast, unless it was 
due to measures taken to ensure the safety 
of the party. If so it would have been admir- 
able in many respects, being under the lee 
of a protecting sand dune and thus screened 
from seaward and also backed by scrub, 
which at that time was doubtless almost im- 
penetrable and is dense even to this day. In 
addition, wallabies, birds, fish and crayfish 
are still abundant, and would have been an 
assured source of food supply. A small near- 
by cascade provides water during the winter 
months which, however, would be scarce in 
summer, and in the absence of an alternative 
supply, the camp may have been either a 
winter or temporary one. 
Weight of specimen figured — 7J ounces. 
See Tindale ( 1937) and Alison Harvey 
(1941). 
KANGAROO ISLAND PEBBLE CHOP- 
PER. It was observed in a preceding para- 
graph that Kangaroo Island was uninhabited 
at the time of Flinders’ landing, and not 
until many years later did the discovery of 
some hammerstones upon the banks of an 
inland lagoon denote a former native occupa- 
tion, hitherto unsuspected. The results of a 
systematic search during the last sixteen years 
indicate the former existence of a consider- 
able population or alternatively, of a com- 
paratively smaller one associated with a long 
period of occupation, the presence of stone 
implements suggesting at least fifty camp 
sites of various sizes. A drawing of a typical 
Kangaroo Island hand chopper made from 
a water-horn quartzite pebble is reproduced 
here. Specimens range in weight from 6 oz. 
to 116 oz., the larger probably requiring 
both hands for their manipulation. These 
implements mostly occur buried until exposed 
by cultivation or erosion, and are therefore 
probably archaelogical in character. Although 
extremely simple, both in form and design, 
they exhibit workmanship and skill in trim- 
ming and balance and doubtless provided 
the natives with an efficient “general pur- 
pose” implement. During an experimental 
test to ascertain their efficiency, a sapling 
Eucalyptus species, was cut down in four 
minutes using a pebble chopper three pounds 
in weight. The apparent non-existence of this 
elongate oval form of trimmed pebble 
amongst the stone implements of nearby 
mainland camp sites, within visible distance 
of the Island, is puzzling, and probably will 
be of considerable significance in the ulti- 
mate determination of the history of their 
makers. Meanwhile, nothing is known con- 
cerning the former inhabitants of Kangaroo 
Island, nor the period when they lived, nor 
the reason for their final disappearance. The 
figured example is from Red Banks near Point 
