An Alyawara Day: The Stone Quarry

Author(s): Lewis R. Binford and James F. O'Connell

Source: Journal of Anthropological Research , Autumn, 1984, Vol. 40, No. 3 (Autumn,
1984), pp. 406-432
Published by: The University of Chicago Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3629763

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend
access to Journal of Anthropological Research

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 AN ALYAWARA DAY: THE STONE QUARRY

Lewis R. Binford
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131

James F. O'Connell
Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112

The activities of the ethnographers and three Alyawara men during the course of a trip to a stone
quarry in Central Australia are described. The excavation, shaping, and reduction of cores for the
production of standardized flakes and blades was observed on the trip. These observations are then
used as the basis for a short discussion regarding the current literature treating lithic techniques.
Some contemporary approaches or interpretations may be in need of modification as we become
increasingly aware of the variability in technique that may well stand behind the manufactured
products we regularly analyze and study.

ETHNOARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELDWORK involves many dull and uninteresting

days. Now and then, however, one is included in events one thought one would
never witness. We are about to describe one of those days.1
Several characteristics of the day made it special. First, we witnessed events
that to our knowledge had never previously been observed by anthropological or even
casual Western observers. Second, this opportunity was made possible by a rather
uncommon commitment on the part of our Alyawara informants to do things in the
"old way." Binford (1984) has recently used another set of experiences among the
Alyawara to illustrate the point that as an ethnographer it is frequently difficult to
know what one is observing. It is especially difficult to know the conditions being
considered by the informants when they decide to organize a demonstration in a
given manner.
Our experiences provide clues to the past organization of Alyawara stone tool
technology. No claim is made that we saw Alyawara stone tool technology 'in
action'; their traditional technology has been obsolete for many years. However,
knowledge, training, and skill in lithic work were still part of the cultural repertoire
of the old men we accompanied on a trip to a traditionally exploited quartzite
quarry.
We must emphasize the point that the traditional technological system was gone.
By this we mean that all the organized use of information regarding the need for
tools, the degree to which those demands could be met in the context of other
planned activities, etc., had ceased; the conditioning factors no longer operated.
Similarly, there was no longer any organized use of information regarding the
provisioning of the group with tools and the use of tools that had given an organized
and understandable character to the execution of roles by the participants in the
past system. The request for stone to make "men's knives" had come from us; the
number of tools to be made was what our informants judged necessary to satisfy
our request.
Nevertheless, the men processed much more material than would have been
needed simply to satisfy our curiosity. It is our opinion that the men were acting out
past situations, in a nostalgic mood triggered by the events of the day and their
interest in the place we visited. This is, of course, our own judgment. Because we
406

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 AN ALYWAKA SlTUNE QUAKKY 407

felt that we were seeing much more than just a straig

antique skills in response to our requests for a look at beh
tried to report as accurately as possible the events and
the quarry.

A DAY AT THE QUARRY: JUNE 15, 1974

We had been uncomfortable in our small tent at Bendaijerum, a camp of Austra-

lian Aborigines near the cattle station at MacDonald Downs, Central Australia.2 It
was morning and there was a touch of frost in the air as we milled around camp,
trying to get warm in the Australian winter. In spite of the cold, we were excited,
for we were going on a trip with three Alyawara men to a quartzite exposure, where
their people had quarried stone to make tools before the Europeans came. The
Aborgines had first gathered around our tent, talking on the sunny side of the canvas
wall, then had moved up to the men's camp. The adult men sat around small fires,
with blankets draped over their heads and shoulders like so many old Pueblo Indians.
They sat silently, as if getting up courage to move in the chilly air. Then suddenly
they got to their feet, a small group of old friends and close relatives, talking in the
rhythmic, rumbling tones of their language. From the start the Aborigines seemed
more interested in our project for that day than they had been in most others. And
yet we could not seem to get away; there was always someone who needed to be
consulted, something had to be found, something forgotten.
By ten o'clock the sun was high and the chill of the winter morning had receded.
In the growing warmth, we left the brush windbreaks of the Aboriginal camp, driving
out across the Bundey River and onto a short-grass plain sprinkled with mulga
trees. As we crossed the plain, the unbroken character of the flats gave way to
Australian sand savannah-red-rock boulder hills, sand dunes, spinifex grass, acacia,
and red-bud mallee trees.
The savannah sand (Figure 1) was pitted with many small tracks, most made by
lizards; during the day, this is a world of lizards and birds. We think of hawks and
eagles as rare, but in the Australian savannah, they are the dominant predators.
From the sky they search the land continuously. Flocks of small green parrots bring
the eye back down to earth, where fifty or more may streak across the tops of the
grass.
Our reflective observation of the landscape was interrupted by the excited
Aborigines, who were pointing to some bustards feeding in the grass. The Australian
bustard is a long-legged bird that primarily eats grasshoppers; it is about the same
size as an American great blue heron (Figure 2), and looks surprisingly like the
African bustard. Shots rang out and the Aborigines ran off to retrieve three dying
birds. After they were tossed in a pile against the back wall of the truck, we resumed
our drive across the dunes. About an hour from the forest of Bendaijerum, we
sighted a group of three kangaroos in the shade of an acacia tree. Again shots rang
out, and a large female fell. The Aborigines rushed up just as she was raising her
bewildered head and used a stick to strike down this attempted revival; the animal
died under a flurry of blows. In her pouch was a small joey. It was pulled out by its
long legs and its head was struck against its mother's thigh. The two were loaded in
the truck and again we drove into more dunes that seemed indistinguishable from
those we had already marked with tire tracks.

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
408 JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Figure 1. Australian Sand Savannah (Photo by L.R.B.)

Figure 2. Sandy and Jacob after Having Killed Three Bustards (Photo by L.R.

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 AN ALYWARA STONE QUARRY 409

We drove for another hour. As the sun approached its hig

we noticed more large animal tracks. We slowed as we
where the green vines of anatia-bush potato, or wild yam
interested Aborigines.s Normally the men would have sto
tasting tubers, but today they waved us on with the b
farther we went, the fewer the signs of cattle, their grazin
Nature seemed to be reasserting its dominion with mor
ostrich-like bird) and other wildlife. Even the rare rabbit-li
its tracks. We had clearly entered a place not much visited b
The three natives, Sandy, Manny, and Jacob, talked les
interrupted the silence of travel only to point out intere
situations.4 Riding with the same men around their pre
economic experience. There they talked about or pointed
called it), firewood, and edible plants. In contrast, today
scape and of earlier times, before large-scale European intru
We had been driving for hours across country that to our
undifferentiated, yet to the eyes of the Aborigines the env
information. Around two o'clock, Jacob, who was the na
out and indicated a little turn to the right. Within about fif
up at the end of a small rise. The men got out, almost befor
and spread out, looking for assurances that their recolle
initial reconnaissance seemed tense; the Aborigines paid s
each other. Gradually their heads began to raise up, they
concentration, and they smiled, satisfied.5 It seemed they
were as they remembered, no European had disturbed th
was as it should be.

As the Alyawara were assuring themselves of their world, we were examining the
small rise of sand-covered boulders, peppered with small trees. Between each rock
exposure and clump of trees was a dense scatter of flaked and modified stone, a
fine-grained quartzite. To one accustomed to seeing stone tools on archaeological
sites, all the flakes and worked stones appeared large, oversized.6 We archaeologists
are accustomed to using complicated techniques to permit the observation of pat-
terning; here the patterning was clear and obvious. Undulating depressions encircled
by high densities of flake debris alternated with clusters of large blocks from which
only a few flakes had been struck.7 Away from these clusters of 'big stuff,' scattered
on the sandier slopes or tucked under the edges of vegetation, were small half-moon
scatters of large flakes and a few chunks and blocks (Figure 3).
As we took all this in, Sandy and Manny moved away from us across the stone
quarry, talking as they pointed to stones lying on the surface; some of them they
picked up. It was clear they were not doing this for us; in fact, they no longer noticed
us. They were doing what they had been taught to do by their elders, what was at
one time expected of all men.
We were disappointed. What we had seen thus far had already been described
for Australian quarry work. Aborigines were said to have few if any specialized
lithic-working techniques. In fact, one of the authorities on Australian peoples had
described their behavior at quarries as follows (Tindale 1965:140):

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
410 JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH
On arrival at Pulanj-pulanj two of the younger men pried out slabs and fractured b
the siliceous rock up to two feet in diameter from the red earth covered walls
creek. Boulders lying in the open were considered to be not suitable for attention.
boulders they could lift they raised high above their heads and hurled down onto t
pavement, attempting to shatter them into smaller pieces. They endeavored to stan
elevated places, seemingly both to increase the effect of their throws and to es
splinters of silica.
Smaller pieces were then struck, virtually at random, either with the above m
hammer stone, which was passed from hand to hand as required, or with a piece of
rock. When a suitable-sized flake was detached by the hit-and-miss process, it was
side. When a boulder of particularly good stone was discovered it was alternativ
down and struck at with the hammer until no further flakes could be obtained from the core
which remained.

Other workers have given similar reports. Brian Hayden, who was recently
engaged in trying to recover some Aborigines' last memories of earlier days as
stone-tool makers and users, comments (1979:122):
He mentioned that the old men used to dig deep into the ground to get large pieces of opal ...
It is hard to know how to interpret this since we saw no pits of any antiquity at any of the
quarry sites .., and no other Western Desert ethnographers have noted such practices.
Manny and Sandy were walking about the rock-strewn surface talking about the
quality of the quartzite. They would reach down and pick up chunks, examine them,
then toss them back. Given the descriptions by Tindale and others, one might
imagine that they were simply looking for flakes appropriate to their needs. But
Sandy and Manny were not interested in flakes; they were picking up big chunks and
using them like hammers to remove flakes from other large chunks (Figure 4). They
then examined the freshly exposed surfaces of the stones, talked briefly, then
tossed everything down. It seemed clear that they were not looking for flakes; they
were testing the quality and character of the materials.
In answer to our questions, Sandy explained to us that they were looking for
the place where the really good material could be found. We asked what the good
stuff would look like. Sandy's answers were not very satisfactory. There was an
allusion to purity of color and smooth texture, but we certainly did not glean enough
information to permit us to join in the search. We asked if they had, thus far, seen
any of the good stuff. They had, but they really did not know where it was coming
from. We then asked them why, if they had found some of the good stuff, they had
not kept it. Sandy smiled and looked around for a chunk of stone. He picked up a
large flake and struck it. It split into several pieces, the fractured surfaces stained
with iron oxide. Clearly the chunk had previously been cracked so that water had
percolated into it. When Sandy struck the chunk it fell apart, breaking along the old
fracture planes. He pointed to the weathering cracks and noted that the stone was
"rotten," so that it broke with a "mind of its own." The cores that littered the
surface of the quarry had all been weathered; they were thus considered unsuitable
for making tools.
Meanwhile Manny had wandered off; when we caught sight of him, he was down
on the side of the boulder outcrop, poking in the sand with his feet. Sandy walked
briskly over to him. They became absorbed in conversation while Sandy pulled at a
partially exposed boulder. He first struck it "in place" with the butt of his steel ax.
Both men agreed that the material was good. Nevertheless, they moved farther

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 AN ALYWARA STONE QUARRY 411

Figure 3. Surface of the Quarry as First Seen by Us

(The tufts of grass in the foreground mark the spot where the kn
generated. Note the arc-like distribution of the debris. The very sm
was identified as the remains of an episode of retouching, proba
distribution in the center of the photograph.) (Photo by L.R.B.)

Figure 4. Manny Lewis Testing Cores

(The hammer being used is a large quartzite chunk picked up at th

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
412 JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH
downslope and focused their attention on an area of boulders just bar
under the reddish sand. Sandy dug around one with his ax handle an
scooped sand away with his hands. A smaller boulder, weighing perhap
pounds, was uncovered (see Figure 5, area 1, for the location of the
Sandy pushed and shoved it free. He then carried it down to the flat area
area 1) at the foot of the slope and began to remove flakes by striking
with his ax, Meanwhile, Manny went up into a grove of trees, where he c
branch, about four inches in diameter, from a mulga tree. This he tri
stout pole about six feet long. Manny returned with this pole and began u
pry up the edge of a large boulder. It did not move. He then made a narro
around a corner of the boulder. Once the corner was exposed, he took
weighing about twenty pounds and threw it down on the edge of t
boulder. A large flake was removed, which he scooped up and quickly c
to Sandy. Both men agreed that the buried boulder was the good stuf
material they wanted to make tools from. Sandy and Manny resumed thei
around the boulder, but after a short time, Sandy returned downslop
(Figure 5, area 2).
Squatting behind the core, Sandy directed heavy blows with the butt o
so that large flakes were removed. As each flake was detached, it was
examined, and then placed at arm's length in front of him. He turn
frequently and examined the scar where the previous flake had bee
Sometimes he struck off another flake adjacent to the earlier scar, an
he used the flake scar itself as the striking platform.
Throughout all this, Sandy worked kneeling or squatting behind the co
was positioned on the ground in front of him (Figure 6).8 A flake str
core would be driven downward into the sand. We later learned that the fla
picked up "so you know what you were making," and then placed out of t
that the next flake would also fall into the sand, preventing its edges
dulled by hitting previously struck flakes. It was clear from watching San
knew the type of flake he wanted to produce. It was also clear that he kn
had to alter the core's shape and then strike its edge relative to the shape
in order to produce a flake of desired form. In short, Sandy was us
percussion technique to preform a core. It was only after he succeeded in
a core of desired shape that we understood that he was trying to produce
a transverse cross-section shaped like a high-angled triangle (Figure
was successful, he could then strike off blades or flakes along the flat
triangle.9
Once the core had been roughly preformed, a number of blades or flakes were
then struck alternately from either side of the nose of the core (Figure 8). After this
more detailed preforming of the core face, a blow was struck farther back from the
core rim, just above one of the ridges running down the face of the core. This
procedure yielded blades of the desired shape: long triangular pieces with sharp
edges on the converging sides. These blades had either one or two medial ridges on
the dorsal surface (Figure 9).
Once we understood what we had seen, Binford jotted down some questions
that we later put to Jacob, who spoke better English than Sandy. Jacob explained
that although today had been "special" in that the stoneworking was being done for

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 '4

A y . -.............

Co For_..-

'm...-rcio4 M,..
0 I 2. 2. 4- , 7 AIT."I Y"I

Figure 5. Sketch M
(Several characteristics are of in
of his arcs of debitage were also
the sky. Reduction area no. 1 sho
to reduce the core, he moved aro
excavated and roughed out vers
different tasks do them in diffe
use. See Binford 1983:144-94).

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
414 JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Figure 6. Sandy White Reducing a Core to Produce Blanks for Men's Knives
(Sandy is squatting at point no. 3 on Figure 5. Note the arc of flakes.) (Photo by

Figure 7. Sandy White about to Strike a Core Prepared for the Removal of Blanks for
(Sandy is working in reduction area no. 3, Figure 5.) (Photo by J.F.O.)

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 AN ALYWARA STONE QUARRY 415
our benefit, things were not too different from what the
the appearance of Europeans. He related that a particula
to make a good men's knife, the tool we had asked the Aly
for us. Sandy had worked his core to produce the particula
for the men's knives.10 Jacob continued that there wer
same kind of blank, e.g., "ordinary men's knives," "figh
He had only heard of the latter two tools being used by th
In any event, flakes of the form produced by Sandy w
since the tools he mentioned were not manufactured "
that shaping the core was the "big job," and was always
all the big chunks and "mistakes" could be thrown awa
anything. Jacob noted that once one got a "good one,
core, "everybody hit 'em off as many as you can get b
Binford asked what would be done if one made more fl
commented that they could leave them "somewhere"
The comments by the informants made it clear that th
demonstrated by Sandy was normally done in the qua
would then be introduced to the residential site as manufactured items.
O'Connell suggested to Sandy, who was working on another core, that he demon-
strate the kind of flake suitable for retouching into a "woman's knife" or a "spoon"
(see O'Connell 1974 for a description of these tools). Sandy removed a flake from
the core in much the same way as he had for the "men's knives." The only difference
was that the flake was slightly less symmetrical. He then took up a linear chunk of
raw material lying nearby and used it as a percussor, retouching the flake so as to
round the distal end. He also retouched the flake along one lateral edge (Figure
10). Later, Jacob commented that if flakes for "men's knives" were not carried
properly, the edges would sometimes get dull. These dulled pieces might be made
into "woman's knives," back at camp. Jacob also noted, however, that "woman's
knives" were most commonly made from flakes struck from cores at the camp,
rather than from the special blades produced in quarries and used for men's knives.
This point-that many tools were produced from flakes struck from cores back
at the camp-can serve to refocus attention on what Manny was doing while Sandy
finished reducing his core. Manny had been digging out the largest boulder in the
excavated area. After the "woman's knife" demonstration, Sandy got up and joined
Manny. Sandy piled up sizable chunks and slabs just back from the edges of Manny's
trench. These slabs were to be used as surfaces on which fulcrum blocks were placed.
The latter were used to pry up the large buried boulder with the mulga tree limb
previously mentioned. As Sandy adjusted the lever, Manny motioned for Binford
to come and lend a hand. Binford took over the end of the lever, thinking that his
greater weight would be of some help. Gradually the boulder was inched out of its
bed. As the boulder was raised by the lever, Manny slipped a pyramid-shaped stone
under it. All this time Binford could only guess what the men intended. He thought
they were trying to raise the boulder so they could knock off a large chunk as they
had done earlier when testing the stone.
After the boulder was raised into a tilted position, resting its weight on the apex
of the pyramid-shaped stone, the two men left us and spread out into the nearby

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
416 JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Figure 8. "Nose" of Core Prepared for the Removal of Initial Guide Flakes (Pho

Figure 9. Blades Removed by Sandy White from Prepared Core Shown in Figure
(Photo by L.R.B.)

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 AN ALYWARA STONE QUARRY 417

Figure 10. Sandy White behind an Exhausted Core in Reduct

Secondarily Flaking a Blank for a Women's Knife
(Note the typical arc of flakes.) (Photo by L.R.B.)

Figure 11. Close-up of Fire Being Kindled under the Lar

(The flake scar on the edge of the boulder was produced w
rock on the exposed corner to test the quality of the materi
(Photo by L.R.B.)

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
418 JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH
trees. They returned with armloads of sticks, dry branches, and small twigs
arranged the fuel under the boulder and kindled a fire (Figure 11). As the
grew, the men added more fuel and sat back, speculating on how the boulder wo
break.
We had seen suggestions in the North American literature and elsewher
fire was sometimes used in the quarries (see Elkin 1948:100 for an Austra
reference). Boulders were said to have been heated and then cooled by thro
water on them, "causing flakes to come off." Such references are fairly common
the early American literature, but many recent investigators have been skeptica
them (Ellis 1940:45; Crabtree and Butler 1964; Purdy 1981a, 1981b). By con
Akerman (1979) reports experiences similar to our own.
Before us was a large block resting on a pointed fulcrum, with a fire bu
underneath (Figure 12). The two Aborigines drew imaginary lines across the
the boulder, speculating as to how the block would break. Before long there
musical "ping," as a crack developed completely across its width, above the
where it rested on the fulcrum. The fire continued to burn for about half an hour.
We did not hear a second "ping," but the block was broken into three large pieces
when the men stepped forward to begin the task of levering out the broken sections.
Manny took the lever and hoisted one section out of the hole (Figure 13). A
few spalls had popped off the surface on the underside where the fire had been most
intense, and the surface was somewhat smudged. Otherwise, however, there were no
obvious effects of the burning beyond the dramatic breaking up of the large boulder.
The first major section to be removed was rolled over the edge of the hole onto a
level area, where Sandy began chipping large flakes off the original surface, using
the heat crack as a striking platform. He was reducing this piece much as he had the
previous one, removing large, thick flakes from the cortical surface. The chunk was
gradually reduced in size and modified into the "nosed" form of the earlier core,
with the parallel flake scars around the end, from which the long blades could be
struck. Sandy struck off two good blades, then left this core lying on the surface
and returned to the excavation, where Manny had inched the largest of the fire-
cracked boulder sections onto the nearby surface (Figure 14).
Using the newly cracked surface as a striking platform, Sandy again removed
flakes from the cortical surface (Figure 15), gradually reducing its size and modifying
its form. It was dressed into a core weighing about fifty pounds. Later, Jacob
explained that in old days, the men would have done essentially the same things we
had seen: namely, made cores from which the blanks for men's knives were struck,
as well as other cores to be transported back to the base camp.
Jacob elaborated that one would never leave a quarry "empty-headed"; the
men would all carry back roughed-out cores on their heads, using a cushion of
grass wrapped with fur string to make a "nest" for the cores. Jacob noted that the
transported cores would have been prepared as Sandy had done, except that they
would have been smaller.
Binford asked Jacob why they did not make all the tools in the quarry, rather
than carrying cores back to camp. Jacob explained that the tools most commonly
employed at the camp were small flakes used for "cutting up things." He noted that
these need not be any particular shape, only fresh and sharp. With a core in camp

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 AN ALYWARA STONE QUARRY 419

Figure 12. Sandy White Sitting on Rock Outcrop Watching Fire

(The large slabs in the foreground were moved to the edge of the e
boulder up onto the fulcrum.) (Photo by L.R.B.)

Figure 13. Removal of the First Section Split from the Parent Bou
(Photo by J.F.O.)

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
420 JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Figure 14. Manny Lewis Levering up a Second Section of Fire-Split Boulder

(Sandy White is already beginning to dress the first section of the split boulder-the
in Figure 13-into a core. Sandy is working in area no. 3, Figure 5. The scattered
exhausted core are visible in reduction area no. 2, Figure 5, along the far side of the
(Photo by L.R.B.)

Figure 15. Sandy White Trimming the Sides of a Large Section from Fire-Split
(This large section, after having the cortical surface removed, was carried back to th
at Bendaijerum.) (Photo by L.R.B.)

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 AN ALYWARA STONE QUARRY 421
the flakes could be struck off as necessary. One could ev
tools such as adzes and women's spoons were made by sec
preshaping on the core.
The men stressed the fact that they should be very car
for transport and in transporting blanks from the quarry.
in dull edges on the blanks when one wanted to use them
the men how they "took care" of the blanks produced in
went quietly about doing things in the "old way."
Manny went to a grove of trees and returned shortly with
bark from a paper-bark tree (Malaleuca lasiandra). The p
inches long and six inches wide. The bark is soft and co
thin sheets, much like the birch bark of North America. Ma
in paper-bark pouches the few flakes they had judged
one women's knife blank and two blanks for men's kniv
the flakes on one section of bark, then shredded off a wad
rolled them in his hands, placing the fibrous, tinder-like
each flake. He then placed the other half of the paper bark
carefully lifted up the pouch. A ball of "hair string" was th
the ball and pouch in one hand, Manny unwound the fre
punched holes through the pouch between the flakes. Th
was then laced through the holes. Finally, the ball of str
pouch. It was noted that one "never cuts string if one ca
same thing with his flakes, except that he used grass p
packed five flakes for transport.
We were told that in the old days these paper-bark po
carried under the arms in the string belts of the men r
however, we loaded them, along with the oversized core, int
lay beside the dead kangaroo and three birds.
During our experiences at the quarry, we had not notic
had been done in an unhurried manner. As soon as we had lo
truck, however, we realized that we would have to hurry to
dark. It was clear that the important landmarks known to t
to fade with the diminishing light, so that nightfall wo
"overnight." We had food, but little except the clothes o
counter the icy chill that would return at sunset.
We pulled into camp after dark. The men were intent o
from the kangaroo and the three birds. We went to our ten
with some meat from the kangaroo, but he did not sta
working on our notes. It got colder and finally we built a fi
and hovered around it with blankets over our heads. We wrote until late and then
went off to sleep, knowing that we had seen some special things.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS

The impact of what we had seen gradually struck us. We had seen Au
Aborigines quarry stones by digging up large buried boulders. We had seen th
a boulder by building a fire under it. We had seen two men prepare a sp

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
422 JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH
from which convergent-sided blades were struck. These blades-the blanks f
knives-were carefully packed in small pouches for transport back to ca
same time, the men roughed out another core to be transported back t
the past, similar, though somewhat smaller cores would have been tran
camp for use in replacing a variety of general-purpose tools. These things s
evident, but what else can we make of the experience?

The Working Postures of the Men

In all the core-preparation and core-reduction events we observed
working posture was squatting or kneeling behind a core that was res
ground.1 2 This is not a unique observation. For instance, we are fortun
a comparable description from another area of the Central Desert (Sp
Gillen 1912:374):
He chose a small lump of quartzite which measured about eight inches in length a
six in diameter, the surface at one end being approximately flat, whilst toward th
is slightly tapered away. The latter was placed on the ground and then, holdin
upright in his left hand, he gave a series of sharp blows with a little quartzite ston
right hand.
Binford has searched the ethnographic and ethniohistoric literature for descrip-
tions of stoneworking; while there are regrettably few, every one that describes the
working or preparation of a core suggests or explicitly describes the core as resting
on the ground in front of the worker, except one very influential example. This is,
of course, the description of the Brandon gunflint knappers.
For more than a century, the Brandon knappers have provided a major eth-
nographic analogue for the interpretation of stone tools and a model for lithic
experimentation. In his seminal discussion of lithic work, John Evans (1872) de-
scribed the Brandon knappers and provided early illustrations of their products.
In the classic work by E.B. Tylor (1881:184-86), illustrations taken from Evans are
reproduced and a discussion of lithic working technique is provided, based on Evans's
observations at Brandon. On the continent, there was experimentation with stone
tool production by the end of the nineteenth century (Johnson 1978). Most attempts
at learning something about tool-production sequences seem to have taken as a
model the techniques used by the Brandon workers or (less often) French gunflint
manufacturers (Schleicher 1927). Both of these reflect the common European
pattern of working while seated on a stool or chair.1 3
Denise de Sonneville-Bordes (1967:57) credits only Coutier (1929) as an inspira-
tional predecessor to Franqois Bordes's accomplishments as a master flint knapper
(see also Bordes 1978). Bordes has commented to Binford on a number of occasions
that the descriptions by Evans and the published work of Rainbird Clarke (1935),
both of which were inspired by the Brandon knappers, provided a model for his own
perfection of stoneworking techniques.1 4 Given that sitting in a chair or on a raised
surface is a habitual working posture in Europe and America, and that this same
posture was characteristic of the Brandon knappers (Figure 16), it is not surprising
that almost all the contemporary lithic experimentors adopt a seated posture, in
which the core rests on the thigh. The thigh is normally protected by a special
covering or thick clothing (as seen in Figure 16). Bordes almost always worked

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Figure 16. Working Posture of the Brandon Knappers (Photo reproduced from Pond 19

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
424 JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH
cores and manufactured core tools in this way (see photographs in Ho
118-19, where Bordes is shown roughing out a core, making a hand ax,
an antler hammer to flake a biface).
Many of the recent lithic experimentors learned from either F. Bor
Crabtree. It is well documented that at the time of the Les Eyzies conf
lithic technology (Jelinek 1965), Crabtree had primarily perfected th
pressure flaking and blade production, whereas Bordes was the acknowledge
of percussion techniques. Not long after their meeting, Bordes also be
skilled in pressure-flaking techniques, which he learned primarily from
while Crabtree similarly mastered Bordes's techniques of percussion work.
Since most of the current group of lithic experimentors are also Wester
sitters," and many have learned knapping techniques from either Bordes or
it is not surprising that most habitually adopt the on-the-thigh work
when using percussion for both working cores and shaping tools. Erre
(1979:25) has recognized this potential bias and has commented on it in
of describing his preferred "holding position":
The ideal seat-bear in mind that this is personal opinion now and may/may not
other knappers, past or present-was a rather low stool, block, log, or rock which
knees slightly above horizontal. At the time most of these experiments were perf
not favor resting the biface atop the padded left thigh except for the removal of
stubborn flakes on rather large bifaces.
Rather unfortunately, I think, this leg position is used to the exclusion of almos
positions by many Western knappers. [See Bordes and Crabtree 1969:16 for illu
A personal study of the techniques of numerous "self-evolved" knappers, profes
mercial, and amateur, revealed to me that the leg-pad holding position is only o
techniques suitable for generalized biface percussion work.
The Western European bias in holding position may misdirect many
archaeological interpretation. For instance, in recent experiments tre
patterns of debris accumulation during lithic reduction, three postures
always employed by the experimentors: on-the-thigh while seated, hand-he
seated, or hand-held while standing (see Newcomer and Sieveking 1980,
et al. 1979). These postures and the distributions of debris they produc
little to do with the common non-Western work posture of squatting and u
ground as a work surface. The latter is more likely to be relevant to the inte
of those archaeological remains, particularly paleolithic, with which w
often concerned.

It has occurred to Binford that much of the paleolithic material currently inter-
preted as resulting from a "block-on-block" reduction strategy is most likely the
result of cores resting on the ground being worked from a squatting position, as
described here. This would certainly make much more sense to anyone who has
tried to dodge the flying shatter produced when using a block-on-block technique.
Similarly, most geometrical evidence cited to justify the inference of a block-on-block
technique could just as well have arisen from a holding posture similar to that of
the Alyawara. Recall the classic arguments over the significance of the "Clactonian"
(Ohel 1979) and the differences between assemblages called Clactonian and those
called Acheulean.1 5 Many of the technical differences, astutely noted by Newcomer
(1970, 1971, 1979:717), could well reflect differences between cores reduced from

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 AN ALYWARA STONE QUARRY 425

a squatting position and materials detached when using a di

more appropriate to working bifaces.
Binford has always been interested in the fact that m
North America on stone knapping report a padded "an
working bifacial tools. This was reported by Cushing
1892). In addition, experimental workers have used wo
work (see Pond 1930). For a worker who habitually use
use of a slightly raised work surface when shaping a biface
a necessity.1 6 In most hunter-gatherer camps we have seen
pulled in front of a worker to serve as a raised work
surprised if early observers' reports of American India
rests are indeed accurate. Such anvils could be an accommodation to habitual
squatting or cross-legged work postures. Under such conditions, a wooden "a
would be a resting surface equivalent to the thigh of a habitual chair sitter.

Levallois Techniques in Australia

The prototypes of the prepared cores with which archaeologists have been
cerned for so long are the Levallois core and the pyramidal blade core. The c
description of the Levallois core is as follows (Burkett 1933:43):
A suitable nodule of flint was chosen and a selected upper surface worked over by fla
until a flattish face resulted. The sides of the nodule were now boldly trimmed away
that the future tool was, as it were, blocked out, though still attached to the core. A stri
platform was next prepared and a single blow then detached the required tool which w
consist of an object whose upper surface was flat as a result of the primary flaking w
still on the nodule and whose under surface was a flake surface resulting from the blo
detachment.

Cores of this type have been widely illustrated and are well-known to most prehis-
torians. There are several alternative techniques of preparing the Levallois core (see
Bordes 1980, as well as Tixier, Inizan, and Roche 1980:44-55).
What we saw the Alyawara men doing fits none of the above descriptions.
They were preparing a pyramidal core from which blades were regularly struck.
This core had the form of a large keel or a "nosed" block of material (Figure 17).
The striking platform was a large flake scar on a split surface of the original nodule.
The keel-shaped block with a "nose" was then struck in regular successive ways,
as indicated in Figure 17, yielding preshaped blades with sharp, convergent sides
and parallel ridges on the dorsal surfaces (Figure 18:1, 2, and 3). The butt of the
blade was regularly unfacetted. The exhausted cores are referred to by Australian
prehistorians as "horse hoof cores" (Mulvaney 1969:140). The exhausted form is
achieved by working back the nose of the core until the face from which the flakes
and blades were struck approaches roughly a ninety-degree angle relative to the
striking platform. At this point, further attempts to remove additional flakes or
blades produce very short, often hinge-fractured pieces. The core itself displays a
"stepped," or "chattered," platform edge, correlated with a series of stacked hinge
fractures, each terminating closer to the platform edge (Figure 18:4).
Having seen these procedures in the Alyawara quarry, it is clear to us that Sir
Baldwin Spencer saw the same thing among the Central Desert Warramunga, around
the turn of the century (Spencer and Gillen 1912:374):

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 A B

1
I~~~i~i-(

Zi

,11112 . - I ~

A B

: ? ? ?~
; ?I

Figure 17. Core Prepared as Observed among the Alyawara Figure 18. Blades
for Removal of Blanks for Men's Knives (Leilira blades) (These have been
shown as item no
nose, or keel, has
angle approaches 9
fractures near the
monly called "hor

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 AN ALYWARA STONE QUARRY 427

We came across a quarry which had been worked for many years p
with numerous discarded flakes, because, for every one that is con
there are at least a score thrown aside as useless.
At this quarry we watched with much interest the process of ma
a Warramunga man. First of all he chose a small lump of quartzite
inches in length and, roughly six in diameter, the surface at on
flat, whilst towards the other it is slightly tapered away. The latt
and then holding the block upright in his left hand, he gave a s
little quartzite stone held in his right hand. The first two blows w
just within the margin, each resulting in the detachment of a flak
two surfaces that ran down the face of the block and met toward
rule these two surfaces are not in contact with their whole length.
case depends simply upon whether the first two flakes lie closely
from one another at their upper ends by a longer or shorter face
this is present the blade is tetragonal in section.
Two field observations from Central Australia, ours an
made over sixty years apart, clearly show that the Central D
cores for the production of blades in nearly identical ways.
is that in both of these documented cases, the Aborigines
the production of blanks for use in the manufacture of m
are widely known in the literature of Australia as Leilira
1899:592-93, 1912:374-76). In this light, it is interesting
(1967) identified the Leilira blades as illustrated by Spenc
points." This identification carried the clear implication
from Levallois cores.
In 1974, C. Dortch delivered a major paper in Canberra, in which he discussed
the history of suggestions regarding the presence of prepared-core techniques in
Australia (1977:117). In the same paper, Dortch described a series of core and flake
forms which do appear to be Levallois in both form and technique. These were
recovered in late-phase assemblages of the Ord Valley, in the Kimberley district
of Western Australia. These materials, described in detail by Bordes and Dortch
(1977) and further commented on by Bordes (1980), were taken as support for
Bordes's earlier recognition of the Levallois technique in Australia. It will be recalled
that this identification was based on his suggestion that the Leilira blades were
products of the Levallois technique. We think it is clear, however, that the cores
from which the Leilira blades were struck were not Levallois in form. Bordes (1967,
1980) had not based his identification of Levallois technique on formal properties
of cores. Instead, arguing from analogy, he identified the Leilira blades as Levallois
points and then inferred a type of Levallois preparation used in their production.
Examples of "equifinality" are certainly not new to lithic studies, but it is interesting
to see what some of the different paths to the final form might be.1 7

The Organization of Technical Options

The men had produced blades in the quarry. These blanks were transported back
to the residential camp, protected in small paper-bark pouches. Nevertheless, while
in the quarry they had also processed a core for transport back to the residential
camp, where it was anticipated that the core would yield materials to be used as
everyday cutting tools (utilized flakes when seen archaeologically) as well as blanks
for the manufacture of a number of woodworking tools. We later had the opportuni-
ty to observe the reduction of cores in the men's camp at Bendaijerum.18 These

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
428 JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH
observations clearly suggest that the Aborigines had different procure
reduction strategies for different types of tools. Similarly, different staging
chracterized the production of different tools, all manufactured from the s
material.
Archaeologists have noted for years that different techniques might be repre-
sented in the archaeological remains from a single occupation. It has been frequently
suggested that techniques varied with the kinds of raw material used; sometimes that
does appear to be the case. In the Alyawara situation, the kind of raw material is
not the factor conditioning their decisions to use different techniques and different
logistical strategies for provisioning the group with different tools. In this case, we
see rather that different techniques were used because different perceived costs
were associated with different demands for different tools within the system. The
decision to transport manufactured blanks versus cores was, in the Aborigines' view,
related to differential tool demand and the potential use life of the special blades
versus the "everyday" flakes or blanks for woodworking tools.
In the technology, as in almost all other aspects of a cultural system, we are
dealing with an internally differentiated subsystem. Tools are not just tools, pro-
curement strategies are not just procurement strategies. Each is differentiated and
organizationally adjusted to the other, so that there may be one kind of procurement
strategy appropriate to the supply of one class of tools and another considered
appropriate to replacing other kinds of tools. In the case of the Alyawara, as observed
by us and as they described their tactics to us, the production of stone tools which
appear to have been curated (see Binford 1977 and 1979) were more commonly
produced in ways similar to that used for the blanks for the men's knives; that is,
the blanks were produced in the quarries. On the other hand, tools that dulled
quickly or were otherwise used rather expediently were produced as needed, from
cores that were transported to living sites from the quarries.
We can expect many other technologies to be internally differentiated and to
exhibit different procurement, production, and staging strategies (Muto 1971;
Bradley 1975), organized with respect to differences in use life, demand periodicities,
and assemblage specializations (personal gear versus site furniture, etc.; see Binford
1979). For instance, if the tools being produced are to become curated components
of personal tool kits, then one set of strategies might be appropriate.19 On the other
hand, if everyday, expedient tools were being produced, very different replacement
strategies could be expected. Since most of these decisions are conditioned eco-
nomically, they might also be expected to vary within a system depending upon its
spatial positioning within a region (see Binford 1982 for a discussion of changes in
the placement of a system in geographical space as a conditioner of changing pro-
visioning tactics at a single site).
Certainly the traditional Alyawara technological system was extinct at the time
of our observations. Nevertheless, the internal differentiation in lithic procurement
strategies and particularly in the staging of manufacturing sequences among different
sites provides the archaeologist with food for thought regarding organizational
factors as major contributors to interassemblage variability among sites generated by
a single cultural system. If Binford is even close in his suggestion that the common
hand axes of the Acheulean were portable tools (see Binford 1983:74-75), then

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 AN ALYWARA STONE QUARRY 429
it is not unlikely that such tools were manufactured differe
material was staged differently than were the common,
found on regularly used locations.20 There may well be
restudying the many early assemblages that have gener
they were thought to be mixed Clactonian and Acheulean.

CONCLUSIONS

We have had the opportunity to observe events that have not gener
described before. These events obviously prompted us to think anew ab
the practices and interpretative conclusions of contemporary archaeolo
is basic and a necessary component of intellectual growth. It is hoped
events we have taken pains to describe will prompt others to reflect on arc
methods and interpretations. The growth of theory is dependent upon
our informed imaginations. Sharing our experiences here will hopefu
readers' imaginations in new ways and so prompt the growth of produ
about both the past and our attempts to learn about the past.

NOTES

1. We wish to thank Prof. Jack Golson

from andanatomical data, it was a habitual posture
Dr. Peter Ucko, who arranged our collaboration.
among ancient populations as well (Trinkaus
The Australian Institute for Aboriginal1975).
Studies
and the Department of Prehistory, Australian 9. By convention, blades are defined as
National University, provided much-appreciated
flakes that are at least twice as long as they are
financial support. wide.
2. For additional information on the 10. The term blank is used here consistent
Alyawara, see Denham (1975); Hawkes with and
its definition and use in Binford and Pap-
O'Connell (1981); O'Connell (1974, 1977, worth (1963:84), but obviously is also referra-
1980); O'Connell and Hawkes (1981); O'Con- ble to the work of W.H. Holmes (1894:122,
nell, Latz, and Barnett (1983); and Yallop 128).
(1969). 11. There are several good descriptions of
3. The scientific name is Ipomoea costata. ordinary men's knives in the literature; see
4. At this time Sandy was about seventy- Spencer and Gillen (1899:Figure 117 and pp.
four years old, Manny was about sixty-four, 591-94); and Allchin (1957:Figure 1 and pp.
and Jacob was in his seventies. 125-26).
5. Although the men did not discuss the 12. This day we observed four episodes of
folklore of this place with us, it was our impres-
core preforming. On an earlier trip we had ob-
sion that this was an important place in their served two episodes of core reduction, and on
cultural landscape. still another day, we observed three men
6. Few flakes appeared to be smaller than working on a single core.
five to nine inches long, and most of the 13. Note the description of the most
worked chunks weighed four to twelve pounds.comfortable posture given by Knowles (1944:
The scene was much like those in photographs 12-13) as well as by Barbieri (1937:100).
published in Holmes (1919:204, 212). 14. Other descriptions of the Brandon
7. See Holmes (1919:202-3) for a descrip-industry have appeared from time to time; see
tion of very similar features. Lovett (1877) and Knowles and Barnes (1937).
8. The squatting posture was the form 15. Most modern workers believe that Clac-
most commonly adopted by Aborigines while tonian flakes were not generally produced by a
working cores. This is a very common work block-on-block technique. Nevertheless, such a
posture among many different peoples;judging technique is commonly identified in many early

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
430 JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH
lithic industries. the material for a future article.
16. See Binford (1983:151, Figure 86) for 19. Brian Hayden (1976) has argued that
an example of a modified squatting posture. my discussion of curation was misguided
because the Nunamiut Eskimo used metal tools.
17. D. Crabtree (1972) and others are cer-
tainly aware of the fact that very similar- He simply missed the point.
looking end products may be achieved using 20. On this point we seem to be in agree-
different production techniques. ment with Brian Hayden (1979:15).
18. Observations made on that day provide

REFERENCES CITED

Bordes, F., and D. Crabtree, 1969, The

Allchin, B., 1957, Australian Stone Indus-
tries, Past and Present. Journal of Corbiac Blade Techniques and Other Experi-
the Royal
ments. Tebiwa
Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and 12(2):1-21.
Ireland 87(1):115-36. Bordes, F., and C. Dortch, 1977, Blade and
Akerman, K., 1979, Heat and Lithic Levallois Technology in Western Australia.
Technology in the Kimberleys, W.A. Oceania
Quartair 27/28:1-19.
14(2):144-51. Bradley, B., 1975, Lithic Reduction Se-
Barbieri, J.A., 1937, Technique of the quences: A Glossary and Discussion. Pp. 5-14
Implements from Lake Mohave. Pp. 99-107 in in Lithic Technology (ed. by E.H. Swanson,
The Archaeology of Pleistocene Lake Mohave: Jr.). The Hague: Mouton.
A Symposium. Southwest Museum Papers No. Burkett, M.C., 1933, The Old Stone Age:
11. A Study of Paleolithic Times. Cambridge, Eng.:
Binford, L.R., 1977, Forty-seven Trips: ACambridge University Press.
Case Study in the Character of Archaeological Callahan, E., 1979, The Basics of Biface
Formation Processes. Pp. 24-36 in Stone Tools Knapping in the Eastern Fluted Point Tradition:
and Cultural Markers: Change, Evolutions, andA Manual for Flint-Knappers and Lithic Ana-
Complexity (ed. by R.V.S. Wright). Canberra: lysts. Archaeology of Eastern North America
Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. 7(1):1-180.
Binford, L.R., 1979, Organization and Clarke, R., 1935, The Flint Knapping
Formation Processes: Looking at Curated Industry at Brandon. Antiquity 9(31):38-56.
Technologies. Journal of Anthropological Re- Coutier, L., 1929, Experiences de taille
search 35:255-73. pour rechercher les anciennes techniques
Binford, L.R., 1982, The Archaeology of
paleolithiques. Bulletin de la Societe Prehistor-
Place. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
ique Franqaise 26:172-74.
1(1):5-31. Crabtree, D.E., 1972, An Introduction to
Binford, L.R., 1983, In Pursuit of the Past.
Flintworking. Occasional Papers of the Idaho
London: Thames and Hudson. State University Museum, no. 28.
Binford, L.R., 1984, An Alyawara Day: Crabtree, D.E., and B.R. Butler, 1964,
Flour, Spinifex Gum, and Shifting Perspectives.
Notes on Experiments in Flint-Knapping: I.
Journal of Anthropological Research 40:157-82.
Heat Treatment of Silica Minerals. Tebiwa
Binford, L.R., and M.L. Papworth, 1963, 7:1-6.
The Eastport Site, Antrim County, Michigan.Cushing, F.H., 1895, The Arrow. American
Anthropological Papers 19:71-123. (Museum of
Anthropologist 8:307-49.
Anthropology, University of Michigan.) Denham, W., 1975, Population Properties
Bordes, F., 1967, Considerations sur la of Physical Groups among the Alyawara Tribe
of Central Australia. Oceania 10:114-51.
typologie et les techniques dans le paleolitique.
Quart&ir 18:25-55. Dortch, C.E., 1977, Early and Late Stone
Bordes, F., 1978, Comment. Current Industrial Phases in Western Australia. Pp. 104-
Anthropology 19(2):359-60. 32 in Stone Tools as Cultural Markers: Change,
Bordes, F., 1980, Le dbbitage levallois et
Evolution and Complexity (ed. by R.V.S.
ses variants. Bulletin de la Societe Prehistorique
Wright). Atlantic Highlands, N.J.: Humanities
Franqaise 77(2):45-49. Press.

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 AN ALYWARA STONE QUARRY 431
Elkin, A.P., 1948, Pressure Stone.
Flaking in the
Pitt-Rivers Museum. Occasional Papers
Northern Kimberley, Australia. Man 130:110-
on Technology, no. 1. (Oxford: Oxford Univer-
13. sity Press).
Ellis, H.H., 1940, Flint-Working Knowles, F.H.S., and A.S. Barnes, 1937,
Techniques
of the American Indians: An Experimental Manufacture of Gunflints. Antiquity 11(42):
Study. Columbus: Ohio Historical Society, 201-7.
Publication no. 72. Lovett, E., 1877, Notice of the Gun Flint
Evans, J.C., 1872, The Ancient Stone Manufactory at Brandon, with Reference to the
Implements, Weapons and Ornaments of Great Bearing of its Processes upon the Modes of
Britain. London: Longmans. Flint-Working Practiced in Prehistoric Times.
Fischer, A., B. Bronnow, J.H. Jonsson,Proceedings of the Society of Antiqueries of
F.O. Neilsen, and C. Petersen, 1979, StoneageScotland 21:206-12.
Experiments in Lejre: Internal Organization of Mulvaney, D.J., 1969, The Prehistory of
Settlements. Copenhagen: National Museum of Australia. New York: Frederick A. Praeger.
Denmark, Working Papers, no. 8. Muto, G.R., 1971, A Stage Analysis of the
Fowke, G., 1891, Stone Art. Annual Manufacture of Chipped Stone Implements. Pp.
Report, Bureau of American Ethnology 13:47-
109-18 in Great Basin Anthropological Confer-
178. ence 1970: Selected Papers (ed. by C.M.
Fowke, G., 1892, Stone Art. Annual Aikens). University of Oregon Anthropological
Report, Bureau of American Ethnology 14:139-
Papers no. 1.
405. Newcomer, M.H., 1970, Conjoined Flakes
Hawkes, K., and J.F. O'Connell, 1981, from the Lower Loam, Barnfield Pit, Swans-
Affluent Hunters? Some Comments in Light of combe. Proceedings of the Royal Anthropo-
the Alyawara Case. Amerian Anthropologist logical Institute for 1970, pp. 51-59.
83(3):622-26. Newcomer, M.H., 1971, Some Quantitative
Hayden, B., 1976, Curation: Old and New. Experiments in Handaxe Manufacture. World
Pp. 47-59 in Primitive Art and Technology (ed. Archaeology 3(1):85-95.
by J.S. Raymond). Calgary: University of Newcomer, M.H., 1979, Comment. Current
Calgary Archaeological Association. Anthropology 20(4):717-18.
Hayden, B., 1979, Palaeolithic Reflections: Newcomer, M.H., and G. deG. Sieveking,
Lithic Technology and Ethnographic Excava- 1980, Experimental Flake Scatter-Patterns: A
tions among Australian Aborigines. Atlantic New Interpretative Technique. Journal of Field
Highlands, N.J.: Humanities Press. Archaeology 7(3):345-52.
Holmes, W.H., 1894, Natural History of O'Connell, J. F., 1974, Spoons, Knives, and
Flaked Stone Implements. Pp. 120-39 in Scrapers: The Function of Yilugwa in Central
Memoirs of the International Congress of Australia. Mankind 9:189-94.
Anthropology. Chicago. O'Connell, J.F., 1977, Room to Move:
Holmes, W.H., 1919, Handbook of Aborigi- Contemporary Alyawara Settlement Patterns
nal American Antiquities. Part I: The Lithic In- and Their Implications for Aboriginal Housing
dustries. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulle- Policy. Mankind 11:119-31.
tin 60.
O'Connell, J.F., 1980, Notes on the Manu-
Howell, F.C., 1965, Early Man. New York:facture and Use of a Kangaroo Skin Waterbag.
Time-Life Books.
Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies
Jelinek, A.J., 1965, Lithic TechnologyNewsletter 13:26-29.
Conference, Les Eyzies, France. American O'Connell, J.F., and K. Hawkes, 1981,
Antiquity 31(2):277-78. Alyawara Plant Use and Optimal Foraging Theo-
Johnson, L.L., 1978, A History of Flint-
ry. Pp. 99-125 in Hunter-Gatherer Foraging
Knapping Experimentation, 1838-1976. Current
Strategies (ed. by B. Winterhalder and E.A.
Anthropology 19(2):337-72. Smith). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Karlin, C., and M. Newcomer, 1982, Inter- O'Connell, J.F., P.K. Latz, and P. Barnett,
preting Flake Scatters: An Example from1983, Traditional and Modern Plant Use among
Pincevent. Studia Praehistorica Belgica 2:159-
the Alyawara of Central Australia. Economic
65.
Botany 37(1):80-109.
Knowles, F.H.S., 1944, The Manufacture Ohel, M.Y., 1979, The Clactonian: An
of a Flint Arrowhead by Quartzite Hammer- Independent Complex or an Integral Part of the

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
432 JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Acheulean? Current Anthropology 20(4):685- MacMillan and Co.
726. Spencer, B., and F.J. Gillen, 1912, Across
Pond, A.W., 1930, Primitive Methods Australia,
of vol. 2. London: MacMillan and Co.
Working Stone, Based on Experiments of Tindale, N., 1965, Stone Implement
Halvor L. Skavlem. Logan Museum, Beloit Making among the Nakako, Ngadadjara and
College, Bulletin 2(1). Pitjandjara of the Great Western Desert. South
Purdy, B.A., 1981a, Pyrotechnology: Pre-Australian Museum, Records 15(1):131-64.
historic Applications to Chert Materials in Tixier, J., M.L. Inizan, and H. Roche,
North America. Early Pyrotechnology. Washing- 1980, Prehistoire de la pierre taillbe, I: Ter-
ton, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. minologie et technologie. Paris: Cercle de
Purdy, B.A., 1981b, Florida's Prehistoric Recherches et d'Etudes Prehistoriques.
Stone Technology. Gainesville: University Press- Trinkaus, E., 1975, Squatting among the
es of Florida. Neanderthals: A Problem in the Behavioral
Schleicher, C., 1927, Un industrie qui dis-
Interpretation of Skeletal Morphology. Journal
parait: La taille des silex modernes. L'Hommeof Archaeological Science 2:327-51.
Prehistorique 14(5):113-33. Tylor, E.B., 1881, Anthropology: An
de Sonneville-Bordes, D., 1967, La prehis-
Introduction to the Study of Man and Civiliza-
toire moderne. Perigueux: Pierre Fanlac. tion. New York: D. Appleton and Co.
Spencer, B., and F.J. Gillen, 1899, The Yallop, C., 1969, The Alyawara and Their
Native Tribes of Central Australia. London: Territory. Oceania 39:187-97.

This content downloaded from

104.207.138.102 on Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:24:19 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms