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S u m m a r y
T he u se w e a r observed on th e G ra m a n a rte fac ts in d icates th a t in g en eral, stone tool u se activities w ere sim ila r a t both sites. H ow ever some v a ria tio n s in w e a r fe a tu re s am ong c e rta in a rte fa c t groups occur b etw een th e tw o sites. H a tc h e t g rin d in g a t GB1 m ay have been perform ed m ain ly on p o rtab le g rin d in g slabs, w h ereas a t GB4 m uch of th is activity is likely to have occurred a t th e g rin d in g grooves located in the gully below th e site. T h ere a re low er p e rc en ta g es of fra c tu re d backed blades an d eloueras a t GB1, su g g estin g less in te n se use of th ese a rte fac ts a t th a t site th a n a t GB4. T h ere a re differences in th e n u m b er of polished an d ro u n d ed edges b etw een th e two sites. T hese m ay be a ttrib u ta b le to a slightly different degree an d /o r m ode of scrap er use a t th e two sites. S im ilar differences also occur am ong th e u tilise d flakes from th e two sites, ag ain w ith h ig h e r p e rc en ta g es of p olished an d ro u n d ed edges found a t GB4.
S uch v a ria tio n s im ply th a t th e n u m b er of stone a rte fac ts fra c tu re d or w orn d u rin g u se a t GB4 m ay be h ig h er th a n th a t a t GB1, an d th a t p ro p o rtio n ately m ore stone a rte fac ts w ere u sed a t GB4 th a n a t GB1. T his in tu r n su g g ests th a t m ore tool use activity occurred a t GB4, or th a t th is site w as occupied m ore often, or for longer periods of tim e, or by m ore people th a n w as th e case a t GB1.
C onclusion - a rte fa c t function a t G ram an
The u se w ear observed on th e G ra m a n im p lem en ts in d icates t h a t a wide v a rie ty of ta s k s w ere conducted a t or n e a r th ese sites. T he use w ear p a tte r n s also show th a t some ta s k s w ere c arried out m ore often a t one site th a n th e other. H ow ever th e tools used a t b o th sites w ere g en erally u sed for sim ila r ty p es of activities. T he m ajor activ ities carried out w ith stone tools a t th e sites a p p e a r to have involved w orking of wood, b a rk , bone a n d o th e r p la n t m a te ria ls such as fibres, re sin a n d seeds.
M ost stone tools have been used to produce o th er tools. S crapers, adzes a n d flakes w ere m ain ly u sed to w ork wood, probably d u rin g the p ro d u ctio n of wooden tools su ch as sp e ar sh afts, clubs, digging sticks an d c o n ta in e rs. G rin d in g im p le m e n ts w ere also u sed to m ake tools such as ground-edge h a tc h e ts a n d g ro u n d bone im p lem en ts. Some b u rin a te tools
w ere also u sed to produce bone im p lem en ts, an d probably wooden tools also. H a tc h e t h e a d s m ay also have been involved in tool production, such as rem oval of b a rk from tre e s for use as co n tain ers.
H a tc h e ts also a p p e a r to be am ong th e sm a lle r group of stone tools u sed to p rocure or process food, as th e y w ere pro b ab ly u sed in possum h u n tin g ta s k s. B acked b lad es an d unm odified flak es w ere probably th e m ajo r tools used d u rin g h u n tin g an d processing of a n im a l food. B acked b lad es w ere probably u sed m ost often as sp e a r b a rb s, alth o u g h they did have o th e r functions. F la k e s m ay have been u sed to b u tc h e r an d skin an im als, a lth o u g h th e ir ran g e of functions also in clu d ed p la n t processing u se .
All of th ese activ ities took place a t bo th sites, how ever th e re are in d icatio n s t h a t stone tool use activ ities changed or v a rie d th ro u g h tim e a t b o th sites. E vidence of such changes h a s b een found am ong v a ria tio n s in use w e a r p a tte r n s on stone tools from bo th sites. T his evidence is