burinates from many Australian sites (N.S.W. - Bendemeer (20), Capertee
(42), Emu Cave (10), Graman (32), Moore Creek (8), Padstow (4), Jacky’s
Creek (2); Northern Territory - Ingaladdi (24); Queensland - Kenniff Cave
(1)) also shows that the majority of these artefacts are blade cores or are by
products of blade production. Of 143 artefacts previously classified as
b u rin s, K am m inga (1978:269; 1982:92) w as only able to d istin g u ish eight (from P ad sto w an d In g ala d d i) w hich d isp lay ed edge dam age. O nly four of th e se (from In g alad d i) displayed dam aged apices co n sisten t w ith wood g ra v in g .
It a p p e a rs t h a t some b u rin a te a rte fa c ts, w hile n o t in itially
m a n u fa c tu re d as bone or wood g rav in g im p le m e n ts m ay have been used for su ch ta s k s su b seq u e n t to blade d etach m en t. F u lla g a r (1985a:2-3) h as found evidence of bone g rav in g u se am ong 'b u rin s ’ from J a c k S m ith Lake in V ictoria, such as flak e scarrin g , ro u n d in g , polish an d stria tio n s on the b u rin a te edges. H o tch in (1982:24) argues t h a t th ese a rte fac ts w ere
designed for bone g rav in g use. He (1982: ap pendix 2) found th a t afte r the in itia l sp all w as rem oved from a reto u ch ed s trik in g p latform , fu rth e r sp alls could be rem oved to re -sh a rp e n th e b u rin a te edge. H o tch in ’s proposed m eth o d of b u rin p roduction is sim ila r (except for th e platform p re p a ra tio n ) to C undy's proposed tw in ridge b lad e core red u ctio n sequence (in p ress: 19). D espite sim ila r production tech n iq u es, th e J a c k S m ith L ake b u rin a te tools a p p e a r to have been u sed extensively for g rav in g bone, u n lik e m ost of those found elsew here.
U se of b u rin a te a rte fa c ts a t GB1
Secondary use of tw in ridge blade cores also a p p ea rs to have occurred occasionally a t site GB1. A fter m icroscopic ex am in atio n , it a p p e a rs doubtful th a t an y of th e GB1 b u rin a te a rte fa c ts w ere d eliberately m a n u fa c tu re d for use as bone g rav ers, a lth o u g h some m ay hav e h ad seco n d ary functions as bone or wood g ravers. The tw e n ty b u rin a te s ex am in ed from GB1 w ere id en tified as follows:
U tilised flakes
U tilised b ip o lar flake
U tilised flake from a blade core U tilised flake w ith u tilise d point B lade core
U n u sed flake from b lad e core
6 1 2 1 5 1 1 2
_i
2Q polyhedral corew ith blade rem oval scar U n id en tified a rte fa c t
All of th ese a rte fa c ts h a d some form of 'spall' rem oval, w hich h a s created a n edge w ith p o ten tial to be u sed for graving bone or wood. Five of th ese
a rte fa c ts d isplay w ear fe a tu re s possibly indicative of bone w orking (122, 1175, 2024, 1001, 772 - described below). F o u r others ap p ear to have been u se d to w ork wood or p la n ts (124, 183, 679, 694), alth o u g h not n ecessarily in a g ra v in g mode (i.e. u se of th e edge r a th e r th a n th e tip or use of tip for d rillin g - P la te 73).
T he te n b u rin a te s id en tified as u tilised flakes have a to tal of 14 w o rk in g edges, two of w hich a re reto u ch ed (how ever bo th have no
id en tifia b le use w ear). T he o th e r 12 edges have all su sta in e d some form of edge fra c tu rin g . T he edge c h arac teristics an d w ear p a tte rn s of th ese
a rte fa c ts a re alm o st id en tical to those of th e u tilised flakes from GB1. H ow ever u se polish (Table 24) is a b se n t from all b u t one of th e u tilised flak es (124). T he two groups (u tilised flakes an d b u rin a te u tilised flakes) h av e sim ila r chord le n g th s, edge sh ap es, edge angles an d edge fra c tu re w ear. E dge dam age found on b o th groups is dom in ated by sn ap frac tu re s.
T h ree of th e u tilise d b u rin a te flakes have p la n t resid u es on th e ir su rfaces. Two of th ese a rte fa c ts (679, 694) have resinous resid u es
a sso ciated w ith edge fra c tu re s on n o n -b u rin ate edges, fe a tu re s th a t have b een in te rp re te d as evidence of th e ir use in p la n t cu ttin g activities. The o th e r (124) h a s a resin o u s resid u e on th e tip of a b u rin a te edge created by th e fo rtu ito u s rem oval of p a rt of th e original edge (a b ending fractu re). T he re s id u e w as found in asso ciatio n w ith cru sh in g an d fra c tu rin g on th e b u rin a te tip a n d it a p p e a rs th a t th is a rte fac t h as been used to grave wood (P lates 74 an d 75).
Bone w orking a t GB1
Five of th e b u rin a te a rte fa c ts m ay have been u sed to work bone. E ach of th e s e a rte fa c ts d isp lay ed some of th e w ear a ttrib u te s , found in sev eral ex p erim e n tal stu d ies, w hich m ay re s u lt from th e w orking of bone. S uch a ttr ib u te s include step a n d hinge te rm in a tio n s w ith le s se r n u m b ers of fe a th e r te rm in a tio n s (Stafford, 1977: 245; F u llag ar, 1985a:2), edge ro u n d in g , an d polish (F u llag ar, 1982, 1985a).
I t w as expected t h a t m o st w ear caused by bone g rav in g would occur a t th e tip or along th e b u rin a te edge of th e artefact. E ach of th e a rte fa c ts described below, hav e b een in te rp re te d as bone g rav in g tools b ecause m o st of th e w ear found on th e ir w orking edges occurs a t th e tip or on th e b u rin a te edge.
l(c)I 122 - u tilise d flake.
T he w ear fe a tu re s on th is flake include cru sh in g , ro u n d in g and sm all step fra c tu re s on an edge form ed d u rin g th e rem oval of sm all b lad es from th e proxim al end of th e flake.
2(c)II.2 1175 - u tilise d flake.
T he tip a p p e a rs to have sim ilar w ear to th a t found on ex p erim en tal bone g rav e rs (F u llag ar, 1982). The d ih ed ral edge is bifacially fra c tu re d w ith fe a th e r an d step te rm in a te d scars; how ever several a re fre sh in a p p ea ra n c e an d a re possibly post-excavation dam age. T his a rte fa c t m ay have been a bone graver, b u t th ere is a possibility th a t all of th e w e a r is m odem .
Surface 2233 - u tilise d flake
T he a rte fa c t h a s a retouched, d en ticu late edge, except a t th e tip w hich is u n reto u ch ed . T he tip is bifacially frac tu re d by snap an d step fra c tu re s a n d h a s su s ta in e d slig h t cru sh in g a t th e apex of the tip. T he a rte fa c t m ay have been used for g rav in g a r e s is ta n t m a te ria l such as bone or dense wood.
2(c)II.2 1001 - p o in t (aw l/graver)
The d ih ed ra l edge h a s four 'spall' frac tu re s in itia tin g a t the tip. M edium edge ro u n d in g occurs on th e d ih ed ral edge. T his a rte fa c t w as possibly u sed for g rav in g bone or wood or as a sk in piercing aw l.
2(d)I 772 - u tilised blade core (P late 76)
F ra c tu rin g occurs along th e first six mm of th e edge an d a t th e tip. T he fra c tu re s a re m ostly of th e sn ap v ariety, b u t th e re a re also m an y sm all step frac tu re s. T his a rte fa c t w as possibly u sed as a bone g rav er.
A lthough th e re is no doubt t h a t some stone tools w ere used to grave a n d cu t bone a t G ra m a n (several exam ples of bone w ith cut m a rk s have been excavated from b o th sites), th e a rte fac ts described above a re only possible c a n d id ates for th is form of u tilisa tio n am ong th e b u rin a te group. It is possible t h a t some of th e im p lem en ts were u sed to grave o th e r
m a te ria l such as wood. I t will ta k e fu rth e r ex p erim en tal w ork to d e te rm in e th e form s of w ear t h a t re s u lt from g rav in g bone as those c a rrie d o u t so fa r hav e b een few, or are difficult to apply to the G ra m a n sam p le becau se w e a r d escriptions are vague (e.g. Stafford, 1977).
F u n c tio n a l in te rp re ta tio n s
T h is a n a ly sis h a s d e m o n stra te d th a t th e m ajority of b u rin a te a rte fa c ts ex am in ed w ere not u sed to w ork bone, b u t w ere e ith e r cores a n d o th e r by-p ro d u cts of blade production, or fortu ito u sly spalled flakes a n d b lad es t h a t h av e b een used on a ran g e of m a te ria ls such as wood a n d o th e r p la n t m a te ria l, a n d possibly bone. H ayden (1979:168) h a s described
te c h n ic al b u rin s u se d in c en tral A u s tra lia as wood sh av in g im p le m e n ts in w hich th e side of th e flake spall scar, r a th e r th a n th e tip, w as used. T h ese tech n ical b u rin s are functionally e q u iv alen t to reto u ch ed flake sc rap e rs an d it is possible th a t some of th e u tilised flakes w hich have s u s ta in e d fra c tu rin g along th e b u rin a te edge m ay have been used in th is way. T h is form of u tilisa tio n is doubtful though p rim a rily because v ery few of th e fra c tu re s on such edges have step te rm in a tio n s w hich should be p re s e n t in sig n ific an t n u m b ers on wood scrap in g edges (K am m inga, 1978:204-13). E x p erim e n ts w ith v ario u s woods have been carried out u sin g b u rin a te b la c a cores in bo th g rav in g an d scrap in g m odes to fu rth e r ex am in e th e form s of w ear produced d u rin g such use (see C h a p te r 7, p.139-40).
D iscussion - u se w ear an aly sis of th e GB4 an d GB1 arte fac ts
Technologically the a n aly se d com ponents of th e GB1 an d GB4 asse m b la g es a p p e a r re la tiv e ly uncom plicated w ith only five m ain groups re p re s e n te d (not in clu d in g cores), th a t is backed blades, reto u ch ed flakes, u n re to u c h e d flak es, ground-edge h a tc h e t h ead s a n d larg ely unm odified rock slabs an d b o u ld ers u sed for grinding. O nly sm all n u m b ers of o th e r a rte fa c t ty p es a re rep re se n te d . B u rin s a p p e a r n o t to be a cohesive
technological or fu n ctio n al group a t th ese sites.
F u n c tio n a lly th e G ra m a n assem blages are diverse. A lthough i t is possible t h a t th e m ajo rity of backed blades were single function tools, th e o th e r m a in a rte fa c t types a p p e a r to have been m ulti-functional, or to h av e b een ap p lied to w ide ran g e of contact m a te ria ls (th is m ay also be th e case for backed blad es - see C h a p te r 6, p.106-7,113).
74 T he sc rap e rs are m ost likely to have been u sed as wood scrap in g
im p le m e n ts, b u t m ay also have been used to adze lig h t to m edium d en sity woods, scrap e b a rk d u rin g tim b e r d ressin g an d to scrape skins.
T he u tilise d flakes ap p ear to have h ad a very wide ran g e of fu n ctio n s w ith a t le a s t two d istin ct w e ar p a tte rn s identified on th e ir
w o rk in g edges. T h ese a rte fa c ts have been used on m an y d ifferen t contact m a te ria ls in clu d in g a n im a l a n d p la n t products, w ith b o th scrap in g a n d c u ttin g actio n s.
T he g ro u n d edge h a tc h e t h ead s also a p p ea r to have a wide ra n g e of