Australia

Can Experimental Archaeology Confirm Ethnographic Evidence? The Case of Aboriginal Boomerangs Used as Retouchers

Author(s)
Eva Francesca Martellotta 1, 2
Publication Date
In this article, an experimental programme is used to examine how boomerangs may be used to retouch stone tools. The programme's findings confirm ethnographic data pertaining to the employment of hardwood boomerangs in retouching activities and investigate their technological similarities to Palaeolithic bone retouchers...

Project Pilgrimage 21

Date
-
Organised by
Company of Saynt George
Country
Switzerland
Denmark
Australia
USA
Germany
Russia
Norway
Sweden
Finland
the Netherlands
France
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Belgium
Luxembourg
Italy
Poland
Malta
Portugal

Project Pilgrimage 21 is a decentralised international medieval event organized by the Company of Saynt George, which connects reenactors and friends of living history all over the world in spring 2021. Follow the Pilgrimage 21 with the Pilgrimage 21 Social Wall or the #pilgrim

Traces of Manufacture, Use, Repair and Modification Observed on Ethnographic Throwing Sticks and Boomerangs

Author(s)
Luc Bordes 1
Publication Date
Throwing sticks and boomerangs are present in the collections of many French and international museums. Collected mainly in the 19th and 20th centuries by travelers, they were mainly analyzed from a stylistic point of view, to relate them to their region of origin. Some of these objects were made by the indigenous populations especially to be exchanged with Europeans and only bear...

Throwing Stick to Spear Thrower - Study of Ethnographic Artefacts and Experimentation

Author(s)
Luc Bordes 1
Publication Date
Little is known about the process of the invention of the prehistoric spear thrower which appeared around 25,000 years ago in Europe, although it may have emerged earlier on other continents. This innovative weapon had a late arrival in Australia from Papua New Guinea at the end of the late glacial maximum, and probably induced an adaptation in hand throwing spear technology used by local people...

University of Queensland (AU)

Member of EXARC
No

The University of Queensland runs a biannual course ‘Ancient Technologies: Experimental and Analytical Approaches to Understanding (ARCS2010)’. This course was developed by Prof Chris Clarkson and is coordinated by Dr Ben Schoville until 2021 while Clarkson is on a research fellowship. 

ARCS2010 will build understanding of the principles, evolution and sophistication of ancient technologies. Experimental archaeology is an important arm of archaeological research used to develop and test hypotheses about the practicalities, operational conditions and limitations of prehistoric technologies. The course will cover the anthropological theory of technology, the principles and objectives of experimental archaeological science, the origins and evolution of complex technology, and how technology can inform us about past human societies and cultural change.

Hafted Tool-use Experiments with Australian Aboriginal Plant Adhesives: Triodia Spinifex, Xanthorrhoea Grass Tree and Lechenaultia divaricata Mindrie

Author(s)
Veerle Rots 1 ✉,
Elspeth Hayes 2,
Kim Akerman 3,
Philip Green 6,
Chris Clarkson 4,5,
Christian Lepers 1,
Luc Bordes 7,
Conor McAdams 2,
Elizabeth Foley 8,
Richard Fullagar 2
Publication Date
Hafted stone tools commonly figure in Australian archaeology but hafting traces and manufacture processes are infrequently studied. The Aboriginal processing of resin from Xanthorrhoea (Sol. Ex Sm.) grass tree, Triodia (R.Br.) spinifex and Lechenaultia divaricata (F.Muell.)...