A 1, 200-year-old ground-stone object from South Western Torres Strait (northeast Australia) and its implications for historicising ethnographically known social networks. Issue 2 (3rd May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ash, Jeremy; Mialanes, Jerome; Brady, Liam M.; von Gnielinski, Friedrich E.
• Is Part Of: Australian archaeology. Volume 86:Issue 2(2020)
• Page Start: 97
• Page End: 111
• Publication Date: 2020-05-03
• Subjects: Ground-stone objects -- exchange -- trade networks -- socio-demographics -- Torres Strait -- stone-headed clubs -- axes; Australia -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; Aboriginal Australians -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; Excavations (Archaeology) -- Australia -- Periodicals; 994.01
• DOI: 10.1080/03122417.2020.1789806
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0312-2417

Abstract

Abstract: Ground-stone objects such as stone-headed clubs ( gabagab ) and axes/adzes held key positions in ethnographically known social networks encompassing Torres Strait and southern central New Guinea. However, the antiquity of ground-stone artefacts in this region is poorly understood given the small number of ground-stone objects found in dated archaeological contexts. We report on the discovery of a 1, 200-year-old fragment of a ground-stone implement recovered from an archaeological excavation at a Kaurareg campsite on the south coast of Muralag in southwest Torres Strait. We discuss this find relative to the dataset of dated ground-stone objects available for the region and consider implications for understanding socio-demography, identity markers, and the development of social networks in Torres Strait. Abbreviations: var.: variation; PNG: Papua New Guinea