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Bone Points
Bone Points
Five bone points were discovered buried with the bodies. They were made from kangaroo bone. Their function remains a bit of a mystery but there are some clues as to what they were.
Australian Aboriginal bone tools include awls to pierce holes in soft objects to allow them to be sewn or attached with string. Kangaroo and possum jaws were used as engravers, and fibulae were used as pressure flaking tools to press on the edge of a stone blade and produce a sharp irregular edge. The scapulae (shoulder blades) of animals were sometimes used as scrapers.
Click on the links below to find out more about similar tools and their purposes.
Bone Tools as Needles or Awls.pdfNeedle or Awl?
Needle or Awl?
Open the pdf to the left to learn more.
Bird 1980 Summary bone points.pdfMulti-Purpose Tool?
Multi-Purpose Tool?
Caroline Bird and Colin Beeck suggest that these tools don't just have one function but they are very versatile.
Sorcery Tool?
Sorcery Tool?
Bone points were used for magic, especially for causing death.
Sue Feary and Angela Davis suggest that these points represent part of a tool kit that was carried by the people. they could have been used in the creation of possum skin coats or a variety of other purposes.
Colin Pardoe disagrees and states the "bone points made from kangaroo fibulae [the small splinter bone on the outer side of the shin] would have been used as fasteners, possibly for shrouds for the corpses."
Kangaroo Jaw bones
Kangaroo Jaw bones
Eight jaw bones from kangaroos were also found at the site.
Can you see that the front part of each of the bones (the incisor tooth) has been chipped off (from all but one)?
This was done to create a sharp, flat tool probably used as chisels or scrapers [using the large lower incisors, or front teeth]. These would have been used for making spears, throwing sticks or handles for other hafted implements, as well as chiselling smooth the surfaces of coolamons and the like.
more resources
more resources
Ancient bone artefact found https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/873086
Bone Point image https://ehive.com/collections/4819/objects/1014701/bone-point
Medicine Man's ritual 'pointing bone' https://www.bada.org/object/central-australian-desert-aboriginal-medicine-mans-ritual-pointing-bone
Devil's Lair bone finds https://www.britannica.com/place/Devils-Lair and archaeological report http://museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/33,000%20YEAR%20OLD%20STONE%20AND%20BONE%20ARTIFACTS%20FROM%20DEVIL%27S%20LAIR,%20WESTERN%20%20AUSTRALIA_0.pdf
Examples of bone points https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Examples-of-archaeologically-recovered-bone-points-and-ethnographically-documented_fig4_308937012
MAking A Possum skin coat
MAking A Possum skin coat
Bone tools were regularly used in the processing of skins and in the creation of clothing.
In this video you can watch Lee Darroch creating the AIATSIS possum skin cloak.
(the video is at the bottom of the page along with some other videos on mixing ochre and burning designs into the fabric)
Kangaroo-bone tools found in Riwi cave in the Kimberley are thought to be 35,000 years old
Kangaroo-bone tools found in Riwi cave in the Kimberley are thought to be 35,000 years old
ABC Kimberley / By Vanessa Mills
Posted Thu 8 Apr 2021
"Carved from Kangaroo ulna, tibia or fibula, the pointed bone tools were used to process spinifex resin, basket weaving, working plant fibres or to hunt birds and fish."
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