Standard issue multi-use tool as used by Australian servicemen during the conflict in Vietnam (1962-1972).Folding digging toolpick, shovel, vietnam, entrenching tool

Inspected by Joanna Freslov, archaeologist 2/6/2008. Hunting boomerangs were used by the Australian Aboriginals, mainly for injuring or killing animals or enemies. Hunting boomerangs fly at high speed close to the ground and can easily kill a small animal or knock down a larger one. As well these boomerangs were used as hand-held weapons, as musical instruments and for sport. Some of the other uses were, religious ceremonies, digging, clearing fire sites, unearthing ants and lizards. Hunting boomerangs are normally made from the curving roots of trees. (ref. boomerangshack)The necessary tools and equipment for hunting, fishing and warfare were one of the very few items that Aboriginals carried with them from place to place. Most were used for a multiplicity of purposes. Because many were made from raw natural materials, such as wood, generally only partial remains are found today. this item is an example of a hunting boomerang used by early Indigenous people in the Northern Territory.A hand carved hooked boomerang of a deep red wood. Possibly used for fighting.boomerang aboriginal hunting weapon

The photograph depicts eleven vignettes relating to the murders of Captain Lee Weller, Charles Burgess and Arthur Preston by Frank Butler (born Richard Ashe, alias Frank Harwood). Some historians consider Butler to be Australia's first serial killer. Butler submitted written advertisements to the classified columns of the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper looking for people to join him in prospecting for gold. Butler took his victims into the Blue Mountains in New South Wales and told fabricated stories of gold mines worth thousands of pounds. He then made his victims dig their own graves under the guise that they were digging for gold. He would then shoot them, take their valuables, and bury them.Sepia rectangular photograph printed on matte photographic paper mounted on card.Obverse: 1897 / Butler's inseparable Friend / Cap ' Lee Weller / The Victim Burgess / A OT Preston / Frank Harwood / alias / Butler / J. Mulhall & Son / discoverers of Burgess grave / Butlers supposed Wife / Frisco / Examining Burgess corpse at Black Range near Parkes NSW / The Swanhda / His Prospecting Tools / Burgs Waggonette used for Prospecting sold Butler / (?) / The Butler Tragedies Reverse: BMMA03308 / Removal story of the / 1997.3119 / Butler murders near / Parkes NSW 1897 / 84 - 35 - 1 / Enterprise Photo Company, / 26 Elizabeth Street, / SYDNEY. /entertainment album, captain lee weller, charles burgess, arthur preston, frank harwood, frank butler, crime, blue mountains, new south wales, murder, tragedy, gold, gold mine, sydney morning herald, swanhilda, richard ashe

Medium sized pickaxe head. Used for loosening the soil in digging, shaped like a mattock, but having both ends pointed. Iron pickaxe head, medium size, (no handle)pickaxes, tools

Large pickaxe head. Used for loosening the soil in digging, shaped like a mattock, but having both ends pointed. Iron pickaxe head, large, (no handle)pickaxes, tools

Used by turning the auger around to create a round hole.Used by residents of the Kiewa ValleySmall steel hand auger tools with a wooden handle. Used for digging more shallow holes eg. gathering soil samples and making post holes

Uncle Brien says this tool was used for collecting yabbies and mussles from water holes.This stone has been worked to a smooth curve around the edge , is flat on one side and curved on the other. The stone has 2 grooves carved on the blunt end for attaching a handle. This tool is similar to 0016.basalt digging stone, jaara, aboriginal stone tools.

.This stone was attached to a handle and possibly used to collect yabbies and shellfish from water holesA Basalt digging stone with a blunted edge shaped to a smooth curve. One side is flat and trhe other is convex. This item has 1 groove at the wide end for attaching a handle.basalt digging stone, jarra, aboriginal stone tools,

Image from William Westgarth's "Port Phillip Settlement" (1883)Image of two Aboriginal women gathering roots, both use a digging stick. They wear cloaks and carry a basket over their shoulders. In the background is a man is carrying a stick. aborigines, aboriginal, women, food, basket, digging stick, tools

Contents: p.1-3; Origins, arrival in Australia; p.4-9; How they lived - camp sites, dating (including carbon dating); p.10-27; Physical appearance, skin colour, hair, clothing, body ornaments, cicatrization; exchange system, distribution of food, marriage &? sexual relations; the tribe - structure, relationship to land, territory, gives map showing locations of tribes, New South Wales, Victoria &? eastern South Australia, leadership, government, division of labour, status of women, estimated population at white settlement, density of population (Victoria); p.28-31; Language - names &? naming, reproduces Wembawemba vocabulary, notes use of secret languages, gives 12 rules for pronounciation; p.32-53; Religion, spirit beliefs, totemism, moieties, phratries, marriage rules; mythology, gives eaglehawk &? crow myth from Lake Victoria &? other myths illustrating origins of fire &? natural rock formations, mythical beasts (Bunyip, Mindie), stellar beliefs; magic, medicine men, powers, native remedies for sickness, describes ceremony held in Melbourne, 1847 to avert evil, sorcery, pointing bone, love magic, rain makers; messengers, appearance, etiquette, message sticks; p.54-71; Rock art, motifs, colours, decorative art, engraving of utensils, rock engravings, manufacture &? use of pigments, engraving techniques; trade system, objects bartered, meeting places for trade (Victoria), map shows possible routes (south east Australia); corroborees, purpose, body ornaments &? decorations, musical instruments; p.72-93; Ceremonial life, marriage, punishment for infidelity, birth, childhood, games &? amusements, initiation, etiquette of visiting tribes, details of ceremony, womens role, earth figures &? ground designs, bull roarers, female puberty ceremonies; p.94-133; Shelters, fire making, cooking, construction of canoes, wooden implements, use of reeds, animal skins &? sinews, shells; stone tools, cylindro conical stones, scrapers, knives &? microliths; hunting weapons, spear, other methods pits, nets; fishing methods &? spears, traps; food sharing, womens responsibilities for collecting, digging stick, cooking methods, insect foods, plant foods, water resources; manufacture &? use of spears, spear throwers, shields, clubs, boomerangs; inter- &? intratribal fighting; p.134-147; Death, disposal of body - eating of the dead, burial, cremation, platform exposure, dendroglyphs (N.S.W.), Aboriginal burial grounds (Darling &? Murray Rivers), mourning, widowhood, kopi caps (N.S.W.), causes of death, inquest ceremonies, revenge expedition, after death beliefs; p.148-157; The end of the tribes white settlement &? its impact on Aboriginal life, friction between natives &? settlers, establishment of Protectorates; copiously illustrated throughout.maps, b&w illustrations, b&w photographswemba wemba, murray river, darling river, lake victoria

Bushfire perimeter rather than bushfire area is the main control problem for firefighters on the ground. A conundrum rapidly compounded by spot fires. A small 5 ha fire can be nearly 1 km around the perimeter. That's a long way to build a control line by hand in rough bush. Dry firefighting techniques by hand were mostly confined to “knocking down” or “beating out” the flames, as well as "digging out". Digging or raking a “mineral earth” trail down to bare dirt proved most effective in forest fuels which, unlike grass, tend to retain heat and smoulder. Early tools were whatever happened to be close at hand. They were simple and primitive and included shovels, slashers, axes, hoes, beaters and rakes. A cut branch to beat the flames was often the only thing available. Farming and logging tools, developed over centuries of manual labour, and readily available at local hardware stores came into use, but little thought was given to size, weight, and balance. For years foresters experimented with combination tools. In about 1952 fire beaters and other implements were being replaced with Rakuts.Fire tool used before the introduction of RakehoesRakut - Fire Rake and cutting toolGreen and red coloured handle and 020 marking indicated which FCV District the tool belonged tobushfire

A trenching tool used in Vietnam war, carried by soldiers with their kit. This tool had multiple uses including digging in-field trenches, disposal of human waste, and an an improptu weapon in hand-to-hand combat.This trenching tool is representative of filed kits issued to Australian soldiers in the Vietnam War. Length of handle suggests it was used by Sappers or Artillary.A portable folding shovel with a rivetted lip attached to a wooden handle. A metal tube is atached to the end of the handle. The metal blade is hinged by rivet to the metal tube on the end of the handle. A circular steel tube is on the metal tube.trenching tool, field shovel, vietnam war, military kit, shovel

Important tool especially for infantry and used for range of purposes while in the field.Machete was a versatile tool for soldiers but infantry in particular. It assisted with negotiating through thick scrub, various cutting usages; also assisted, with shovel, in digging usages. Machete: metal blade, wooden handle with wrist strap; sharpening stone; canvas holder for machete with pouch to contain sharpening stonevietnam, vietnam war, diamond valley vietnam veterans sub branch, equipment

Entrenching tools were part of every soldier's equipment. They were used to dig shallow trenches which protected the soldier when under enemy bombardment from artillery or mortar fire. They could also be used to bury rubbish or human waste, and to fill sandbags.Folding spade for digging a trench. Folding spade with a short shaft and triangular handle that unfolds from the blade and is locked when opened with a screw.entrenching, tool, spade, folding

Bushfire perimeter rather than bushfire area is the main control problem for firefighters on the ground. A conundrum rapidly compounded by spot fires. A small 5 ha fire can be nearly 1 km around the perimeter. That's a long way to build a control line by hand in rough bush. Dry firefighting techniques by hand were mostly confined to “knocking down” or “beating out” the flames, as well as "digging out". Digging or raking a “mineral earth” trail down to bare dirt proved most effective in forest fuels which, unlike grass, tend to retain heat and smoulder. Early tools were whatever happened to be close at hand. They were simple and primitive and included shovels, slashers, axes, hoes, beaters and rakes. A cut branch to beat the flames was often the only thing available. Farming and logging tools, developed over centuries of manual labour, and readily available at local hardware stores came into use, but little thought was given to size, weight, and balance. For years foresters experimented with combination tools. In about 1952 fire beaters and other implements were being replaced with Rakuts. However, its believed the now common Rakehoe is an Australian variation of the American McLeod Tool which was developed in 1905 by forest ranger Malcolm McLeod of the Sierra National Forest. The late Athol Hodgson advised that predecessors, Reg Torbet who had been the Chief Fire Officer for the Forests Commission from 1948-1956, along with his QLD counterpart Clive Price, went in late 1951 as Australian delegates on a 10 week fire study tour of Nth America organised by the United Nations. They came back with a couple of McLeod tools from Canada. Cam MacLeod (different spelling) had been the Head of Fire Research for the Canadian Forest Service at the time and had supplied them. The tools were ideal for deciduous forests in the eastern provinces and Clive arranged to have them manufactured in QLD. The Rakho, as it was then spelled, was first issued to FCV crews 65 years ago in 1955-56. The American Pulaski had been trialled, but never found favour with Australian firefighters.First used in 1955Rakehoebushfire, forests commission victoria (fcv)

Bushfire perimeter rather than bushfire area is the main control problem for firefighters on the ground. A conundrum rapidly compounded by spot fires. A small 5 ha fire can be nearly 1 km around the perimeter. That's a long way to build a control line by hand in rough bush. Dry firefighting techniques by hand were mostly confined to “knocking down” or “beating out” the flames, as well as "digging out". Digging or raking a “mineral earth” trail down to bare dirt proved most effective in forest fuels which, unlike grass, tend to retain heat and smoulder. Early tools were whatever happened to be close at hand. They were simple and primitive and included shovels, slashers, axes, hoes, beaters and rakes. A cut branch to beat the flames was often the only thing available. Farming and logging tools, developed over centuries of manual labour, and readily available at local hardware stores came into use, but little thought was given to size, weight, and balance. This canvas hose beater was based on a century-old design which used lengths of canvas fire hose rivetted together and lashed with wire to a broom handle. The hose was be soaked in water to improve its effectiveness. If the flames were more than a metre or so the user was generally not able to get close enough to extinguish the fire It's recommend that users lift no more than above knee height to conserve energy and let the beater to the work. For years foresters experimented with combination tools. In about 1952 fire beaters and other implements were being replaced with Rakuts and later RakehoesEarly firefighting toolBushfire beater - Canvas with wooden handleR P PWD (Public Works Department) The handle has painted markings which indicate which FCV District it belonged to.bushfire, forests commission victoria (fcv)

Bushfire perimeter rather than bushfire area is the main control problem for firefighters on the ground. A conundrum rapidly compounded by spot fires. A small 5 ha fire can be nearly 1 km around the perimeter. That's a long way to build a control line by hand in rough bush. Dry firefighting techniques by hand were mostly confined to “knocking down” or “beating out” the flames, as well as "digging out". Digging or raking a “mineral earth” trail down to bare dirt proved most effective in forest fuels which, unlike grass, tend to retain heat and smoulder. Early tools were whatever happened to be close at hand. They were simple and primitive and included shovels, slashers, axes, hoes, beaters and rakes. A cut branch to beat the flames was often the only thing available. Farming and logging tools, developed over centuries of manual labour, and readily available at local hardware stores came into use, but little thought was given to size, weight, and balance. This leather beater was based on a century-old stockman's design which used green cow hide leather lashed to a broom handle. It's recommend that users lift no more than above knee height to conserve energy and let the beater to the work. For years foresters experimented with combination tools. In about 1952 fire beaters and other implements were being replaced with Rakuts and later RakehoesEarly firefighting toolBushfire beater - Leather with wooden handlebushfire, forests commission victoria (fcv)