Historical information

Comment from Andrea Murphy, aboriginal heritage consultant, Upper Beaconsfield, January 2006: This is an axe head, which was most common and the most important implement in the aboriginal stone "assemblage". The implement was a man's tool and would have been in daily use to cut wood off trees, cut notches for foot-holds for climbing trees, or to dispatch game. The axe head was often hafted with resin on to a hard-wood stick. The implement is of diorite or greenstone (although black in appearance), which was obtained from an aboriginal quarry at Mount William in the Lancefield area. Stone from this quarry was often traded for other goods and has been found as distant as Queensland. A piece of greestone this size, unground, was considered worth a possum-skin cloak (a cloak took approximately 28 possum skins). Trading in greenstone therefore had social significance. This type of implement was often handed down from one generation to the next. It was sometimes buried with the dead. The edge of the axe was formed by grinding on a rougher stone. Working with greenstone more recent techonology [than the other stones]. This implement is reasonably small but is a good example of symmetrical grinding. There is minor damage to the edge; otherwise it is in good condition.

Physical description

Aboriginal stone axe found circa 1921 and donated by R. DouglasStone