Quartzite juan knife from northwest Queensland, dating to the Holocene period, after 5000 BP.  The knife is an heirloom of a Pitta Pitta family from Boulia.

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This juan knife is made on a macroblade struck from high-quality quartzite.  One margin is unifacially backed (retouched), creating a very steep retouched edge at the thicker part of the macroblade at the distal end.  The edge opposite the backing is unmodified.

See the annotations for technological details about this stone tool.

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Juan (pronounced ‘joo-in’) knives were made and used primarily in Queensland.  They were made on macroblades or large blade-like flakes with one margin retouched by steep unifacial or bi-directional backing. The bi-directional (or ‘double’) backing was done using anvil support. The opposite edge (or ‘chord’) was left unmodified, and was presumably the main working part of the tool.

Juan knives were made into the historic period. Ethnographic specimens were wrapped around the platform end with possum skin, secured with hair string, to form a handle.  On another historic example, spinifex resin was applied first and the possum fur was pressed onto it. An illustration of a juan knife was published by John Evans in 1872 in his influential early book about stone tools. Juan knives were an export product from the Bletchington Park stone quarry near Charters Towers, Queensland, and another quarry on South Molle Island, in the Whitsunday Island chain.  They were also made in other parts of North Queensland.