This chert macroblade core is from Camooweal in northwest Queensland, the traditional country of the Indjilandji-Dhidanu people.  The core was flaked by the Camooweal Multiple Facet Method to produce macroblades for spearpoints or knives.

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The Camooweal Multiple Facet Method is organised so that elongated triangular macroblades were produced that required minimal shaping by retouching. The stoneworker that reduced this core was particularly skilled at making pointed macroblades.

The first two steps of the flaking sequence involved removing one side of the stone with hard-hammer percussion, rotating it, and then removing the adjoining side.  The resulting flakes scars are oriented at about right-angles to each other.  One of the scars became the platform for reducing the core, and the other scar became the core face.  To make the pointed flakes, the knapper next removed the edges of the core face to produce a ridge down the middle.  The ridge was then removed by a carefully-calibrated blow so that the flake was triangular in shape with a central ridge.  This was done by striking behind the ridge with just enough force to ensure the flake feather-terminated on the core’s face.  This is trickier than it sounds—it is very difficult to prevent a hinge or step by striking too weakly, or an axial or overstruck termination by striking too hard; or, for that matter, a too-short flake from striking too close to the core edge.  An axial termination is probably the second-best outcome because the tip of the flake could be retouched to form the point.  Once the desired flake was removed, the central ridge was re-established by removing the edges of the core face.  The next triangular flake was struck, the ridge re-established, and so on until the core was exhausted.

The core is part of the Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology teaching collection, University of New England.

See the annotations for technological details about this stone tool.