This small silcrete retouched flake is from Willaura, Victoria.  It likely dates to the Holocene period.  Small retouched flakes like this were referred to as ‘thumbnail scrapers’ in the early archaeological literature.

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‘Thumbnail scraper’ is a term used by early typologists to classify very small, unifacially retouched flakes. The label refers to their diminutive size rather than their supposed function. Thumbnail scrapers are particularly common in Pleistocene stone assemblages from Tasmania, where they were often made on milky quartz.  They are also found on sites in mainland Australia, such as this example collected in 1967 in Victoria.

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

See the annotations for technological details about this stone tool.