Aboriginal craft and subsistence activities at Native Well I and Native Well II, Central Western Highlands, Queensland: results of a residue and use-wear analysis of backed artefacts

Abstract

This research provides insight into activities at two adjoining Aboriginal rockshelters in the Central Highlands in western Queensland, Native Well I and Native Well II. The study involved a residue and use-wear analysis of the backed artefact component of the stone assemblage. Prior to this, interpretation of the sites essentially relied on evidence of changes in stone technology over time, sequential and spatial patterning of artefacts and ethnographic analogy. This analysis revealed a range of activities occurring during the mid-to-late Holocene. Backed artefacts were used as knives, scrapers and/or incisors for wood-working and bone-working, as well as knives and scrapers for plant processing, including cooked starchy plants. Artefacts with ochre and feather residues may have been used for ceremonial purposes, while distribution of resin indicates more than half the artefacts had been hafted.