Spear and spearthrower evolution in the Kimberley region, N.W. Australia
Evidence from rock art
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21099280 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Grahame L Walsh (Takara (Sweden)), M J Morwood (School of Human Environmental Studies University of New England NSW 2351) |
| Year | 1999 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 45-58 |
| Publication date | 1999-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Archaeology in Oceania/Archæology & physical anthropology in Oceania (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0728-4896 • E-ISSN: 1834-4453 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/j.1834-4453.1999.tb00428.x |
| OpenAlex | W2012256192 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 23 |
| References cited | 11 |
This paper illustrates the potential of rock art for understanding the past. It uses the visual specificity of rock paintings in the Kimberley, N.W. Australia, to monitor the development of spear and spearthrower technology over time. For instance, only simple, hand‐thrown spears are depicted in the earliest Kimberley rock painting styles, with spearthrowers and composite spears first appearing during the late Bradshaw and Clothes Peg Figure Periods, respectively. The rock painting sequence also depicts changes in spearthrower morphology and size, the appearance of stone spear points, and post‐European use of metal spear heads. We conclude that rock art can provide evidence at a level of resolution normally absent from archaeology
Archaeology · Art · Geography · Painting · Rock art · Rock shelter · Spear · Visual arts · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Geology
Thomson’s Spears
Walsh, Grahame Leslie
The First Boat People
Wanderwörter in languages of the Americas and Australia
Histories of rock art research in Western Australia’s Kimberley, 1838–2000
The origins and early elaboration of projectile technology
From Top Down Under
Bifacial Flintknapping in the Northwest Kimberley, Western Australia
Changing ecological concerns in rock-art subject matter of north Australia's Keep River region
Simple stone flaking in Australasia
Ballistically anomalous stone projectile points in Australia
Peopling the last new worlds
Rock art and rock markings
Iconic imagery
A review of rock art dating in the Kimberley, Western Australia
Making impact
Causes of extinction of vertebrates during the Holocene of mainland Australia
Interpopulational variation in human brain size
Innovation and change in northern Australian Aboriginal spear technologies
Kimberley points and colonial preference
A tale of two blades
An initial investigation into aspects of preservation potential of the Bradshaw rock-art system, Kimberley, northwestern Australia
The Timing and Nature of Human Colonization of Southeast Asia in the Late Pleistocene
| Unique citing works | 23 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,85 |
| Citation span | 1999 - 2022 (24) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 22 |