Facets of Variation: Macrocrystalline quartz reduction at Moolarben, central NSW, Australia

Abstract

Macrocrystalline quartz is an abundant raw material used widely for artefact manufacture. In Australia its procurement, reduction and use are now considered more complex than previously thought. The analysis of a mid-late Holocene assemblage from Moolarben in eastern Australia demonstrates how geoarchaeological variability influences the manufacture of macrocrystalline quartz artefacts. The different flaking proprieties of the three available macrocrystalline quartz varieties (opaque milky, semi-transparent milky and crystal), along with the type of source, influenced core reduction as well as the resulting flake form and its use. Moreover, to counter the costs of flaking problems of macrocrystalline quartz, different reduction strategies were used for cores obtained from primary reef/vein outcrops and those from secondary sources (water-rolled alluvial pebbles). The systematic reduction strategies used to prepare cores and remove the elongated flakes suitable for backed artefacts represent an adaption of already established flaking strategies, and suggest that the disappearance of backed artefacts in Late Holocene assemblages from eastern Australia (associated with an increase in the use of macrocrystalline quartz in some areas), did not represent a dramatic change in technology, but rather an effective and significant innovation which ultimately meant that backing was no longer required. This technological shift is also reflected in the benefits of flaking a locally abundant material which retains a strong and sharp working edge. Measuring geoarchaeological variability adds greater insights into the costs and benefits of manufacturing macrocrystalline quartz artefacts, and these insights are applicable to studies worldwide.