Sourcing hornfels artefacts in eastern Tasmania: Understanding Aboriginal mobility in a lithic-rich landscape

Abstract

Hornfels is a high quality metamorphic rock commonly used by Tasmanian Aborigines for artefact manufacture in eastern Tasmania. Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) data collected from over a dozen Aboriginal hornfels quarries in the region showed that hornfels from several of the quarries has a distinct geochemical signature, making it possible to separate the quarries using particular elements (Rb, Sr and Zr). Comparing the quarry data with pXRF artefact analyses obtained from museum collections and open artefact scatters at inland and coastal sites showed that a small proportion of artefacts were made from non-local hornfels. This demonstrated that Aboriginal people transported individual hornfels artefacts over distances of up to 73 km, including between quarries and from inland to coastal sites. This indicates a dynamic system of Aboriginal stone procurement and mobility, including long distance hornfels artefact transport, despite the availability of high quality and easily accessible hornfels throughout that region. However, transport of hornfels artefacts appears restricted to the southeast, with no evidence that hornfels was transported across ethnographically documented tribal boundaries.