Small unifacial pebble cores from Fraser Island, southeast Queensland

Abstract

During the 1970's Lauer (1977, 1978) identified and collected numerous surface scatters of stone artefacts from Fraser Island in an attempt to reconstruct prehistoric Aboriginal activities.  The assemblages which he recovered displayed a wide range of artefact forms, including some which had not previously been described.  One class of artefact, which Lauer (1978:65-6) termed the "pebblescraper", has a distinctive morphology which he interpreted as a reflection of a woodworking function.  In this paper we argue that many of these artefacts are cores made on small, thin pebbles, and that their morphology reflects an attempt by prehistoric knappers to effectively work small pieces of stone