Technology and Technological Change in Eastern Australia, the Example of Capertree 3

Abstract

A detailed quantitative analysis of flake retouching at Capertee 3, a site excavated in the Blue Mountains immediately west of Sydney, reveals the magnitude and direction of technological change in eastern Australia. Our analyses contain four revelations: i) there are a small number of artefactual classes, ii) morphological variation in retouched flakes is related to the amount of reduction, iii) parallel technological change occurs in different retouching systems, and iv) technological change is complex and multi-directional rather than uni-directional and stadial. These conclusions provide a novel depiction of prehistoric technology and technological change in this region, and offer support to adaptive rather than diffusionist models of technological change in Australia.