A cache of tulas from the Boulia district, western Queensland

Abstract

The excavation and analysis of fifty stone artefacts found in a prehistoric pit on Mucklandama Creek, in western Queensland is described. These artefacts provide information on the manufacture of tulas and on the differentiation of unused and exhausted tulas. It is argued that the feature recovered from Mucklandama Creek is a chache of unused tulas destined for barter. A radiocarbon date demonstrates that the cache is less than 1000 years old. A review of data from other parts of Australia reveals that similar caches are a recent phenomenon. It is suggested that the appearance of such caches may be related to an intensification of trade and settlement restructuring in the late Holocene. Show more