Under the Shade of a Coolabah Tree: A Second Cache of Tulas From the Boulia District, Western Queensland

Abstract

This paper reports on the excavation of a cache of stone artefacts, buried on the bank of a waterhole or ‘billabong’ in central western Queensland. This is an extremely rare find, and yet it is the second such site to be reported within less than a 10 km radius. Consisting entirely of 60 large tula adzes with varying degrees of retouch on the margins, none of the artefacts show evidence of hafting or use. Three sets of artefacts conjoin, showing that the tulas in each pair were produced during the same reduction event. Dating evidence suggests that the cache was buried sometime within the last 200 years. This find therefore provides a unique insight into caching practices, and has implications for understanding the economic management of resources in the semi-arid zone during the late Holocene period.