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1948.11.3

Axe-blank.

1948.11.3

Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

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Collection type
Object
Description
Axe-blank.
Long description
Axe-blank, picked up on the surface. Specimen of very rough finish, dark stone. One surface is flatter than the other.
Cultural groups
Woiwurrung
Date / Period
Date made: Before 1948
Date collected
By 1948
Acquisition information
Donated: 1948
Materials and processes
Material Stone, Process Flaked
Dimensions
Length: max 123 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1948.11.3
Research and responses

Related Documents File - Note [possibly from donor] 'Mount William, Victoria. Lat. 37 13' South; Long. 144 48' East Australia 1" Sheet - South J 55, G II NE & NW, Victoria, Pyalong - 831081. Mount William is a prominent hill rising to some 2,600 feet above sea level and is situated near Lancefield, Victoria 40 miles North of Melbourne. On the Northern slopes of this hill are numerous outcrops of diabase the exact nature of survey of this area had not been published . . . Formely large piles of axe blanks lay about on the hill but these have been removed by sightseers in recent years and the writer in April, 1947 was only able to find a couple of dozen rather rough specimens.' Note includes references: 'The Native Tribes of Southest Australia', A. W. Howitt, DSc., MacMillan, London, 1904, pages 311-131. 'The Aborigines of Victoria', R. Brough Smyth, Melbourne, 1876, page 378. [GI 22/1/2002]

Jack Norris, Doctoral Researcher, Indigenous Studies Program at the University of Melbourne, studied this object during a research visit in October 2025. In consultation with the community, he advised that the Geographical Provenance should be updated not to say "Grampians, Mount William" but "Mount William, Lancefield", and to include the Woi-wurrung name "Willim-ee-Mooring" which means “home of the axe”. Norris also noted that the cultural group should be Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung, or just Woiwurrung and Wurundjeri.

Search terms: Tool, Weapon, Axe

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