Rubbing stone
Production date
Unknown
Country
Australia
State/Province
Queensland
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Object detail
Description
Rubbing stone - roughly cyclindrical, reddish-coloured quartzite stone with evidence of some organic material embedded in surface and silica polish residue.
Classification
INDIGENOUS CULTURES Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander grindstone - millstone
Maker
Production date
Unknown
Measurements
L140 x W70 x D45mm
Media/Materials description
Quartzite
History and use
This cyclindrical, quartzite tool is most likely a grinding or rubbing stone and used to shape other stone or wooden objects. The surface is relatively smooth and has a slight sheen, indicating a silica polish left from rubbing this stone against plant material such as wooden spear shafts, boomerangs or spear throwers. The object was donated by members of Tom Petrie's family, who indicated it was used in Brisbane. Tom Petrie was an early European explorer of the greater Brisbane region, spending significant time in the local Aboriginal communities. It was accepted in 1939 into the Queensland Museum collection by an assistant curator of ethnology, George Kenneth Jackson, who later served in World War 2.
Associated person
Registration number
QE3379
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