The economics of grindstone production at Narcoonowie quarry, Strzelecki Desert

Abstract

In arid Australia the importance of grass and acacia seeds as grain led to a substantial demand by Aboriginal groups for replacement grinding slabs. This demand was met in some areas by large grindstone quarries that supplied millstones for local needs, as well as long-distance exchange networks (McBryde 1987, 1997:594; Mulvaney 1976; our terminology follows the grindstone typology set out in Smith 1985, 1986). These grindstone quarries are typically located where there are suitable sandstone outcrops on the edge of large tracts of sand plain, dune field or stony 'gibber' desert - areas where sandstone slabs are otherwise scarce. The best known examples are the quarries at Helen Springs ('Kurutiti') in the Northern Territory (Mulvaney and Gunn 1995) and others in South Australia, including Anna Creek ('Palthirri-pirdi'), west of Lake Eyre South ('Hercus 2005'); Tooths Nob ('Wadla wadlyu'), north of Reaphook Hill in the Flinders Ranges (McBryde 1997); Charlie Swamp ('Biljamana/Pidleeomina'), south of Finniss Springs Station (McBryde 1982); and the quarry complexes north and south of Cooper Creek at Innamincka (including Wild Dog Hill and McLeod's Hill) (Hiscock and Mitchell 1993; McBryde 1987, 1997). Despite their importance for desert prehistory, there are few published plans of this type of site, and little quantitative data on the scale of grindstone production (although see McBryde 1997 and Mulvaney and Gunn 1995 for exceptions). Here, we describe Narcoonowie, a small, discrete, grindstone quarry in the Strzelecki Desert in north-eastern South Australia (Figure 1). PJ Hughes briefly recorded the quarry in 1980, during an impact assessment survey of archaeological sites in the Cooper Basin (Hughes 1980, 1983). We recently relocated it on aerial photographs.