Ground-edge axe
Hacha de filo pulido
- Date
- c. 47 ka · confidence medium
- Place
- Madjedbebe and Nawarla Gabarnmang, Arnhem Land, Australia
- Credited to
- Homo sapiens (first Australians)
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Fragments of basalt axes with a ground, polished edge, 30,000 years before their appearance in the Eurasian Neolithic. Polishing makes the edge more durable and easier to resharpen for woodworking.
The 65–44 ka dating is disputed; the polished Japanese axes (c. 38 ka) are almost contemporary and independent. In western Eurasia, polishing only becomes widespread in the Neolithic.
What it led to
- Heavy carpentry: dugout canoes, posts, shields
- Long-lived tools: ceremonial exchange goods
- A model of technology independently reinvented in Japan (38 ka) and in the Neolithic
Built on
- Open-sea crossing to Sahul (watercraft)c. 65 ka
- Open-sea crossing to Sahul (watercraft)