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The Forum > General Discussion > Aboriginal sword fight

Aboriginal sword fight

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An Aboriginal skull from Toorale near Bourke was investigated by ABC Catalyst doco. Griffith Uni has a 3D image of the trauma which resembles a sword cut about 100mm from forehead into lower eye socket.
As ANU dated the skull to late 1200s the general opinion is that a sharp mulga wood blade caused it. A test was promised in July then changed to November.
So I tracked down mulga wood from Loggerhead timber Qld and a fresh pig head from an Armidale butcher. It has a half smile and peaceful eyes and smooth skin.
The sharpened mulga blade whacked the freshly skinned cranium of ~8-9mm thickness compared with human ~7-8mm. Small dent. After 6 strikes on the one spot there is ~20mm long groove above the left eye and my final blow to try to get a slice in the opened cortex broke the mulga.
I dropped an axe on the cranium and sliced deep. A garden spade above the right eye sliced deep. Swords are around 2-5mm thick.
The Aust Museum sharp mulga blades are ~5-10mm thick at 10mm back from edge and mine is ~8m thick at 10mm back from edge. It's this need for thick structure that prevents slicing and just breaks bones.
The Toorale cut is at a shallow angle but mulga just bounces at that angle. No-one makes wooden axes or spades.
So it looks like an Indonesian kris dagger or iron sword was in central Oz 800 years ago.
Posted by nicknamenick, Thursday, 8 October 2015 6:20:40 AM
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"So it looks like an Indonesian kris dagger or iron sword was in central Oz 800 years ago"

Yes, there were continuing visits by fishermen from S.E.Asia, esp., Indonesia. Indonesia has a long tradition of long edged weapons as tools and carried as personal kit (tradition).

The interesting aspect of that discovery was how certain academics leapt upon it to create speculation in the media to promote the highly controversial meme of a British 'invasion' of Oz and 'Territorial wars'. What absolute bollocks!

I consider myself most fortunate to have completed my initial tertiary studies in the 'hard' sciences and before the blight of social scientists who play politics.
Posted by onthebeach, Thursday, 8 October 2015 10:37:43 AM
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I see.
The skull was the basis for ridiculous claims about the Indigenous land-owners . There was an unanimous chorus of approval along the Darling river as James Cook tossed the fly-blown corpse of the south land to George III and Charles III. Indonesian invasion was blocked by the Settlement Act 1701 which is held in the Lower Saxon State Archives, Hanover Germany.
Posted by nicknamenick, Thursday, 8 October 2015 11:43:45 AM
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James Cook, George III and Charles III? That is ridiculous.

Any speculation concerning the British, including 'frontier wars' and 'invasion' is absolute rubbish, gossip mongering.

<Dr Rachel Wood
The human remains were much, much older than we were expecting. For the bone and for the tooth, we have an age of around 1260 to 1280 AD. So much, much earlier than we thought it was going to be. For the gastrolith, we've got an age somewhere in the 1400s to 1600s.

Dr Michael Westaway
I didn't expect the carbon dates to be anything like that. I thought they were going to be very modern. And the carbon dates suggest no, it's 700 years old. That means that there are weapons being used by people in western New South Wales that are creating signatures that look like, you know, sword wounds.>
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/4211835.htm
Posted by onthebeach, Thursday, 8 October 2015 12:18:41 PM
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OK , back at square one.
What exactly is incorrect and what is correct ?
Don't be shy.
Posted by nicknamenick, Thursday, 8 October 2015 12:37:03 PM
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Could well have been a stone axe, flaked edge axes are very sharp and well capable of cleaving a human skull, let alone inflicting a cut in the bone.
Ground stone axes can also be sharp, though not as sharp as the flaked variety.
Posted by Is Mise, Thursday, 8 October 2015 9:18:51 PM
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