Kimberley Spear Points
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This bifacial point, also known as a Kimberley point, is made from bottle glass. It comes from the Forrest River region of the Kimberleys, Western Australia, and was acquired by the museum in 1930.
Image: Rebecca Fisher
© Australian Museum
© Australian Museum
Largely produced in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, the Kimberley points were primarily used as hunting implements, prestige items for exchange, and may also have been integrated into secret-sacred ceremonial contexts. Some of the more recent examples were made not only out of fine-grained stone, but also ceramic and glass. Unlike their older stone versions, the glass points had the potential to break off in the body of a hunted animal, causing haemorrhaging and, as a result, a faster kill.
McCarthy, Frederick, 1976, Australian Aboriginal Stone Implements Including Bone, Shell and Tooth Implements, The Australian Museum Trust
