Need help on an Aboriginal design...Any Aussie's out there?

RobertHankins · Mar 9, 2003

This will sound really dumb but as I am sitting in "The Outback" restaurant the other night I spot Boomerangs all over the place. Not that Boomerangs in an Australian themed restaurant are out of place by any means!!!
Well one shape really caught my eye it was a sort of axe looking piece in wood.
Search on the web brought something close as a Aboriginal "Hook" or "Club" sort of curved with a War Axe spike on the end.
Now not that I am obsessed with knife making or anything

but I see knife designs in many strange places.

Maybe there are other areas of the globe that have the same design.

Could someone enlighten me as to where to get an original one of these or at least a good website with designs and pics.
Please no tourist or toy websites I found a bunch of those, they didn't help much.
Thanks

Bruce Bump · Mar 9, 2003

Just dont make a boomarang and axe combination. It will come back and possibly kill ya when thrown.

RobertHankins · Mar 9, 2003

Pretty funny Bruce

I can see the headlines now "Knifemaker kills himself with wild Boomerang Axe"
If it works the way I have envisioned it will be one wild looking blade. Make my "Blued Bad Ass" look tame...I'm on a roll!

Reg ELLERY · Mar 10, 2003

Robert I can't picture what you have seen. The only webbs that may assist are the government museums Western australia has a god range of aboriginal artifacts.
However. The northern territory or queensland may have something as well.

I have not had a look yet.

Gabe Newell · Mar 10, 2003

You might want to check with Jason Cutter. He's been a regular poster of late here and on the other forums, and he's located in Sydney.

Reg ELLERY · Mar 10, 2003

Australian Stone Tools
URL: http://rubens.anu.edu.au/student.projects/tools...
Display of tools currently on display at the Australian National University. Photographic and textual descriptions of the objects.

this has a few axes and other pics

RobertHankins · Mar 10, 2003

Reg,
Thanks for the reply. Here is an example of what I was talikng about. At the bottom of the page is a Flat headed "Nulla Nulla" That is close to what I saw.
http://www.frogandtoad.com.au/aboriginies/technology1.html
Maybe this will help find some local pics.

Reg ELLERY · Mar 11, 2003

Robert I just had a quick look at the site. I'm almost out of hours on my pre pay card so I will have to check it out further.

I was thinking nulla nulla but looked for axes instead. I contacted the Queens land musem for links and got a few sent back. If you want them send me an email if you have what you want already. No worries.

If you contacted the museum re nulla nullas. they may even send something more specific to your needs.

I was told many years ago that the nulla nulla were manly used by the women to break each others fingers in fights but as with most things I'm sure there were a lot of other uses. But that is what someone chose to tell me.

I came across an aboriginal man about 4 years ago while in Kalgorlie he had actually just been speared. It is not normal every day occurence theses dayes. Don't get the wrong Idea about the people it was a drunken argument. They live the same as every one else. A spear just happened to be near by. I think it was going to be sold to tourists.