Big axe comes back
Xavier Toby
09Apr08
The ancient stone axe was found near Powells Creek Reserve, North Strathfield in 1927. Picture: DAMIAN SHAW MTB72501
THE largest ancient stone axe in Sydney, discovered early last century in the Inner West, has resurfaced following some detective work from local geologists.
The 28cm heavy stone axe was recently rediscovered among a collection in the Australian Museum and is linked to an area where no proof of ancient existence was thought to remain.
According to experts at the museum, the axe is possibly the largest in NSW.
Burwood geology firm LachlanHunter Associates had been surveying old things of the Inner West when they made the discovery.
The axe comes from Conway Ave, North Strathfield, east of where Powells Creek flows into the head of Homebush Bay.
It was discovered in a post hole in 1927 by Malcolm S. Stanley and registered at the museum in 1955.
It is believed the axe was donated by the Morgan family, who had it for many years.
Experts believe it was carried overland from the Nepean River, as the rock type (finely spotted contact metamorphic hornfels) is not known to occur anywhere else in the region.
This rock type seems to have been a preferred type for making ground-edge axes.
The axe was most likely formed by trimming a large, flat cobble from the Nepean River, hammering the sides into shape and grinding one end to a sharp edge.
"Former reviews of the Ashfield, Burwood and Strathfield municipalities had found no existing physical evidence of ancient human habitation," LachlanHunter geologist John Byrnes said.
LachlanHunter staff are working in the Strathfield area, before moving east to Ashfield and beyond.
Mogos were magic around the camp
THE first British to arrive in Australia noted the indigenous inhabitants of Sydney called the hafted hatchet heads "mogo".
These hatchets were used for various tasks, including bark removal to make canoes, shelters and shields, and to get wood to make implements and weapons.
They were also used to cut toeholds while climbing trees to collect honey and catch possums.
The Australian Museum has hundreds of stone hatchet heads, but there is little information on their origins.
From the article Sourcing Stone from the Sydney Region: A Hatchet Job, by Tessa Corkill, Australian Archaeology Number 60, 2005.
- If you know anything of the history of the axe or other archeological finds in the region, email editor@innerwestweekly.com.au
