Stone and Gum Working

Streaming video - 1971

A man of the Western Desert collects gum from spinifex. His wife separates the gum from spinifex particles. He then melts the gum into a usable state. He then goes to a quartzite quarry and collects a large core; back at camp he knaps this to obtain a stone knife, a scraper for his spear-thrower, and a hand chopper. Using his spinifex gum he puts a gum handle on the knife and then sticks the scraper onto the handle of his spear-thrower, his previous scraper having fallen off. He then sharpens a spear using the scraper mounted on the handle of his spear-thrower. He re-sharpens the scraper by secondary flaking with a small pebble and also by biting the edge of the scraper with his teeth.