Kangaroo Tooth Lacerator

[Ron Anderson]

Hi Tim

It is possible this knife may also have been used for scarification, however I don't think this was a primary function at all. It was a fighting knife. Aborigines had other tools specifically for the purpose of scarification etc. These were mainly stone blades. I've included a photo of one here (see below) - another item in my growing collection of aboriginal artefacts. It's called a leira blade. It would have been used for scarification, sub-incision and other surgical tasks. And of course also as a spear head.

Regarding your tooth: I recently had the good fortune to attend an auction with a lot of marine ivory, including entire walrus tusks. In fact, I purchased some Innuit tools made from walrus ivory, including an ivory eskimo harpoon blade. There is something about your tooth that suggests marine ivory. I think it might be the smoothness of the surface - perhaps this is owing to the erosive nature of water on a tooth. I would put my money on the fact that this came from a sea mammal like a dugong. Of course, hippos also spend a lot of time in water, so I may be wrong.