On circular and spiral incised ornament on Australian Aboriginal implements and weapons
Abstract
The more or less rare occurrence of this form of sculpture on the implements and weapons of our Aborigines will probably render a notice of several instances interesting. The late Mr. R. Brough Smyth remarked many years ago that - "Curved lines are rarely seen. Any attempt to represent a curve in all the specimens I have examined has been a failure." Mr. Andrew Lang even made a more sweeping statement when he wrote that the patterns used by the Australian Aborigines are such as can be produced without the aid of "spirals or curves or circles."