WHEN Peter Brassil was cleaning out the coastal home of his late parents, he was shocked to find a pile of "awe-inspiring" Aboriginal artifacts.
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Mr Brassil said he believed workmen found and removed the tools from Kamilaroi land decades ago, and gave them to his father.
Mr Brassil's surprise discovery means the three pieces of Kamilaroi history have finally been returned home to Tamworth.
He told the Leader his father had been working as a sewer engineer in Tamworth, when his crew found the three Aboriginal artifacts nestled in the hills near the Oxley lookout, more than half a century ago.
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They were taken from the site - which is now illegal - and kept at Mr Brassil's family home in Tamworth.
"I remember my father telling me, when I was a kid I came across them ... and he said they are Aboriginal artifacts," Mr Brassil said.
"I think with important Aboriginal artifacts, they need to go back to where they came from .. it's the concept of returning them to country."
Tamworth Local Aboriginal Lands Council confirmed the artifacts were returned to them earlier this year.
"I think they were fairly appreciative, they may be able to put them in a display of similar sorts of artifacts," Mr Brassil said.
"Hopefully ... they would have a home that outlasts myself and whoever else might have them."
Mr Brassil grew up in Tamworth, before moving to the coast. His parents stayed in the city for years, before retiring near the beach.
Mr Brassil said his parents had passed away in the past couple of years, and he was tackling the job of cleaning out their home when he came across the items in storage.
"I found these artifacts under the house," he said.
"It was a surprise to find them still around and it did trigger that memory of speaking to my father about them 50 years ago, but ... I was compelled to return them and do something with them that would be meaningful."
Mr Brassil said he didn't know much about the tools, but had developed a deep interest in them and was looking forward to visiting the Tamworth Local Aboriginal Lands Council to learn more about them eventually.
"It was quite an awe-inspiring experience to handle them and to imagine how they were used so many years ago," he said.
The state government's Office of Environment and Heritage has been researching the artifacts, to identify what exactly they are, where they are from and what they might have been used for.
It is now illegal for people to move Aboriginal artifacts, if they come across them.
Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald.
Police and crime reporter at the Newcastle Herald.
