Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 7, 2009 7:21:42 GMT -5
I was at a yard sale a few years back and found this piece.......the owners of it didn't know what it was for either,but for a $1.00 I bought it and kept it.... Its made out of deer antler(I'm nuts about deer antlers)Thats why I bought it..... So now you gave me an idea on what it might be. Do you think its a homemade tool for knapping arrowheads? Other people may comment to if you please,thats ok...........
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Post by mohs on Apr 7, 2009 11:35:55 GMT -5
looks like fine workmanship whatever its use
I'd like to ask a question also does anyone know if on found arrowheads if scientific analysis as ever shown traces of blood? animal or human?
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Fossilman
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Member since January 2009
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 7, 2009 12:45:23 GMT -5
Hummmmmmm,never thought of that.Interesting idea......
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rockbottom
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2008
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Post by rockbottom on Apr 7, 2009 17:18:28 GMT -5
Yeah, I would say that is more than likely for use in pressure flaking arrowheads or blades. I've got several that are similar to that one. Knappers most common tools for pressure flaking are antlers like that one or small copper rods with a handles put on.
deeptime, I've never heard of finding blood on a lone arrowhead, but I read somewhere, where they've found blood and hair on arrowheads that were still attached to the arrow with pine pitch and rawhide. It was animal blood if I remember right.
Bob
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agatemaggot
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Post by agatemaggot on Apr 7, 2009 18:07:58 GMT -5
The answer to the question concerning blood being found on stone tools is absolutely, positively without a doubt----- YES ! I just finished reading a real kick-A$$ article about a recent find by a man from Calif. who was doing some landscaping work on his yard. When his shovel hit some stone he picked up a piece and realized that it was some kind of artifact and when he moved a little more sand, realized that he had discovered a cache of stone tools. He then called an archeologist from the local college and wanted him to come check it out. The Arch. wasn't very interested in the whole thing until he saw the amount and type of tools that were involved. After extensive D.N.A. testing they found blood from several animals on the tools and discovered that there was blood from 2 separate now extinct animals. One was a small horse about the size of a large dog I believe , and the other animal was a now extinct larger specie of bison. Tentative dating was minimum 11,000 B.C.
The Antler tool is a bit of a mystery because it shows no damage to the tip of the tine. It is kinda hard to see in the picture but it appears to be some roughed up area on the flat surfaces of the main beam. When an Antler is used for pressure flaking stone, you have to resharpen the tips of the darn things after 3 or 4 flakes, depending on how hateful the stone is that you are working on. This is the reason I only use copper tipped tools in the limited work that I do.
I am LAZY------- O,K. ?
If you check both ends of the main beam, the flat parts, I suspect that one of them will show a slight bit of roughing up. The other flat end will show a lot more or, none at all. A great many years back, it was more or less an X-mas tradition to break out a rather large pail or box of mixed nuts in the shell. One end will show the most wear because of the angle of the tine would only let it be used as a hammer from one direction. Before we started importing the wooden hammer nutting (SETS ) from Japan, many different types of nut crushers were marketed here , I can remember seeing one in particular, It was a metal replica of a very chubby nude woman with the legs held apart by a spring. It wasn't hard to figure out how it worked. Getting back to the Antler, if the wear pattern is there on one end only, I suspect you have a really Smurffy old Colonial style home made nut cracker ! I am sorry if I let you down there but without the tool in hand it is rather hard to say what it might have actually been used for.
Harley
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Fossilman
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Member since January 2009
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 7, 2009 18:35:22 GMT -5
No,this antler hasn't been used for anything,it looks freshly cut to be used for something...... Its a great conversation piece that does make people think when they see it-Thanks guys............
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agatemaggot
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Post by agatemaggot on Apr 7, 2009 22:07:52 GMT -5
Whatever that tool is, I noticed that it had been very well polished. Someone must have had great plans for it just from the smooth finish .
harley
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lapidopterix
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2008
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Post by lapidopterix on Apr 11, 2009 23:28:29 GMT -5
looks like fine workmanship whatever its use I'd like to ask a question also does anyone know if on found arrowheads if scientific analysis as ever shown traces of blood? animal or human? Here is a link to the article Agatemaggot mentioned above: www.colorado.edu/news/p/1124c0243883c267a7759da4bc4a2902.htmlReally amazing article and awesome pictures. The knives are huge and some are made out of banded flint.
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agatemaggot
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Member since August 2006
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Post by agatemaggot on Apr 12, 2009 12:24:47 GMT -5
Thanks for the link, it was an interesting story I thought, mainly because I am up to my ears in this stuff !
Harley
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Post by Woodyrock on Apr 15, 2009 23:59:09 GMT -5
Thank you for the link! I have read several papers on DNA studies of ancient stone tools. It is absolutely amazing that trace evidence can remain for such a long period. Woody
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181lizard
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Post by 181lizard on Apr 18, 2009 14:55:28 GMT -5
I read the article about the Mahaffey finds in a mag a couple of weeks ago. How cool would that be?!
Believe me, I know CRAP about weapons and such but the first thing I thought of when I saw the antler was Braveheart. In one of the fight scenes Wallace uses an antler weapon that looks just like the one you have. He uses it like you would hold a hay hook. Do you think maybe someone made a replica weapon just like in the show?
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agatemaggot
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Post by agatemaggot on Apr 18, 2009 17:12:57 GMT -5
181,
The possibility is there. I have had the fun of making some of the items used in several movies down at the Blacksmith shop where I now work. We are on the go to list as any period fabricators and suppliers. I made the Gatling guns that were in the movie Wild Wild west , also some of the props for Gibsons movie Patriot. I spent about 6 months working on the bondage items for the movie about the slave ship that wound up in America and the whole story revolved around a big trial. We had to finish the items by heating in the forge and then dipping them in oil. When the smoke cleared away and you could find the items once again, we would re-heat the shackles or what-ever in a HOT fire to burn the excess oil into the steel and give the appearance of (really old ). The movie was named after the ship but I must have sucked up too much sulpher based oil smoke because I'll be damned if I can remember the name of the ship ! Started with an (A) I think .
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Post by Michael John on Apr 18, 2009 17:35:54 GMT -5
Maybe it was used for digging in the dirt when they were rockhounding!
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thanrose
off to a rocking start
Member since May 2009
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Post by thanrose on May 15, 2009 13:27:27 GMT -5
Agatemaggot, the movie was probably Amistad.
Interesting work in recreating the old tools.
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