[Bonetools] twine bones

[Chaoui-Derieux Dorothée]

Hello Marloes,
I'm the one who made the poster on medieval Douai. Thank you for your 
mail !
I actually found an article on Oost-Souburg (Netherlands) in Medieval 
Archaeology 1995, where such artefacts were also presented as 
textile-tools... so I'm wrong, but the aim of such a conference is to 
debate, isn't it ? I don't remember the word in english, I watch this 
tonight and I send you an e-mail.
The artefact presented on the poster is dated from 10th - 11th century, 
and has been made in a cattle metapodial ; it seems that one of the 
teeth has been broken, but that the artefact has still been used after 
it broke. In the Douai collection, there is an other similar objet, with 
only 2 points, and dated from 10th - 11th century.
If you had the recent article, I would be very interested in reading it. 
Could you send it to me ?
Sorry for my english... and thank you for all these informations !
All the best,
Dorothée

Marloes Rijkelijkhuizen a écrit :
>
> Hello everyone,
>
>  
>
> I am sure we all came home after the conference with lots of new ideas 
> and questions. Thanks again to the organizers!
>
>  
>
> A reaction on the poster on bone and antler working in medieval Douai: 
> the poster showed an object that was described as chess-piece. This 
> object is however probably related to textile-working. A recent 
> article, published in The Netherlands (in Dutch language) is:
>
>  
>
> Ans Nieuwenburg-Bron & Vincent van Vilsteren, 2007, Vissen naar een 
> oplossing. De benen drietand wederom onder de loep. Westerheem 56 (3), 
> 123-131.
>
>  
>
> The authors of this article describe some of the former 
> interpretations and why these were rejected. The most probable 
> interpretation is to connect the objects to textile-working.
>
> The objects (how to call them in English, is there a general word for 
> this?) are made of metapodials of usually cow, and have mostly 3 teeth 
> (sometimes 2 or 4). The front is decorated. Date: 10^th -12^th 
> century. An overview of the finds in The Netherlands and Belgium is 
> published by Van Klaveren.
>
>  
>
> The interpretation of the authors is that they were used as *‘twine 
> bones’*. It was put on the thumb and the function was to separate the 
> threads from each other until they reached the spindle whorl. This 
> theory was based on the finds from The Netherlands and some finds from 
> other countries. A find from Scandinavia for example has an 
> runen-inscription: ‘twine bone’. Most important aspect is that the 
> natural marrow cavity is worked to make it bigger/smoother, so this 
> must have a function. Polish by thread is however missing. Some finds 
> from Säben have no marrow cavity, but a part of the object is hollowed 
> out. The hollow is therefore functional and used to put it on the thumb.
>
> The objects disappear with the introduction of the spinning wheel in 
> the 13^th century.
>
> Twined threads were rarely used for textiles, only a few 
> archaeological finds are made of twined threads. Another purpose is 
> mentioned, namely for the production of fish nets.
>
> The ‘twine bones’ have not been found in the terpmound-area (coastal 
> area), because flax and hemp, used for fishnets, were not produced here.
>
>  
>
> Sorry for the quick translation, with all the grammar-mistakes, but I 
> can pass on any comments and questions to the first author.
>
>  
>
> All the best,
>
> Marloes
>
>
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-- 
Dorothée Chaoui-Derieux
Conservateur du patrimoine
DRAC Ile-de-France / SRA
6, rue de Strasbourg
93200 Saint-Denis
tel : 01.48.13.14.63
fax : 01.48.13.01.70