[Bonetools] BONE USE IN GRIPS OF WEAPONS

[S O'Connor]

Dear Joel, 

 

I've been out of email contact so have only just found this email string.  

 

I've not dealt with much material of this period but I have several late
19th/early 20th table knives in my teaching collection, the handles of which
are solid strips of compact bone drilled to take a tang and are probably
cattle bone. Small scale tang knives or pocket knives could have handles of
strips from smaller bones so pig and deer might not be entirely ruled out
but would not, I agree, be suitable for a serious weapon. 

 

Earlier examples of weapon handles that do spring to mind are all from tubes
of bone of a size that had to be cut from the shaft of at least a cattle or
horse longbone, or from solid slabs of whale bone. Antler is also used.  

 

Looking at the worked surface of the handle does not often provide enough
information to allow species ID but the large scale of the vascular features
of whale bone can distinguish it from horse or cattle.  In all cases it
helps to be able to see the cross-section of the handle to:

*         gauge the thickness of the bone and the contours of any natural
internal cavity (species and skeletal element ID)

*         look at the extent and distribution of secondary osteones (which
are particularly prolific in whale bone)

*         examine the organisation of the compact bone tissue and the
presence and characteristics of any spongy bone (differentiating post
cranial bone from antler and, if it is antler, then possibly the
identification of the species of deer).

 

Sadly, unless the handle is damaged (the end section of the handle is often
obscured by fittings or corrosion) species ID is generally difficult to
pursue beyond saying, for instance, that the handle is made from sections of
a longbone from a large mammal.

 

Some handles of the period you are interested in may also be made from bones
of non-cetacean marine mammals, such as the ribs of Stellar's sea cow (now
extinct) or sections of walrus os penis (baculum). The walrus os penis can
be as long as a man's arm and several centimetres in diameter. I think
Marloes had bone handled knives of probable walrus os penis from post
medieval deposits in Amsterdam.

 

Finally, where morphological or histological evidence is inconclusive, it
may be possible to get species ID from analysis of surviving non-structural
proteins in the bone.  Prof Matthew Collins, Archaeological Sciences,
University of York, heads a team specialising in ancient biomolecule
analysis and they have had some success in this area.

 

Hope this all helps.

 

Sonia

 

Dr Sonia O'Connor FSA FIIC ACR

Research Fellow in Conservation

Archaeological Sciences, Division of AGES

 

University of Bradford

Bradford, West Yorkshire BD7 1DP

 

Tel 01274 236498 (office), Tel 01274 235210 (lab.), Fax 01274 235190 

 

 

X-Radiography of Textiles, Dress and Related Materials by Sonia O'Connor and
Mary BrooksCheck it out at
http://books.elsevier.com/uk//Elsevier/uk/subindex.asp?maintarget=&isbn=0750
666323

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu
[mailto:bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu] On Behalf Of
h13017cho at helka.iif.hu
Sent: 12 April 2009 20:08
To: Mailing list for archaeologists of the research group for the study
ofobject and waste of bone,antler. ivory and horn.
Subject: Re: [Bonetools] BONE USE IN GRIPS OF WEAPONS

 

Dear Joel,

     Antler would also make excellent grips for daggers at least -  at least
that was the case 

here in Hungary. Sonia O'Connor must have data on this question. 

 

Best,

Alice Choyke

 

_______________________________________________

Bonetools mailing list

Bonetools at listserv.niif.hu

https://listserv.niif.hu/mailman/listinfo/bonetools

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://listserv.niif.hu/pipermail/bonetools/attachments/20090414/b848e3e1/attachment.html>