[Bonetools] BONE USE IN GRIPS OF WEAPONS

Tue Apr 14 20:17:07 CEST 2009

Dear Joel and others,

I have seen many handles from that period, but usually without the blade, so it is difficult to say if the handles were from weapons or other knives. One type of knife handle, the ballock handle, is probably from a dagger; all ballock handles I have seen are made of cattle metapodials. A dagger from Amsterdam has a kind of inlay of bone in the handle, therefore the species is unknown.

Indeed, knife handles of os penis of walrus have also been excavated in Amsterdam, but these were probably not dagger handles.

Best, Marloes

From: S.Oconnor at Bradford.ac.uk
To: bonetools at listserv.niif.hu
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2009 15:46:38 +0100
Subject: Re: [Bonetools] BONE USE IN GRIPS OF WEAPONS

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=0750666323

-----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

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