[Bonetools] BONE USE IN GRIPS OF WEAPONS

Wed Apr 15 14:16:00 CEST 2009

Dear Joel

Yes it is clearly bone but I would not like to identify it from a picture
without even a scale.  The vascular features look very coarse...

Your picture jogged my memory about a sword handle I identified for the
Royal Armouries in Leeds. Attached are images of the sword handle and a
detail showing it to be horn under the decorative grip.  I believe this is
18th C German.  They have vast collections of British and other weapons of
the period you are interested in but how many have handles that have been
identified I can not say.

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=
<http://books.elsevier.com/?isbn=0750666323> &isbn=0750666323

  _____  

From: bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu
[mailto:bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu] On Behalf Of Joel Jacobs
Sent: 15 April 2009 10:57
To: Mailing list for archaeologists of the research group for thestudy
ofobject and waste of bone,antler. ivory and horn.
Subject: Re: [Bonetools] BONE USE IN GRIPS OF WEAPONS

Hi Sonia, Alice & Maroles, and others,

I am responding to you directly because of your help and detailed responses.
Many thanks fro your input.

However, my focus is more narrow. My purpose is to determine only the most
prevalent materials made from bone that were used in European military knife
or sword hilts, not all the possible materials that were used. The period of
interest is from 1600 - 1900. I also am trying to establish, if possible, a
means of identifying the type of bone used without resorting to laboratory
analysis.

One of my contacts, an expert in the field of antique weapons, told me
bovine horn was a leading candidate. I never thought of it, and frankly I
haven't seen a hilt that I would recognize as cow or steer horn. Have any of
you seen a hilt made this way? Sonia mentioned antler which is a very common
material for hunting swords and knife hilts, but not used much in the area
of military weapons after the late 1700's. 

In regard to whalebone, it was  used for many sailor made artifacts which is
clearly identified as such, but none of the numerous reference works devoted
to edged weapons say it was used for them. It may have been used for
shipboard made knives and cutlasses, but to my knowledge there is no records
of this. 

Elephant tusks, Sperm whale teeth, Walrus tusks, and Hippo teeth, are
sources of ivory hilts, but this  is outside the scope of my research.
Another example is Mother of Pearl which is a common hilt material on the
M1820-M1842 US officers swords, but this also is not bone matter.

As Sonia pointed out identification of bone is difficult because the end and
underside of the hilt material are covered by the tang, pommel and guard
unless the bone edges shows due to damage to the metal work.

This picture is of a cavalry sword hilt made Ca 1805, likely by the English
Ketland firm. The hilt, in my opinion, is bone rather than ivory, as shown
by the dried flecks of blood grain in the marrow or pores.  But what kind of
bone?

I plan to contact Mathew Collins as Sonia suggested and pose these questions
to him.

Many thanks for your help and your further input. All the best,

Joel Jacobs

----- Original Message ----- 

From: S <mailto:S.Oconnor at Bradford.ac.uk>  O'Connor 

To: 'Mailing <mailto:bonetools at listserv.niif.hu>  list for archaeologists of
the research group for thestudy ofobject and waste of bone,antler. ivory and
horn.' 

Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 10:46 AM

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=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

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