[Bonetools] Mystery bone object

[S O'Connor]

Dear Leigh,

 

I don't think this is a deliberately made scoop or but that it is a
component of something more complex.  I think this shape has been formed by
wear from the bone being held under pressure against a hard rotating object,
such as a rod, spindle or axel  in a  machine.   I would guess that when the
bone was worn through at one end (the broken end) it was simply turned
around and the second 'scooped' area was formed.  What is the diameter of
the circle that has produced this arc? 

 

You might use a device like this in two ways. 

 

It could be used to keep a rotating rod located  - unlashing the bone would
then allow you to remove and or replace the rod. Anyone ever seen anything
like this in a wood turning lathe for instance? 

 

 Alternatively it could be used to act as a brake.  In this case, by
increasing  the pressure with which the bone bore on the rod or spindle you
could increase frictional drag and reduce the rotational speed of the
spindle and, therefore, the speed of the machine you were operating.  

 

It looks like the end of the bone has some polish from handling which would
make me think that the brake idea fits best and that the pressure was
applied manually.  

 

Is there any surface evidence to suggest that the bone had been lashed to
something.  Can we have any pictures of the other side and the ends?

 

All the best,

 

Sonia

 

Dr Sonia O'Connor FSA FIIC ACR

Archaeological Sciences

Division of AGES,  University of Bradford

Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD7 1DP, UK

 

tel 01274 23 6498 (office) 5210 (lab)

fax 01274 23 5210

 

From: bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu
[mailto:bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu] On Behalf Of Alice Choyke
Sent: 19 March 2010 13:23
To: Mailing list for archaeologists of the research group for the study of
object and waste of bone, antler. ivory and horn.
Subject: Re: [Bonetools] Mystery bone object

 

Since Leigh is not on the list you should reply both to her directly and to
the list so we can all see what you have to say about Leigh's mystery tools.

Alice

On Thu, Mar 18, 2010 at 3:00 PM, Leigh Allen <leigh.allen at oxfordarch.co.uk>
wrote:

Dear All,

I am new to this site, so let me briefly introduce myself. I am the Finds
manager at Oxford Archaeology and have been for the last 20 years !! I also
write reports on Medieval/Post Medieval metalwork and worked bone objects. I
have an object from a site that we excavated in Winchester that I would like
to ask you about (see attached photos). It is from a rubble later dated
anywhare from 5th-13th century !

The cattle metacarpal has a large scoop taken out of the proximal end, the
surface is perfectly smooth and very heavily polished but the rest of the
bone is not. At the distal end, which is damaged, another scoop has been
removed but it is not smoothed or polished to the same degree. Striations in
the polished surfaces indicate a longitudinal direction of wear. The wear is
so great and so regular it would almost imply that it was machine made.

Any help would be most gratefully received

Kind regards

Leigh Allen


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