[Bonetools] Fwd: Unusual find

[Steven Ashby]

I have seen these before, though I'm afraid I can't say where.  They
don't seem to be in Arthur MacGregor's 1985 book, so they may not be
common in the UK.  That said, given that they seem familiar, it is
probably at Viking-Age sites- you could check Hedeby, for instance, as
well as Birka and Novgorod.

I'm in broad agreement with Heidi, I think - cheekpiece was my first guess.

Steve


On Tue, May 11, 2010 at 11:00 AM, Heidi Luik <heidi.luik at mail.ee> wrote:
> Dear Sarah,
>
> This artefact resembles some antler artefacts from Estonian sites, but I am
> not sure about the function of these objects. I have discussed some
> possibilities of their function in one my article, but it is in Estonian
> (Luik, H. 2001. Luuesemed Kuusalu Pajulinnast ja asulatest. Eesti
> Arheoloogia Ajakiri / Journal of Estonian Archaeology, 5, 1, 3–36).
> From Estonia we have only four examples, all dated to the Viking Age
> (800-1050 AD), three of them from Kuusalu settlement site and one from Iila
> cemetery (the drawing of artefacts from Kuusalu is in the attachment).
> Comparable artefacts are discussed e.g. in Ambrosiani, K. 1981. Viking Age
> Combs, Comb Making and Comb Makers in the Light of Finds from Birka and
> Ribe. Stockholm Studies in Archaeology, 2. Stockholm, p. 139, fig. 89.
> Kristina Ambrosiani has supposed that these items could have been used as
> weaving tools (Ambrosiani 1981, fig 89: 4). But I do not think it is so.
> About Estonian artefacts such use maybe could be possible for one of them,
> found from Iila, which is quite thin and small, but other examples, found
> from Kuusalu, are too thick (diameter 2-2,5 cm) for such use. One Estonian
> archaeologist, Ain Mäesalu, was quite certain that they should be parts of
> bow terminals, but I do not believe it (probably it is not possible to fix
> them enough firmly for such purpose).
> One possiblity is that they could be element of horse equipment (so called
> cheek pieces). I have seen one such object also in Novgorod Museum, and
> Lyuba Smirnova, who has studied bone artefacts of Novgorod, was also in
> opinion that it is part of bridles. Antler parts of horse bridles are known
> e.g. from Lithuania (dated to 11.-14. centuries; Kulikauskiene, R. &
> Rimantiene, R. 1966. Lietuvu liaudies menas. Senoves Lietuvu papuosalai, II.
> Vilnius), but they are little different in shape, sometimes they have one
> pointed tip, another end could be just wider (but these wider ends are not
> hollowed as in Estonian (and your) objects) or sometimes animal head shaped,
> but some of them have both ends pointed. I guess, maybe these hollowed
> pieces could be parts of some composite cheek pieces, but it is just only an
> assumption.
>
> All best wishes,
> Heidi
>
>
>
> At 22:09 10.05.2010, you wrote:
>
> Dear all,
>       I got this letter from Sarah Wilson about what looks to me to be
> something from red deer antler tine. We have such things from the Bronze Age
> on in Hungary but Britain is a closed book to me. She seems to think the
> object is medieval. When you reply please write to both Sarah and the list
> so we can see the solution together.
>
> Best,
> Alice
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Wilson Sarah < Sarah.Wilson at vivacity-peterborough.com>
> Date: Mon, May 10, 2010 at 12:26 PM
> Subject: Unusual find
> To: h13017cho at helka.iif.hu
>
>
> Dear Alice,
>
> I am the Collections Officer at Peterborough Museum in Cambridgeshire
> England and am responsible for the archaeology collection. The museum team
> are currently working on a medieval exhibition. As a result I have been
> searching through the museum’s collection for relevant objects. During this
> search I came across a piece of worked bone found in Peterborough in the
> late 19th century described as a medieval curved needle or awl – haft end
> flattened and perforated, and with groove cut across the implement below
> haft. It is 4.8” long.
>
> The finds officer for Cambridgeshire suggested talking to Ian Riddler
> however I cannot find a contact email for him and wondered if you had one or
> were able to suggest someone else. I would love to know whether it is in
> fact medieval and what it was used for.
>
> Any help or advice you can offer is appreciated.
>
> Best Wishes,
>
> Sarah
>
> <<worked bone L248.jpg>>
>
> Sarah Wilson
> Collections and Interpretation Officer
> Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery
> Priestgate
> Peterborough
> PE1 1LF
> Tel: 01733 864663
>
> Direct Line: 01733 864709
>
>
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