[Bonetools] Fwd: Unusual find

[Alice Choyke]

Maybe Iron Age cheek pieces but I promise you the 'classic' cheekpieces or
bridle bit holders from the Middle and Late Bronze Age look NOTHING like
this.

Alice

On Thu, May 13, 2010 at 1:41 PM, Steven Ashby <spa105 at york.ac.uk> wrote:

> 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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> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Content-Type: image/jpeg; name="worked bone L248.jpg"
> > Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="worked bone L248.jpg"
> > X-Attachment-Id: 0.1
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