[Bonetools] Perforated bird bone

[Julie Byrd]

The flute/musical instrument idea seems plausible.  I still wonder about the
hole on the end that is cut in half.  Alice, if it was a larger instrument
that was broken and reworked, why cut it off halfway through the hole?  I
don't know enough about wind instruments to guess what the effect would be.
Anyone have an idea?

I'm also not sure about the species of bird.  Over the weekend a faunal
expert looked at the bone and couldn't determine the species either.

Thanks for the help.  If anyone has any sources that might help me learn
about wind instruments, please let me know.

Best,

Julie Byrd
On Thu, Jun 23, 2011 at 5:27 PM, Alice Choyke <h13017cho at iif.hu> wrote:

> Dear Julie,
>       What do you think the chances are that this was a multi-holed flute
> that broke and was remodified into some kind of a whistle? And do you know
> what species of bird the object was made from?
>
> Alice
>
>   On Thu, Jun 23, 2011 at 8:31 PM, Julie Byrd <byrdjulie at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>  Dear all,
>>
>> I have a mystery object for you.  I hope some of you can share some ideas
>> or sources with me about possible functions.
>>
>> This modified bird bone is from a Middle Archaic (circa 5,000 BP) site in
>> Florida.  During this time groups were fishing, hunting, gathering, and
>> collecting shellfish.  They were somewhat sedentary but had seasonal camps.
>>
>>
>> The object is intentionally cut on both ends, but one end is broken. It is
>> only 28 mm long and 8 mm wide.  There is a perforated hole close to the
>> unbroken end.  A partial hole (a semi-circle) is bisected by the cut end.
>> At almost 4 mm, the partial hole is slightly larger than the full hole (just
>> under 3 mm).  Most of the surface has evidence of lithic shaving.
>>
>> Similar sites have produced hollow bone beads.  Most of the beads are
>> either incised or undecorated.  I don't know of any with asymmetrical
>> perforations like this one.  I have not come across any other archaeologists
>> noting whistles or duck calls from coeval sites, but my leading hypothesis
>> is some type of whistle.  I plan to replicate this object to recreate it
>> without the broken end and then use my guitar tuner to see what pitch it
>> makes as a whistle.  If anyone can lead me to literature on hunting calls or
>> whistles or other simple wind instruments I would appreciate it.
>>
>> I've attached some pictures.
>>
>> I hope someone has some ideas!  Thanks.
>>
>> Julie Byrd
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>>
>
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