[Bonetools] bonze age ivory comb

[corina.liesau at uam.es]

Dear Marloes,
thanks for the interesting pdf and to confirm a similar extraction  
model for the Bronze Age comb as you describe in your work

During the iberian Bronze Age, specially for the earliest period, we  
do not have any tools made of iron.
For getting these narrow comb teeth you need a cualified iron/steel  
saw with a very thin blade and extremely narrow teeth. As all iberian  
documented copper/bronze saws have thick blades and rudimental teeth,  
they probably were only used for an extraction process of raw material.
So the cuestion is, if an exotic object made with this specialized  
technology could be an imported object and not a local production?

Best wishes,

Corina


Marloes Rijkelijkhuizen <marloesrijkelijkhuizen at hotmail.com> escribió:

>
> Dear Corina,
>
> Why is it not possible to make such narrow teeth with saws from that period?
>
> I can only tell you about the technology of medieval/postmedieval  
> ivory lice combs, if you are interested:
> http://www.springerlink.com/content/454786w520h27327/fulltext.pdf
>
> Thanks for the pdf and best wishes,
>
> Marloes
>
>
> Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 21:23:10 +0200
> From: corina.liesau at uam.es
> To: bonetools at listserv.niif.hu
> Subject: [Bonetools] bonze age ivory comb
>
>
> Dear all,
> I would like to ask the experts about the bone technology in a Bronze
> Age comb (1750-1650a.C) from the southeast of the Iberian Península.
> This is not a unique case, but rare. The INCENTIVS studies made in
> Mainz reveal that it was made from Loxodonta africana africana.
>
> Size: 50 mm long and 4mm thick. Spaces between the teeth are 0,2 mm
> and when they got broken, the comb continued to be used exhaustively,
> so it seems to be a functional comb.
>
> I'm specially interested in the technology of the comb. Copper saws
> are known in Iberia from that time but it is not possible to get so
> narrow teeth and the awls are made with copper and some arsenic and
> I'm not sure if they would be able to make these teeth.
>
> My hypothesis is that this comb could be a lice-comb. I do not discard
> that the holes are to have a better grip of it, especially to avoid
> slithering if any oily product was applied on the hair to capture
> lice. Small distances allow in modern lice combs to "capture" adult
> lice and also nits.
>
> Some Aegean combs have similar shapes, but not these big holes. Does
> anybody have any suggestions about the technology and use of this comb?
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> In the next mail I send a pdf about another ivory pieces from iberian
> Bellbeaker inhumations.
>
> **********************************
> Corina Liesau von Lettow-Vorbeck
>
> Dpto. De Prehistoria y Arqueología
> Facultad de Filosofía y Letras
> Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
> C/Francisco Tomás y Valiente 1
> 28049 Madrid
> Tel:  00 34 91 4972012
> Fax: 00 34 91 4974435
>
>
>
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**********************************
Corina Liesau von Lettow-Vorbeck

Dpto. De Prehistoria y Arqueología
Facultad de Filosofía y Letras
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
C/Francisco Tomás y Valiente 1
28049 Madrid
Tel:  00 34 91 4972012
Fax: 00 34 91 4974435