[Bonetools] Octagonal pieces made from antler

[Melanie Langbein]

Hello everybody, 

I hope you can help me with some finds from one of my excavations in Nuremberg, Germany. 

I have found several more or less octagonal pieces made from antler. They come in different sizes, the form varies a bit. I have attached some of them for you. They were found in several pits dating 1385 - 1406/07 with lots of waste from several different workshops such as blacksmiths, workshops producing bone-beads, bronze casting craftsmen, a potter doing mostly small figurines and many more (so no clear hint from the other finds as to in what context they might have been used). 

By now the only finds I can compare them to are from Ribe, Denmark, where they are guessing they might be inserted into turning lathes. But that is only a speculation, although a pretty good one in my book. I have attached a drawing from a publication on Ribe as well. 

Has anybody ever seen something like them? Does anybody have a fresh idea for what they might have been used?

Thanks in advance and all best wishes from Germany

Melanie Langbein M.A.


mlangbeinarch at yahoo.de
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