[Bonetools] Iceman's antler retouching tool

[Serjeantson D.]

Dear Selena,
The tool is described in 'The Man in the Ice' by Spindler (p.105). He described it as a piece of lime wood with a hole drilled down the middle with a rod or spike of antler inserted into the hole.  The fact that it was antler was confirmed by Angela von den Driesch. The tip of the rod had been hardened by fire to strengthen it and was a blackish colour. The rod or spike was 5.1 cm long and 5 mm in diameter.

I have got a copy of the catalogue from the display in Bolzano and it does contain a good colour photo of the retoucheur. If you would like a scan, I can do that when I next have  access to a scanner.

The catalogue says that nothing similar has been found elsewhere. Have you found an antler rod which might be from a similar tool? I wonder if anyone else has since found a similar rod.

Best
Dale

Dale Serjeantson FSA, MIFA, MA
Archaeology
Faculty of Humanities
University of Southampton
Southampton S017 1BJ

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/archaeology/about/staff/dale.page
________________________________
From: bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu [bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu] on behalf of Selena Vitezović [selenavitezovic at gmail.com]
Sent: 02 October 2013 10:22
To: Mailing list for archaeologists of the research group for the study of object and waste of bone, antler. ivory and horn.
Subject: [Bonetools] Iceman's antler retouching tool

Dear colleagues,

Two years ago, I saw and exhibition on Otzi, the Iceman, in  Historical museum in Oslo (exhibition was a visiting one, but I do not recall who originally made it, I saw it while attending EAA conference in Oslo).
There I saw the replicas of some items found in Iceman's pockets, including a retouching tool made from antler. However, this was an exhibition without accompanying catalogue, and I was wondering if anyone can help mi with reference for this information?
Perhaps the same exhibition was held in some other museum with a catalogue: I tried to find any data on papers published on Otzi, which are quite numerous, but so far I haven't encountered any mention of antler retouching tool.
Any help is welcome, thank you.

Best regards, Selena Vitezović