[Bonetools] A Mystery Bone Artefact from Tursiannotko, SW Finland
François Poplin
poplin at mnhn.fr
Wed Sep 11 16:35:47 CEST 2013
I would like to come back to that object - I am now back at the lab -
with an experience and a remark
The experience is : I changed (that spring) the bronze "lion paws" of a
definitly british furniture of my wife (a "sewig table", i'd say), with
4 little weel under the 4 paws. Pegs (wood) and suckets (bronze) are
rectangular in section (so as to prevent rotation). I had to file a
little bit the wood ; it was a precise work.
The remark, now : a significant difference with the Rõuge birds is the
hole that these have through the body, for fixing them as litlle ivory
eskimo figurines (seals, etc.) on kayaks etc. : they are brackets
(rather than pendants).. The "tufted head" was bond by at least one end
in a setting ; either an intermediate piece, or a piece setted by the
"neck" and wearing a metal beak (reallistic or as a trumpet, as in some
medieval images).
But the regularity of the pegs, and their lightly reducing diameters
towards the end are rather convinvcing that they were not definitive,
"sleeping", but removable as for a clasp/fasterber/hasp. I would even
suggest the the "bill" was mobile, and that a bond/tie.link was inserted
in/through the section in front of the bill, and hooked/catched behind
the tuft when the "thing" (the whole object) was closed. A simple action
of a finger (thumb ?) was enough to pick up the tie and open. Wat do the
traces of waer say about that ?
Yoyur's sincerely.
Le 23/08/2013 13:19, Tuukka Kumpulainen a écrit :
>
> Thank you all for your commentary - Brian, Francois, Alice & Heidi!
>
> The bird-pendant hypothesis is an intriguing one, and also proposed by
> our digging team. A swimming, tufted diver duck can be seen there.
> However, I wonder why the maker would have positioned the 'beak' in
> such an unrealistic angle if a bird image was called for? The 'beak'
> would be plowing water, in this case, and neither the non-existent
> 'neck' nor the straight, flat 'body' seem avian all that much if at
> all. Compared to the Rõuge bird pendants, for instance, this artefact
> is very angular and straight-lined, the 'head' is huge compared to the
> 'body', the 'eyes' even more so. Much skill and effort was put into
> the artefact, but to make it /less/ bird-like and more tool-like, to
> my eyes: it is almost trigger- or clasp-like. At any rate, in the
> absence of analoguous functional finds, the bird pendant hypothesis
> remains, for now.
>
> Tuukka
>
> *Lähettäjä:* bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu
> [bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu] käyttäjän Heidi Luik
> [heidi.luik at mail.ee] puolesta
> *Lähetetty:* 21. elokuuta 2013 10:33
> *Vastaanottaja:* Mailing list for archaeologists of the research group
> for the study of object and waste of bone, antler. ivory and horn.
> *Aihe:* Re: [Bonetools] A Mystery Bone Artefact from Tursiannotko, SW
> Finland
>
> Dear Tuukka,
>
> Francois Poplin's assumption about duck came to my mind also. Your
> bone object remind me some bird shaped pendants from the Viking Age
> site Rõuge and from some other sites in Southeast Estonia (last
> quarter of 1st millennium AD). But pendants from Rõuge have more
> rounded cross-sections. I add a page from my manuscript with drawing
> of these pendants, I do not have photos of these objects.
>
> Best wishes,
> Heidi
>
> Heidi Luik
> Institute of History, Tallinn University
>
> At 16:31 20.08.2013, you wrote:
>> It let me thing of a tufd duck, maybe /Aythya fuligula/ - swimming.
>>
>>
>> Le 19/08/2013 17:00, Tuukka Kumpulainen a écrit :
>>> Dear Alice,
>>>
>>> An osteologist has not yet examined the artefact, so I can't tell,
>>> for now, if antler or bone is in question. Let's call it 'osseous'
>>> for now, which it is. The vast majority of previous osseous finds
>>> from the site are made from cattle, horse or moose bone, but moose
>>> and reindeer antler is also present.
>>>
>>> This is an absolutely complete object - both ends are intentionally
>>> shaped and intact, and the dirt-laden hole in the 'head' is a
>>> precise 5 mm bore hole right through the object, reminding a
>>> perforation for an axle of some sort. The end closest to the
>>> perforation is precisely cut into a rectangular shape. There is no
>>> macroscopic wear on the most intriguing areas of the artefact, that
>>> is, the rectangular end mentioned and the 'lip' or 'hook' at the
>>> other side of the 'axle hole'.
>>>
>>> Tuukka
>>> *Lähettäjä:* bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu
>>> <mailto:bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu>
>>> [bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu
>>> <mailto:bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu>] käyttäjän Alice Choyke
>>> [choyke at ceu.hu <mailto:choyke at ceu.hu>] puolesta
>>> *Lähetetty:* 19. elokuuta 2013 15:26
>>> *Vastaanottaja:* Mailing list for archaeologists of the research
>>> group for the study of object and waste of bone, antler. ivory and horn.
>>> *Aihe:* Re: [Bonetools] A Mystery Bone Artefact from Tursiannotko,
>>> SW Finland
>>>
>>> Dear Tuukka,
>>> Two question - is it really made of bone or is this antler?
>>> Second, is this an absolutely complete object or are the ends
>>> broken. Third where are the designs worn? - this may help you decide
>>> whether it was held in the hand or attached to something else.
>>> Finally - is that a hole in the 'head' of the object or just dirt?
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Alice
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 10:11 AM, Tuukka Kumpulainen <thkump at utu.fi
>>> <mailto:thkump at utu.fi>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hello all,
>>>
>>> Recently, a mysterious bone artefact was found from
>>> Tursiannotko, Southwestern Finland, during rescue excavations on
>>> a multi-period site. Preliminary contextual evidence concerning
>>> this find points to a Late Iron Age (c. AD 800 - 1200) dating.
>>>
>>> The artefact is of such a complex and detailed design and
>>> execution, that I think mere ornamental explanations won't
>>> suffice - to me, the find reflects precise functionality, yet I
>>> have not encountered anything like this before, and our entire
>>> crew is at a loss as to the find's ID. Any parallels of this
>>> type of artefact, or suggestions of its function, would be more
>>> than welcome. I'm keeping my few own interpretations to myself,
>>> for now :)
>>>
>>> Thank you,
>>>
>>> Tuukka Kumpulainen
>>> University of Turku
>>> Finland
>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> François POPLIN
>>
>> Directeur honoraire de l'UMR 7209 Archéozoologie, Archébotanique :
>> sociétés, pratiques et environnements
>>
>> Responsable du Séminaire d'Anthropozoologie
>>
>> Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
>> CP 56
>> Ancien Laboratoire d'Anatomie comparée
>> 55, rue de Buffon
>> 75005 Paris
>> 01 40 79 33 11
>> fax ------ 33 14
>>
>> francoispoplin.blogspot.com
>> _______________________________________________
>> Bonetools mailing list
>> Bonetools at listserv.niif.hu
>> https://listserv.niif.hu/mailman/listinfo/bonetools
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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--
François POPLIN
Directeur honoraire de l'UMR 7209 Archéozoologie, Archébotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements
Responsable du Séminaire d'Anthropozoologie
Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
CP 56
Ancien Laboratoire d'Anatomie comparée
55, rue de Buffon
75005 Paris
01 40 79 33 11
fax ------ 33 14
francoispoplin.blogspot.com
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