[Bonetools] A Mystery Bone Artefact from Tursiannotko, SW Finland

Thu Sep 12 09:53:01 CEST 2013

Dear François,
    I definitely think you are on to something here. However, I for one
have trouble envisioning your wife's table leg. Is there no possibility
of sending a picture  9a rough drawing) of what you mean. Are you
thinking this was a closure for a large chest or something like that?

Alice

>>> François Poplin<poplin at mnhn.fr> 09/11/13 4:50 PM >>>
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 majori
ty of previous osseous finds fromare 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
[bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu] käyttäjän Alice Choyke
[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>
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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-- 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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-- 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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