[Bonetools] Bonetools Digest, Vol 124, Issue 10

trzaska at lineone.net trzaska at lineone.net
Wed Jul 27 16:47:27 CEST 2016 

Hello Sonia,

As ever with these things, it is all a little bit more complicated than that. The majority of the 
60 or so combs of this type from Hamwic are made of antler but there are a small number of bone 
examples and also one of whale bone. In effect, this is what I would expect for the period c 770-
870 in Hamwic. There are four main phases of comb making in the settlement, roughly 1=c670-720, 
2=720-750, 3=770-850, 4=850-900. These combs belong effectively to Phase 3. In Phase 1 there is no 
real evidence for bone comb making. In Phase 2 it is absolutely widespread and bone is the dominant 
material. In Phase 3 antler comes back into use and by Phase 4 it is dominant again. The middle 
part could therefore be described (as we have done in the enclosed text for Lundenwic) as a Middle 
Saxon Bone Interlude. The enclosed photograph shows a worked bone and antler assemblage from one 
layer of one Phase 3 pit from Six Dials. 

Thus basically it doesn't appear to be the choice of material that determined their form and I'm 
personally not very convinced by the argument that they might be weaving combs. I would love to 
know what other people think about that alternative but I doubt that composite combs would be 
strong enough to use on a loom. There are virtually no complete examples of fat combs from Hamwic, 
the majority of them have fractured. 

It may be worth noting that, in a less extreme form, the fat comb does exist at an earlier date, 
notably at West Stow.

Ian Riddler

----Original Message----
From: S.Oconnor at bradford.ac.uk
Date: 27/07/2016 11:51
To: "Mailing list for archaeologists of the research group for the study of
 object and waste of bone, antler. ivory and horn."<bonetools at listserv.niif.hu>
Subj: Re: [Bonetools] Bonetools Digest, Vol 124, Issue 10

Dear Ian,

Sorry to come into this rather late but I would be interested to know if the Hamwic combs have been 
positively identified as antler rather than bone.  We had a couple of bone (long-bone material) 
combs in York similar in form to more usual antler comb forms from elsewhere in the city. As bone 
is not as tough a material as antler these had a high proportion of broken teeth and repairs to the 
connecting plates. Perhaps bone had been used for these only because antler was in short supply for 
a brief period?  It might be possible to make a reasonably serviceable bone comb by cutting 
wider/shorter teeth than would normally be done in antler and this might have led to this 'fat' 
toothed form.

Sonia

Dr Sonia O'Connor PhD FSA FIIC ACR Honorary Visiting Fellow, University of York
Post-doctoral Researcher
Archaeological Sciences
Division of AGES,  
University of Bradford
Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD7 1DP, UK

tel 01274 23 6498

-----Original Message-----
From: Bonetools [mailto:bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu] On Behalf Of trzaska at lineone.net
Sent: 21 July 2016 12:37
To: bonetools at listserv.niif.hu
Subject: Re: [Bonetools] Bonetools Digest, Vol 124, Issue 10

Bonjour Nathalie,

There are around 65 of these combs, mostly surviving as fragments, from a number of sites in 
Hamwic. We cannot prove as yet that they were made in Hamwic, but the sheer quantity of them 
suggests that they were, most likely in the northern part of the settlement, in the Six Dials 
area. 
I don't have dating evidence for them all but I suspect that they belong essentially to the period 
c 770-870. They are not found in earlier deposits within Hamwic. 

It is likely that they had a specific function. They are generally long combs, with just 2-3 teeth 
per centimetre on both sides. They may either be contemporary or slightly later than other double- 
sided composite combs that have at least 10 teeth per cm, and sometimes up to 14 teeth per 
centimetre, indicating that a wide range of combs were produced in the settlement, conceivably for 
different purposes.

Outside of Hamwic there is only one other comb of this form from England, found in Lundenwic in a 
Period 5 context there of late 8th to early 9th century date. I strongly suspect that this comb 
came from Hamwic. The close relationship between these combs and the assemblage from la Caloterrie 
is fascinating - they are virtually the only two places where these combs have been found.

Ian Riddler

----Original Message----
From: nathalie_pil at hotmail.com
Date: 21/07/2016 10:48
To: "bonetools at listserv.niif.hu"<bonetools at listserv.niif.hu>
Subj: Re: [Bonetools] Bonetools Digest, Vol 124, Issue 10


This object is assumed to be a comb. An microwear analyses shows that the traces left on the teeth 
are wider than on other combs.
I can't find other locations where this comb was found, other than Quentovic and Hamwic. I wanted 
to know if anybody found this type of comb yet.
The term 'fat' comes from the wide and thick teeth from this comb.

Kind regards,
Nathalie

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Onderwerp: Bonetools Digest, Vol 124, Issue 10

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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: Particular early medieval comb (Fran?ois Poplin)
   2. Re: Particular early medieval comb (Fran?ois Poplin)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2016 10:01:11 +0200
From: Fran?ois Poplin <poplin at mnhn.fr>
To: bonetools at listserv.niif.hu
Subject: Re: [Bonetools] Particular early medieval comb
Message-ID: <a540d36d-ecc4-b0b4-febe-a3428fe4d182 at mnhn.fr>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"; Format="flowed"

It looks made in order to extract more than comb. For felt ?
Or for scaling ???


Le 20/07/2016 ? 14:58, nathalie pil a ?crit :
>
> Goodday to you all,
>
>
> I would like to know if somebody already found this type of comb (see 
> attachment). It's an early medieval comb with teeth called 'fath teeth'.
>
> This comb is found in Quentovic (North France) and Hamwic/Southampton 
> in England (excavation Ian Riddler).
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Nathalie
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Bonetools mailing list
> Bonetools at listserv.niif.hu
> https://listserv.niif.hu/mailman/listinfo/bonetools


--
Fran?ois POPLIN

Directeur honoraire de l?UMR 7209 Arch?ozoologie, Arch?botanique : soci?t?s, pratiques et 
environnements

Responsable du S?minaire d'Anthropozoologie

Mus?um national d'Histoire naturelle
CP 56
Ancien Laboratoire d?Anatomie compar?e
55, rue de Buffon
75005 Paris
01 40 79 33 11
fax ------ 33 14

francoispoplin.blogspot.com

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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2016 10:26:34 +0200
From: Fran?ois Poplin <poplin at mnhn.fr>
To: bonetools at listserv.niif.hu
Subject: Re: [Bonetools] Particular early medieval comb
Message-ID: <f0b968ca-2145-0dde-f559-8c326fa936fb at mnhn.fr>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"; Format="flowed"

...and : no trace on sherds ?

What does mean "fath" ?

Le 20/07/2016 ? 14:58, nathalie pil a ?crit :
>
> Goodday to you all,
>
>
> I would like to know if somebody already found this type of comb (see 
> attachment). It's an early medieval comb with teeth called 'fath teeth'.
>
> This comb is found in Quentovic (North France) and Hamwic/Southampton 
> in England (excavation Ian Riddler).
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Nathalie
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Bonetools mailing list
> Bonetools at listserv.niif.hu
> https://listserv.niif.hu/mailman/listinfo/bonetools


--
Fran?ois POPLIN

Directeur honoraire de l?UMR 7209 Arch?ozoologie, Arch?botanique : soci?t?s, pratiques et 
environnements

Responsable du S?minaire d'Anthropozoologie

Mus?um national d'Histoire naturelle
CP 56
Ancien Laboratoire d?Anatomie compar?e
55, rue de Buffon
75005 Paris
01 40 79 33 11
fax ------ 33 14

francoispoplin.blogspot.com

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