[Bonetools] Tuning pegs and screw threads

[Kordula Gostencnik]

Dear Sonia,

as our collection of historic musical instruments in Vienna has a
confernce for restoration going on at the moment, I will pass your
e-mail on to them; their specialists should be able to identify the
piece.

Sincerly
Kordula Gostencnik

2019-03-28 15:36 GMT+01:00, Sonia O'Connor <S.Oconnor at bradford.ac.uk>:
> Dear all,
>
> I am circulating this object on behalf of Charles Kightly. It was found in
> St Denys churchyard, York UK. The current mediaeval and Victorian church
> stands on the foundations of an Anglo-Scandinavian church of around 950AD,
> below which is a substantial Roman building that has produced a 2nd-3rd
> century altar. There is no real dating evidence for this piece as it was
> found in heavily disturbed soil, just below the surface of the churchyard.
> Other finds in the area ranged from sherds of Parisian ware Roman pottery,
> 17th century pipe bowls, an 1860s perfume bottle and a 1920s lipstick
> holder. So there’s a wide range of possibilities.
>
> The object has maximum dimensions of length=42mm, height=22mm, width=6mm and
> looking at the bone structure (from the photographs) I think it could be
> cetacean bone.
> It is described as a ‘Bone decorative fitting fragment, comprising of a
> decoratively cut sub-square plate with incomplete tubular extension at one
> end with internal screw thread’. There are only parts of two grooves of the
> screw thread surviving. It has been interpreted as possibly a tuning peg for
> a musical instrument and it is suggested that because it has a screw thread
> that it probably dates from the 19th century onwards.
>
> Charles asks if anyone has seen anything like this, of any period, and for
> opinions as to whether it would function as a tuning peg. He also points out
> that hand-cut screw threads are known from at least the 16th century so if
> this is hand cut the object could be earlier in date.  Has anyone seen
> examples of bone objects with screw threads earlier than the 19th century?
> How easy is it to distinguish hand cut from machine cut threads? I’ve seen
> lathe turning evidence on Roman bone objects and plenty of Victorian
> composite objects where bone components are joined with screw threads but
> when does this practice begin?
>
> All the best,
>
> Sonia
>
>
> [For WRBG friends who may not know: the]
>
>
>
>
> 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
>
> Tel 01274 236498
>