Hi Sylvia
It may not seem related, but you may find the various threads on preparing,
degreasing bone, etc. (whale, horse...) of interest.
I've copied (below your email), Julie Bond's email which comments on
making combs from whale bone. I also have had conversations with palaeo-tools
researchers who comment that marking tools from bone is so much harder than
antler. Horn being easier to use is easy to understand but I was surprised that
antler is apparently more pliable and effected by soaking than other bone -
perhaps because of its growth/structure which may lead to drying out/being less
fatty than limb bones... At any rate, the suggestion here seems to be that fresh
bone isn't a good material - that the bones need to be 'cured' - what
essentially seems to be degreased/dried.
Given my experience with curing fresh horse bone, which I assume will be
similar to cattle, the scapula is a lot less greasy than the other limb bones,
but still has grease. Biotex and simmering water is probably best to degrease,
than dry in a slow oven, then maybe simmer in plain water... If you only
dry in an oven be prepared for a thick, sticky, almost tar-like, orange
grease (think glues) and a not particularly pleasant smell.
A web search will also yield sites for people who make reproductions/ bone
objects who might be willing to offer some advice.
best
Pam
Pamela J Cross
PhD researcher, Bioarchaeology
Horses of Men &
Gods project
Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, BD7 1DP
UK
p.j.cross (at) student.bradford.ac.uk / pajx (at)
aol.com
http://www.barc.brad.ac.uk/resstud_Cross.php
http://bradford.academia.edu/PamCross
Hello
everyone.
A friend is about to
embark on a bit of experimental archaeology - to make a comb from a cattle
scapula (fresh). They asked what method of preparation would be
best.
I am familiar with what
would make a good reference specimen, but wonder if different treatments at an
early stage will make it easier to work?
Any
ideas/suggestions?
Many
Thanks
Sylvia
Dr Sylvia Warman |
Science Advisor, London
Direct Line: 0207 973
3733
Mobile Phone:
07881805347
English Heritage |
1 Waterhouse
Square
138-42 Holborn |
London EC1N 2ST
www.english-heritage.org.uk
This e-mail (and any attachments) is
confidential and may contain personal views which are not the views of English
Heritage unless specifically stated. If you have received it in error, please
delete it from your system and notify the sender immediately. Do not use, copy
or disclose the information in any way nor act in reliance on it. Any
information sent to English Heritage may become publicly
available.
Portico: your gateway to information on sites in the
National Heritage Collection; have a look and tell us what you think.
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/professional/archives-and-collections/portico/
As an aside to this interesting discussion, some years ago I talked to
whalebone carvers in Newfoundland and Labrador. They said that the
whalebone they used had to have been weathering for 30-50 years before
it was workable, as before this point the grease made it unusable for
their purposes. This meant that the bone used had to be curated in
some
way; traditionally it had been sourced by visiting old Inuit
sites. One
carver said he had tried using whalebone which had been
dredged up from the
sea near an old whaling station, and thus pretty
old, but the cold water had
delayed decomposition and the bone was
still too greasy and smelly to be
used.
At our own excavations at Old Scatness in Shetland, one of the
Living
History interpreters who was also a skilled bone carver tried to make
a replica weaving comb from whalebone given to him by a Shetlander,
which had been taken from a beach as clean bone some years previously.
The remaining grease made the bone extremely difficult to work and it
certainly could not have been used as a weaving comb without further
preparation. It suggests that bone carvers in the past must have
either
curated whalebone for a considerable time before use, or had
some other
method of preparing the bone. Burial in a compost or manure
heap sounds like
a definite possibility.
Julie
