Hi, I have been fascinated by the discussions about the bone with the parallel
cuts/breaks along it. My interest is in the use of bone for handles, etc in
the Sheffield cutlery trades (16-18t centuries - much later than this piece of
bone.
However, the usable bone, as you know, is the denser outer part of the bone
shaft. In the Sheffield archaeological deposits, there are hundreds of pieces
of bone SAWN from cattle bones, usually in a careful order - the ends are sawn
off, the shaft is sawn to length, then 'quadrants' of bone is sawn from round
the central marrow of the shaft, leaving a distinctive rectangular, hollow
piece.
Once these useful pieces have been sawn, they can further trimmed and dressed to
the required shape and size.
I can't offer any explanation for the piece under discussion, except to say that
making such fine cuts in 'fresh' bone takes a lot of effort and a very sharp
saw.
I gave a presentation at the ICAZ paris conference - my ppt is on Bone Commons
and has images of the bone as described above
http://www.alexandriaarchive.org/bonecommons/exhibits/show/icaz2010paris/session2_5/item/1606
Joan Unwin
Dr Joan Unwin,
Honorary Research Fellow, University of Sheffield
Archivist, the Cutlers' Company
The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire,
The Cutlers' Hall,
Church Street,
Sheffield,
S1 1HG
Tel: +44 (0)114 272 8456
email: [log in to unmask]
http://www.cutlers-hallamshire.org.uk
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