bone awl thread

[larson1951]

post your awl type tools here please, maybe we can get a good thread going like thirty7 did with the knives

here are a few frames showing the various types of Arikara/Mandan bone awls
the awls with the round pulley on the end were made from deer or elk leg bones
one bone would make 2 awls which started out about 6 inches long and were sharpened over and over until they became so short that they were used up
i will post some images of these at the various stages of construction soon
larson

 

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[larson1951]

one more frame
also the end of the type of deer/elk leg bone which was split into 2 pieces and yielded 2 awls
larson

 

[pickaway]

Great frames of relics...

 

[Tnmountains]

Amazing you have the split one. That one deserves a frame of its own
Ya'll have some nice Awls.

 

[Worthy55]

Very nice bone tools! 8) 8) 8)

 

[larson1951]

thanks worthy55,
that is just like mine
real nice
what state did those come from?
lars

 

[larson1951]

here you go Tnmountains,
i found the other images of the full bone while it was being cut in order to make 2 awls
as you can see these things started out pretty long and got shorter every time they were sharpened

i wonder why it never got finished ?

lars

 

[naturegirl]

Those are very educational pictures larson And I wonder what the rings were for in worthy's pic?

 

[larson1951]

thanks naturegirl,
i think the rings are just a design or decoration, make sense ?
larson1951

 

[naturegirl]

Yeah, I thought decoration, or maybe identification or ownership? I'm always interested in the mind that does something a little different than everyone else. I wonder how often they would have to sharpen the awls, and how long one typically lasted befor it was discarded. That's a fantastic collection you've got there larson.

 

[Harry Pristis]

Here's a perforator made from a bird bone from Tick Island.

 

[larson1951]

thanks Naturegirl
i think you are right about a possible ownership mark
as far as sharpening i suppose they must have stayed sharp for an awful long time and could gave lasted for years
maybe getting sharpened a half dozen times a year
what do you think ?

thanks for the pictures Harry, i have a few hollow awls also
what do you think they would use a hollow awl for ?
do you think it could have been used for painting or tattooing or just the same thins as the solid awls were used for ?

larson1951

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Nice Bone Awls everyone. I don't have any pictures of my Bone Awls at the house and I can't post on here from work so I'll have to get some new pics and I'll post them soon.

 

[Harry Pristis]

...
thanks for the pictures Harry, i have a few hollow awls also
what do you think they would use a hollow awl for ?
do you think it could have been used for painting or tattooing or just the same thins as the solid awls were used for ?
larson1951

I think they may have been used as sewing needles to push some cordage through a skin. I think that this perforator would have been too large and blunt to use for tattoos when there were plenty of ultra-sharp spines growing on the vegetation.

What do you suppose this one was used for?

​

 

[Worthy55]

thanks worthy55,
that is just like mine
real nice
what state did those come from?
lars

Lars, all my things come from Fla. The three rings on the awl probely is decoration but the ring on the other is where they scribed it so it would break off straight so I have been told. 8) 8) 8)

 

[larson1951]

yes that would be cool if you posted some of your awls steve
that florida bone sure has a different color to it
that tool that harry posted doesn't seem to have a point on it like most awls do
harry do you think it could be a small fleshing tool or something like that ?
the end looks like the end of some of some of my bone fleshing tools but they are larger so i don't know
i will get a picture of the end of a fleshing that would correspond with the end of your tool
larson1951

 

[larson1951]

here is an older picture of some more
some of these might be in the first set of frames i posted
lars

 

[larson1951]

Harry,
this is what i mean about the type of end on your piece
what is your opinion of my idea ?
do you think it could be a flesher ?
your tool sure is sure is nice whatever it is
lars

 

[Harry Pristis]

Harry,
this is what i mean about the type of end on your piece
what is your opinion of my idea ?
do you think it could be a flesher ?
your tool sure is sure is nice whatever it is
lars

By default, I think my deer femur bone tool falls into the "flesher" category.

I'll always wonder why the tool maker cut off the natural butt of the tool, thus weakening it and making it less comfortable to use. What is left is a very thin-walled, hollow tube. I guess there were uses for tools that we can only strain to imagine.

 

[larson1951]

thanks harry,
i was wondering why they would have cut the end off also
i still can't figure out why the florida bone gets that color
lars