Native American tool?

[SilverFinger]

Found on old church ground near cemetery in northern Wisconsin, very deep (10-12") It looks like it's made of iron (maybe copper too, like some have suggested) and is tapered to a thin edge. There are 4 straight lines that look like intentional 'notches'. My hand holding it is a size reference. It's pretty heavy too. It's crudely made. I Thought posting this here was worthwhile. The 4 notches are very interesting.

 

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[Monty]

Re: Primitive axe head or hand chopping tool?

Not enough of it left for me to even guess? Monty

 

[Montana Jim]

Re: Primitive axe head or hand chopping tool?

Hand chopping off tool... since I have a choice.

Iron? There is little to no rust...

 

[SilverFinger]

Re: Primitive axe head or hand chopping tool?

haha.... Thanks for the replies. I did brush off the most of the rust and all of the dirt. I'd say it's definitely iron, despite the lack of heavy rust. One edge look crudely 'folded' and hammered too. There are raised chunks and/or blemishes. I thought first maybe a big chip from an old cast iron sink or something of that nature until I cleaned it off and saw the forming marks and the 4 notches. Amazing how something like this can keep me fascinated for hours haha.

 

[CRUSADER]

Re: Primitive axe head or hand chopping tool?

I'm not convinced it is iron. Looks like its been contaminated with iron. I think I see a iron nail going throw the centre? I have not seen many folded iron pieces before. More likely a copper-alloy with iron deposits. Always difficult with a photo but those are my thoughts. Probably some kind of builder's structural fix-it job

 

[Gypsy Heart]

Re: Primitive axe head or hand chopping tool?

I know that Indians often flattened pieces of the gun barrel to make fleshers.....maybe its one of those

 

[SilverFinger]

Re: Primitive axe head or hand chopping tool?

Great suggestion about the flesher thing. It does look like some type of scraping tool because of the tapered edge. There is a 'pimple' in it too that looks like a nail head, but can't be too sure. And again, there are 4 notches that are obviously there intentionally. 3 on top, 1 below the 3. I'm thinking maybe there was a handle on it at some point. They ran out of room to put another notch.

 

[La Beep]

Re: Primitive axe head or hand chopping tool?

I'm not convinced it is iron. Looks like its been contaminated with iron. I think I see a iron nail going throw the centre? I have not seen many folded iron pieces before. More likely a copper-alloy with iron deposits. Always difficult with a photo but those are my thoughts. Probably some kind of builder's structural fix-it job

Barrowed from a Mojjax post:
Iron was folded in the early years however the more I look at it it does not appear to be iron. Maybe I am wrong.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Easy iron test: does a magnet stick to it?

A farmer-made plow coulter?

 

[SilverFinger]

You guys are good. Why didn't I think of the ridiculously obvious magnet test? Anyway, the only ferrous part is the raised dot. Looks like a nail head. (see circled in red) The magnet doesn't stick to any other part of it. Any thoughts on what the notches are? There are 4 of them. Like a notch in a gun stock type of thing. My crazy imagination says an Indian axe head where the owner notched kills, but hey, that's just my imagination. For a lump of metal it's interesting as heck.

 

[Oroblanco]

I have no guess, just making a post so I can follow the discussion easily (yep I am that lazy! ) Pretty interesting "lump"!
Oroblanco