Slate tool, ulu knife?

[Malus]

I found this along a lakeshore in Southern New Brunswick while canoeing last summer. The closest thing I can find to compare to it are ground slate semi-lunar ulu knives, but the blade of what I've found is nearly flat.

The geometry reminds me of a chisel or single bevel broad axe.
It looks like the blade was pressure flaked along the entire edge on the beveled surface, while the back is nearly entirely flat. The upper surface is rounded and smoothed. Two of the corners have old breaks as you can see in the pictures. What on earth is it?

There are more pictures in the album here: https://imgur.com/a/NkoDT9p

 

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[Kray Gelder]

Interesting. Sure looks like that edge has been worked.

 

[Malus]

The more I look at it, it's geometry really relates closely to a slick for timber framing or a hewing hatchet. It has a steeper bevel which would would make sense being a slate tool. I think it might have been used handheld like a spokeshave for woodworking, . It really is carefully crafted. A slate semi-lunar knife and ground slate point were found around this lake in the past.

 

[dirstscratcher]

I doubt that edge was put on prehistorically, but I have no idea what it is.

 

[newnan man]

Welcome. Personally I don't see anything but a broken piece of slate. Someone can educate me.

 

[Tdog]

I don't see it either.

 

[Relicgrubber]

Yeah I’m not getting it either.

 

[joshuaream]

It looks man made, and does have the shape of a very nice Ulu knife, but the edge is odd.

It doesn't look like a modern slate roof tile, but some of the old ones were hand made and maybe more rustic?

 

[unclemac]

on a slate tool that cutting edge would be smooth.

 

[dognose]

It does not appear to be a native american relic to me. I do not see the manufacture points I would expect to see on a preform or complete relic.


I see a lot of slate in the fields, and I mean a lot. These are very large to small chunks, slabs and boulders. Many times I find slate in sheets or slabs.

Some of the slate naturally split along the sedimentary layers over the years. It can often result in natural formed parts which could be miss identified as a relic.

Most if not all slate relics are often hammered down and knapped down to a preform shape prior to polishing. It could be confusing also to think that slate could be knapped but slate is much softer material than a granite and like I said above fissures off similar to how a flint will when knapped.

I have found preforms to finished relics made of slate, complete and borken. Very few do not exhibit peck marks in some area of the relic.

When I do find slate like this, I do slow down and pay particular attention as sometimes these natural glacial slate where used to make relic and they are often found in association with it.

Here is what probably would have been a celt, or could have been the bottom of a pendant - dont know. It appears to have been broken in manufacture as i do not see any use wear marks on the rounded area.


The arrow on the slate points to where the flaking scar terminates. You can see the small flaking around the edges also.

This image shows the flaking scrars and also the edge here the natural layering of the slate and broke where it made the slate weak (right most arrow)

 

[sandchip]

I'm thinking part of an old slate shingle, too. Still cool.

 

[Charl]

Ground slate ulu.....


Honed edge:

Everyone calls them ulus, but that is an Eskimo name for a similar tool. The more technical name for this type of knife is a semilunar knife, and there are chipped forms, as well as ground slate forms. The type seen here are known as comb back ulus, because of the handle resembling the back side of a comb.

 

[Georgivs]

Ground slate ulu.....


Honed edge:

Everyone calls them ulus, but that is an Eskimo name for a similar tool. The more technical name for this type of knife is a semilunar knife, and there are chipped forms, as well as ground slate forms. The type seen here are known as comb back ulus, because of the handle resembling the back side of a comb.

TIL what a ulu is.

 

[Malus]

Thank you all for your perspectives. What's funny is when I pulled this up out of the lake the consistent form made me think roof shingle as well, but this part of the lake is completely uninhabited and nearly completely surrounded by bog. This thing sat outside on my picnic table all winter because I didn't think it was anything. I brought it in for a closer look yesterday after reading about the slate tools found around the lake. I took some more pictures to show the edge. It is hard to convey in the pictures, but the upper surface is rounded and smoothed and if it weren't for the break at the corner it would have a very chisel-like form.

I agree that you would expect a slate tool like this to have a ground edge. What I think looks like pressure flaking is faint and worn looking, but I just can't think what I see could result from a natural break. Could it be worn from rolling around in the lake during the freeze and thaw cycle?

 

[sandchip]

Good pictures. Really looks like a weathered saw cut along that edge. Slate isn't gonna chip or flake like that through the layers.

 

[jamus peek]

This piece maybe a chopper / ulu , it is Greenstone and it looks like some fairly large flakes were removed and in hand there are some small percussion chips on the edge. Nicely shaped but very water worn pics might not display the smaller water worn edge work.



Also a possible biface ulu or square knife. Seems a little thick to be a knife. Made from wine red Jasper.

 

[Northeasternskier]

I found this along a lakeshore in Southern New Brunswick while canoeing last summer. The closest thing I can find to compare to it are ground slate semi-lunar ulu knives, but the blade of what I've found is nearly flat.

The geometry reminds me of a chisel or single bevel broad axe.
It looks like the blade was pressure flaked along the entire edge on the beveled surface, while the back is nearly entirely flat. The upper surface is rounded and smoothed. Two of the corners have old breaks as you can see in the pictures. What on earth is it?

There are more pictures in the album here:

This appears to be a ground-stone adze.
Flat on bottom - haft is perpendicular to

Thank you all for your perspectives. What's funny is when I pulled this up out of the lake the consistent form made me think roof shingle as well, but this part of the lake is completely uninhabited and nearly completely surrounded by bog. This thing sat outside on my picnic table all winter because I didn't think it was anything. I brought it in for a closer look yesterday after reading about the slate tools found around the lake. I took some more pictures to show the edge. It is hard to convey in the pictures, but the upper surface is rounded and smoothed and if it weren't for the break at the corner it would have a very chisel-like form.

I agree that you would expect a slate tool like this to have a ground edge. What I think looks like pressure flaking is faint and worn looking, but I just can't think what I see could result from a natural break. Could it be worn from rolling around in the lake during the freeze and thaw cycle?

This is a ground stone adze. The







Arthur C. Parker

Chipped Stone. A multitude of stemmed, notched, leaf shape, triangular, serrated, and even unusual forms, with all varieties of drills and scrapers, covering a wide range of material. In the cases of the knives and blades, these are often of large size, but some types of arrow points are diminutive.

The groveless adze with triangular cross section.

Adzes. A celt with one side more flattened than the other may be regarded as an adz. This is easily determinable when the cutting blade is flattened on one side and beveled on the other. An interesting form of adz is that having beveled sides, that is to say with a cross-section an approximate oblong with the upper corners ground off. Most beveled adzes are made with great care, the plain surfaces are smooth and the entire blade is well polished.

I found this along a lakeshore in Southern New Brunswick while canoeing last summer. The closest thing I can find to compare to it are ground slate semi-lunar ulu knives, but the blade of what I've found is nearly flat.

The geometry reminds me of a chisel or single bevel broad axe.
It looks like the blade was pressure flaked along the entire edge on the beveled surface, while the back is nearly entirely flat. The upper surface is rounded and smoothed. Two of the corners have old breaks as you can see in the pictures. What on earth is it?

There are more pictures in the album here:

I found this along a lakeshore in Southern New Brunswick while canoeing last summer. The closest thing I can find to compare to it are ground slate semi-lunar ulu knives, but the blade of what I've found is nearly flat.

The geometry reminds me of a chisel or single bevel broad axe.
It looks like the blade was pressure flaked along the entire edge on the beveled surface, while the back is nearly entirely flat. The upper surface is rounded and smoothed. Two of the corners have old breaks as you can see in the pictures. What on earth is it?

There are more pictures in the album here:

This is not a flaked chert tool.
This is a ground stone argillite adze. Algonkian.

Once side is polished and the other flat. The flat side will support the protruding lip of the hafting handle. Opposite the worn head, is a pointed pin. These come in many different shapes and sizes

Is this from a historic area?
What State and region?
Are there any known historical narratives?
Are there other pieces found?
Where is the nearest body of water?

Petrography: Where is the nearest argillite quarry?

Dr. Arthur C. Parker says it's an adze:

From, ALGONKIAN OCCUPATION OF NEW YORK

Chipped Stone. A multitude of stemmed, notched, leaf shape, triangular, serrated, and even unusual forms, with all varieties of drills and scrapers, covering a wide range of material. In the cases of the knives and blades, these are often of large size.

The groveless adze with triangular cross section.

Adzes. A celt with one side more flattened than the other may be regarded as an adz. This is easily determinable when the cutting blade is flattened on one side and beveled on the other. An interesting form of adz is that having beveled sides, that is to say with a cross-section an approximate oblong with the upper corners ground off. Most beveled adzes are made with great care, the plain surfaces are smooth and the entire blade is well polished.