[Regia-NA] more on flint and antler

[Tate William T Jr TSgt 352 OSS/SCSC]

I had always suspected that flint was still used for some domestic
processes, besides fire-starting, especially in someplace like East =
Anglia
(some interesting Anglian flint trivia: several prehistoric flint mines =
are
found along with evidence for their being traded across England and the
Continent; Thetford was home to a great deal of 18th-19th century flint
production, including being the primary supplier of rifle flints for =
the
British army - the nearby village of Brandon has a wonderful little pub
called "The Flintknapper"). =20

I am guilty of having several scrams with antler handles that haven't =
had
the outside removed (runnels...I knew that term, it just wouldn't come =
out
when I was writing).  But it is a project that I might undertake =
sometime to
correct the appearance.  Just do the core bit in some hatching designs.

Bill/Leifr

-----Original Message-----
From: Nicholson, Andrew [mailto:andrew.nicholson@dumgal.gov.uk]
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2002 1:57 PM
To: 'list-regia-na@lig.net'
Subject: RE: [Regia-NA] more on flint and antler


Don't know about flint arrowheads; in Britain they certainly seem to go =
out
of use by the Iron Age, around 300BC. Flints do continue in use though, =
and
turn up on archaeological sites. Some certainly seem to have carried on
being used for leather scraping or dressing, while flint-edged =
threshing
flails were in use up to the 19th century.=20

Bronze maceheads do continue in use through to at least the mid 12th
century. We have a way cool late 11th/early 12th century one, possibly
manufactured in Kiev, in our local museum. Maybe I'll get round to =
making a
copy, just like I've copied the local Norse axe-heads.

Leaping sideways to antler handles, Bill and Kim are right, there is no
evidence for leaving the runnels on the grip. All antler appears to =
have
been smoothed-off [except for the odd amulets for sick cows made from
hollowed basal ends of antlers].

Straight lines can be achieved by a cut-down hacksaw blade, curved ones =
are
trickier [which might well explain why so much of the lower end of
decoration consisits of parallel lines or cross-hatching]. I have a =
V-shaped
gouge, originally designed for lino-cutting, which is very good for =
cutting
the initial design with shallow lines. These are then deepened using a =
fine
[1/4 inch?] chisel, and then neatened using a triangular-sectioned =
file.

It really helps if you soak the antler in warm water before working it.

Gu=F0rum

> I have seen several sources that do say flint  for arrow tips=20
> and bronze for mace heads were used into 1100.  I dont know=20
> how common it was but at least some evidence has been found.
>=20
> ok a little off from the drill.
>=20
> Seathrun
>=20
>=20
>=20
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