View Full Version : Something a little different
Mark
19th February 2005, 09:55 PM
It doesn't get much more "ethnographic" than this. Anyone know what it is? It is about 4.5" long and a little under 3" wide.
Andrew
19th February 2005, 11:49 PM
Animal, vegetable or mineral? ;)
fearn
20th February 2005, 01:17 AM
What is that, the neolithic precursor to a dha? :D
I'm trying to decide whether it's stone or copper, or whether I'm totally clueless. Any hints?
Fearn
Mark
20th February 2005, 01:35 AM
Animal, vegetable or mineral? ;)
Mineral....
Mark
20th February 2005, 01:37 AM
What is that, the neolithic precursor to a dha? :D
You could say that. ;)
I'm trying to decide whether it's stone or copper, or whether I'm totally clueless. Any hints?
Fearn
It's older than neolithic ... and from a bit to the west of a dha. :p
Andrew
20th February 2005, 03:50 AM
Chert hand axe?
Rick
20th February 2005, 03:55 AM
A tool / axe from lump copper ? :confused:
Rivkin
20th February 2005, 04:03 AM
pre-historic axe/knife ?
Conogre
20th February 2005, 04:22 AM
dino-poop?
Jeff D
20th February 2005, 04:25 AM
Hide scraper
Jeff
ariel
20th February 2005, 05:58 AM
Is it signed by Asadullah?
Mark
20th February 2005, 02:25 PM
dino-poop?
LOL! I think that is what Andrew was getting at in his first post.
It is an Acheulean era hand axe or chopper found along the Omo river in Ethiopia (surface find). This is the same place were the oldest dated remains of Homo sapiens have been found, recently in the news because they were re-dated to 190,000 years ago, which I think 50 or 60,000 years older than originally thought.
This piece was not even made by a modern human, but by Homo erectus, somewhere between 1.5 million to 200,000 years ago.
tom hyle
20th February 2005, 03:06 PM
That was my first thought, too, but isn't it small for the type?
Battara
20th February 2005, 03:56 PM
So...I guess that means that it's not Moro. :D
Mark
20th February 2005, 06:02 PM
That was my first thought, too, but isn't it small for the type?
Not really, if you consider the size of Homo erectus. It fits pretty nicely in my had, so I would acutally say that it is a little big. The picture is pretty much actual size. Other examples that I have handled (my Dad picked up three in the area -- I was too busy goofing around with by high school friends to look down), were about 3 inches long. I have also seen casts of some of about that size as well.
The more I look at it, the more I think I should give it to a museum, or maybe my alma mater. Its really a priceless artifact.
Radu Transylvanicus
20th February 2005, 06:08 PM
Powhatan frisbee :D
Native american adze/ tool
Jim McDougall
20th February 2005, 06:59 PM
This thread is priceless!!!!! hysterical LOL!!! :p
Laughter is truly the best medicine!!
fearn
20th February 2005, 09:09 PM
Interesting! I had the same "It's a hand-axe, no, wait, it's too small" reaction.
Not that I'm arguing. The one hand axe I got to handle in Anthropology way back when was a bit bigger than my hand, or about twice the size of the example you've got here. It was also right handed, something I noticed as a leftie...
Yours is also missing the point that I saw on the other one.
Oh well, at least it shows that they weren't standardizing their knives even then :D
Neat blade!
Fearn
Andrew
21st February 2005, 01:41 AM
I guessed hand axe first! It's probably not chert, though. :(
Conogre
21st February 2005, 01:57 AM
My favorite response was: "So...I guess that means that it's not Moro."
Priceless!!!!
On the serious side, I keep watching as they have to keep going back and revising tool abilities and such, not only on early humans, but proto-humans and even animals.
Recent information seems to suggest that we humans may not even have a monopoly on serial killings, with the animal culprit being.....................Flipper!!!!!!
Is nothing sacred any longer?
Ooops...there goes serious.
Sorry
Battara
21st February 2005, 01:37 PM
If you want sacred, maybe it is for circumcision. :eek:
ariel
21st February 2005, 07:05 PM
If you want sacred, maybe it is for circumcision. :eek:
.... and if there was a surgical mishap, this Homo would not be Erectus anymore.
Andrew, do not have your lawyerly juices getting too hot: even in Ethiopia the statue of limitations is shorter than 2 mln years.
Andrew
21st February 2005, 07:08 PM
.... and if there was a surgical mishap, this Homo would not be Erectus anymore.
Andrew, do not have your lawyerly juices getting too hot: even in Ethiopia the statue of limitations is shorter than 2 mln years.
No problem here, Ariel. Despite what doctors say, malpractice lawyers do have a sense of humor. Besides, I'm used to your bad jokes. ;)
(Now Mike, Radu and the rest... :rolleyes: ;) ).
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