Pre-contact Maori whalebone club

Ron Anderson · 12th September 2010, 02:05 PM

There are some encouraging signs close up.

I am pretty confident about the authenticity of the piece, personally. I guess precise identification is still uncertain, and exact age.

The patina definitely extends to the surface within the circles. Which tells me the circles haven't been made recently. In other words, this is not an old bone that someone's found then carved. It was carved a long time ago. Judging by the patina, unless it was buried, and the condition suggests not, it is very old.

This more than anything is why I suggested pre-contact. Pre-contact is not that long ago. 1780s/1790s perhaps. Perhaps later, depending on the precise area.

That's a little over 200 years ago. A flash in the pan, really, and quite conceivable with this.

But then perhaps not. It's conjecture, of course.

However, how to tell whether it was carved by relatively modern or more primitive tools is not within my skill set.

I think that requires some hands-on experience. So if there are any archeologists here, some tips will be welcome.

There is of course the easy way - simple carbon dating. Does anybody know if this is an affordable option?

Also, with an organic material like bone, I guess it's possible to do DNA testing on this. Could that tell who has handled this? Probably not, I guess. But could it tell what kind of whale it was? This could help locate it too.

PS: I just remembered that the tool used by the ancient Sumerians/Acadians to create cylinger seal images was in fact a type of bow drill. The same kind of tool in use in NW America.

Just food for thought.

Regards
Ron

12th September 2010, 02:05 PM	#30
Ron Anderson Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 228	There are some encouraging signs close up. I am pretty confident about the authenticity of the piece, personally. I guess precise identification is still uncertain, and exact age. The patina definitely extends to the surface within the circles. Which tells me the circles haven't been made recently. In other words, this is not an old bone that someone's found then carved. It was carved a long time ago. Judging by the patina, unless it was buried, and the condition suggests not, it is very old. This more than anything is why I suggested pre-contact. Pre-contact is not that long ago. 1780s/1790s perhaps. Perhaps later, depending on the precise area. That's a little over 200 years ago. A flash in the pan, really, and quite conceivable with this. But then perhaps not. It's conjecture, of course. However, how to tell whether it was carved by relatively modern or more primitive tools is not within my skill set. I think that requires some hands-on experience. So if there are any archeologists here, some tips will be welcome. There is of course the easy way - simple carbon dating. Does anybody know if this is an affordable option? Also, with an organic material like bone, I guess it's possible to do DNA testing on this. Could that tell who has handled this? Probably not, I guess. But could it tell what kind of whale it was? This could help locate it too. PS: I just remembered that the tool used by the ancient Sumerians/Acadians to create cylinger seal images was in fact a type of bow drill. The same kind of tool in use in NW America. Just food for thought. Regards Ron