Oldest weapon I have handled, ...

[Bodyman]

Well, it is the oldest tool/weapon, but aren't they all. But I got to slather my DNA all over this thing and it is cool. I have been in the store rooms of several museums and handled pre-production, historic and rare stuff going back to before the Rev War and before, but this is officially the oldest weapon I have ever personally handled.

Local guy worked at a quarry 30 years ago one day looked down and said; 'That ain't just an average stone', so he picked it up and took it home. The family had it out in the garage (where the kids used to play with it) and dug it out for an archaeologist that wants to see some of the local artifacts. A good 7 to 8 inches long at least (shoulda measured it), and just flat out cool. I guess they are not uncommon until they get to the larger sizes, and this one is big.



When I was a kid I used to go fishing and camping in a little town on the Mississippi called Fountain City. The hardware store dated back to the town's origins (as far as I know) but the walls all along the ceiling were all covered with artifacts that local farmers had brought in over the years and may have numbered in the several thousand. some of them may have been up on the wall for close to 100 years or more. While they had stone axes, I don't think I ever saw an axe head this large - they were all about half the size. This one is a whopper. Hardware store is long gone and always wondered where the collection of artifacts ended up (maybe Elmer has it - ).

I have no idea what the archaeologist is going to say but it made my day.

[Phil McGrath]

That's cool!

[Bodyman]

I am amazed at this thing. How long would someone have taken to make that? You have to bang one rock into another rock over and over again to shape it, so there must be endless hours of labor represented there (and I am guessing by probably multiple people). And, you have to expend all of this time and energy on it in between trying to feed your family and keep them warm and safe - so, now in addition to all the things you have to do to stay alive all day long, you crawl into your tent or cave after a long day, and sit by a fire banging two rocks together until you are too tired to keep doing it or fall asleep. Then the next day you do it again, over and over until you have this. Not to mention, which rocks do you use? Are they even found where you live or do you have to trade for them? It is all inconceivable. Then you look at the grooves which are smoothed from use, the wood handle and sinew bindings being rubbed into the surface with every strike. It is simply an amazing artifact to me.

When I was young I decided that I needed to make fire with pre-historic methods - nothing but what was out in nature. After weeks of reading books on how to do it (yup, books - it was pre-google, ...), and weeks more of trying to find the necessary items in my spare time, and multiple attempts with several different methods, I finally managed to pull it off. Arrowheads are common around these parts and I have always been amazed at the craftsmanship in them, and have watched over the years as researchers have tried to duplicate them, discovering and reinventing lost traditional methods and skills. Though some of these researchers have become quite adept at arrow tips and even spear points, they mostly pale in comparison to the average pieces found lying about the fields from pre-history - the average skill of those ancient people must have been amazing. I am guessing there must have been someone who has tried today, but I unaware of any researchers using traditional methods to recreate axe heads.

It is an incredible investment in time and skill and I can only imagine that such a special thing would be handed down from father to son, and was as much a tool as a symbol of the strength it takes to wield it. Anyone holding such an item would immediately be recognized as powerful - just as a suit of armor took incredible resources to create, it could only be the most powerful who could create it. Making one of these would have to represent the height of status in such culture and it must have been a stable culture, a symbol of the patriarch and leader of the family or clan or tribe or whatever you want to call the group. Maybe I am assuming too much but I don't think there is anything like it in our world today - a profound symbol of leadership that cannot be carried by simply anyone and is earned by an individual thru strength and character and leadership throughout a lifetime, and that is then handed from one generation to the next.

Yea, I think that is quite an artifact.

[m14brian]

That's cool. I have a table my Grandpa made that has a glass top and arrowheads in it for display.
m14brian

[CCyooper]

Cool find, when I was a kid I used to find arrow heads (3-4) in our garden. Just think how excited the guy was when he invented the wedge, the simplest tool known to mankind... here son is the wedge...go chisel the edges off that octagon thing that knuckle dragger over there created and call it a wheel...

[Phil McGrath]

Yea, I think that is quite an artifact.

Was there any doubt, we all agree!!! Have you thought about making a handle?

[Prince Humperdink]

That is very cool! When I was a kid we had a cabin in rural Ca,and there was an obsidian pit nearby,I used to find broken arrowheads everywhere...I never did keep any.