Two Florida Shell Woodworking Tools

[Hal Gorges]

First photo...1 is from the Homassassa river and 2 is from Crystal river,..

Pic. 2-3-4 has a rounded distal end and most likely was hafted..It probably was use as a narrow bitted wood plane, just a thought...pic.5-6-7 has two working edges..A narrow gouge at the distal end and I don’t know what at the opposite end, again I believe it it’s a woodworking tool, probably hand held...Thanks for lookin.

[tomf]

They look like drill bits. Very cool. Dawning on me that shell is very hard and so, very hard to work. But makes high performance and durable tools. Cutting or grinding out the spirals must be tricky.

[Hal Gorges]

All I know is that they worked tons of it and they surly did it the best way possible..I’m thinkin they used the shell on shell methods..King’s crown hammers and the like..I don’t find too much evidence of them using stone, but I’m sure they did in west central Florida, but they lacked a stone source in south Florida..I don’t think they used coquina..Florida state made reproductions using ancient methods, I don’t have that info or photos..thanks for comments Tom.

[tomf]

Can't imagine you can break shell in a controlled way. So suppose they ground stuff to shape. Thick sharp piece to work thinner sections, maybe hammer for roughing out the shape.

[Hal Gorges]

They absolutely used different grades of sandstone abraders in the finishing process...It’s a topic for a more lengthy post.

[tomclark]

Wow, Hal, those are killers!! tomf they were chipped with hammers then ground on some surfaces. Some surfaces are also naturally smooth on a columnella. But to get the columnella "right" for a tool they definitely chipped with hammerstones and other columnella hammers with precision then ground it. I think both of those tools were socketed into wood handles. Some very similar shell tools are hafted just like celts are on elbow sticks but they have a flat surface ground on one edge in relationship to the beveled edge.

[Hal Gorges]

Exactly, thanks, my concentration is kinda elsewhere lately.