bought these at a flea market, the flaked axe looking one is the one i would like comments (help) on. i have googled imaged , found a few photos but none are as nice as this one, any help would be great.
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war axe ?
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Usually descriptions like war point or war axe are just creative descriptions applied to common tools. How thick is it?
In Missouri and Illinois there is a type of Notched Hoe/Spade that can look like that. The Mississippian ones are usually a little wider with the notches more towards one end than in the middle, but examples found on smaller village sites away from big mound sites are often more narrow and hafted mid blade.
There are also thick adzes called Bow tie axes by collectors, and the better made examples can look a bit like that.Hong Kong, but from Indiana/Florida
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Im would like to see better pictures one with scale for that hoe like artifact and also some shots of the Adena points on the far righ and left of first picture. Thanks for sharing and welcome to arrowheads.comTN formerly CT Visit our store http://stores.arrowheads.com/store.p...m-Trading-Post
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I think it is an adze the part I circled looks to have polish on the high parts of the flake scars. This was probably the working edge. The polish was caused by repetitive chopping away at wood. You will also see polish like that in a hoe but as already pointed out it is far too small for a hoe. Cool and unusual little item in my opinion. Those Adena points are nice!
Last edited by Hoss; 12-30-2016, 12:29 AM.TN formerly CT Visit our store http://stores.arrowheads.com/store.p...m-Trading-Post
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You scored well with that purchase. Some dandy points for sure. The axe, because of its small size looks like a celt to me. I've seen some small chipped stone celts, even had a few in my former collection, but, none that were grooved in that manner. Very interesting. I would agree with Hoss/Matt that it probably was used as an adze.Last edited by sailorjoe; 12-30-2016, 12:28 AM.
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To clarify the right edge is the working edge in my opinion.TN formerly CT Visit our store http://stores.arrowheads.com/store.p...m-Trading-Post
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i really appreciate the comments , good eye Hoss, the part you circled is definitely smoother than any of the other areas. by the way i bought that piece quit a bit cheaper than the 160.00 price tag in the first photo.
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I rarely disagree with Hoss, or anyone else for that matter, but the polish on that high spot is in the wrong place. If used as an adze, the polish would be along the chipped edge, to the right of Hoss's circle. I don't see any polish there, in fact, it looks like the patina has a different color, as in rechipped. The polish from being used as an adze doesn't usually show a glossy polish. This gloss like polish is normally found on the working edges of spades and hoes, and is called silica polish. It's called silica polish because the tool was used to harvest grasses and crops. Everything that grows from the ground up, contains microscopic particles of sand, or silica. After repeated use, this silica polishes the surface to a high gloss, glassy look. I think this was a very small, notched hoe with a rechipped edge, removing the polish that should be on there.
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Paul. Your analysis and explanation is outstanding. Thank you for offering your opinion. The thing that bothered me initially about this piece is the deeply grooved halfing area. This seems to be a rare artifact and as such is open to a wide range of interpretations especially from many of us amateurs. I like your explanation. My only problem with it being an agricultural tool as opposed to a wood working tool is the very small size. My imagination is not sufficient to see how such a small tool was used in harvesting crops. But I suppose that perhaps some very special tools were used to engage in the farming of such crops as tobacco which involves a complicated process from the initial planting of seed to ultimate harvest. Growing tobacco is not like growing corn, squash or beans. Perhaps we will never know but your idea surely adds greatly to this conversation.
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Ha Paul. No worries about disagreeing with me. We cannot all think alike on ever single ( out of the ordinary) artifact we see. I understand what you are saying about the silica polish. It is the size of this thing that had me thinking more along the lines of wood working tool. It does appear to be two toned end to end and quite possibly could be re-chipped. I have seen small spade like tools from Indiana that have a deeply silca polished business end but the ones I had were straight stemmed. No notches and they were narrower than this one shown by Headgames.
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