Posted 11 years ago
todddrev76
(1 item)
This "hammer" belonged to my great-uncle. He was quite a rock hound and actually owned and ran a "rock shop" for a long time. I really don't know anything about the hammer other than the handle appears to be made of wood and that the head is definitely a rock. I couldn't even begin to guess how the rock is secured to the handle. It looks pretty seamless and is very secure, there is no wiggle at all to the rock. I'd like to think that it is authentic, but I know that's too much to hope for.
Hell, I'm waiting to hear too! That isn't wet-formed leather?
Watched a PBS program the other night, on neanderthals, and they were saying those spear heads were secured with, I believe, cedar bark, that was laboriously sweated in a fire to get the sap to ooze out. And this was used as a glue.
Alright mrmajestic1, not to be outdone, I believe that Amer. Indians used sinue that was softened (boiled?) to secure things like this to shafts. Glue made from such things as bark were probably used in coordination if no stores were open so they could get epoxy.
You're right blunder, glue can and is made of things like hide, blood, fish scale, hoofs, etc. If ancients thought it would stick together they would try it I'm sure. This hammer looks really tight for being so old.
OK, we have a theory, now I would really like to know how old it is? Very interesting piece. care to share some history on it? It truly looks like it was done in the ancient way & you just don't see things done that way anymore unless by somebody really good at it.
Lovely piece, I've got a Native American tomahawk on here that looks Pretty similar. It's got a rock head, bided to the handle with A Animals hide that is all the way down the Shaft. thanks for sharing :)
Thank you for all of the interest and comments. I really have no way of knowing how old it is. My uncle passed quite a few years ago. According to my father, my uncle acquired it at a rock hound convention, believing it to be quite old. I imagine that it's been too contaminated, by this point, to get any kind of reliable dating from it, without busting in to the interior of the handle. Even then, that would only tell you when the tree that the handle is made from died, not when it was created. I have sent these pictures to a couple archaeology sites, but have not had a whole lot of interest from the "professional" community. I wish I had more info to provide, but I do not. I will try to take a couple more hi-res picture detailing some of the more interesting aspects of the piece and get them posted, soon.