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Looks like me when my wife won't let me go look for rocks.

Hello Charlie, you going digging today?

Apparently his wife won't let him!

Hello Charlie, you going digging today?

Apparently his wife won't let him!

I already went, but that's a good representation of how I look when I'm denied.

Found a big ol' honkin' ax today. I'm photographing right now, and will post it in a bit.

http://cayman.globat.com/~bandstexas.co ... %20599.jpg

Possible PreClovis Hand-Axe- Dorsal View- 7.75" X 5.5" X 3.5"- Lima-Igl-Iscc




http://cayman.globat.com/~bandstexas.co ... %20600.jpg

Possible PreClovis Hand-Axe- Ventral View- 7.75" X 5.5" X 3.5"- Lima-Igl-Iscc




http://cayman.globat.com/~bandstexas.co ... %20601.jpg

Possible PreClovis Hand-Axe- Distal View- 7.75" X 5.5" X 3.5"- Lima-Igl-Iscc




http://cayman.globat.com/~bandstexas.co ... %20602.jpg

Possible PreClovis Hand-Axe- Lateral/ Distal View- 7.75" X 5.5" X 3.5"- Lima-Igl-Iscc

Again that seems awfully big (and probably heavy) for a hand axe.

Any chance at all that these large pieces were used as miniature 'quarries' to knock off larger chips that could be shaped into smaller tools?

Again that seems awfully big (and probably heavy) for a hand axe.

Any chance at all that these large pieces were used as miniature 'quarries' to knock off larger chips that could be shaped into smaller tools?

Quite possibly both, Min. The distal end is definitely sharpened, but, with that big of a rock, if someone needed a quick blade, why not knock off a piece...like a core.

Minimalist wrote:Again that seems awfully big (and probably heavy) for a hand axe.

perhaps the trick was getting the weight of the tool to do the work?

why not knock off a piece...

We still talking about rocks?

Manystones wrote:

Minimalist wrote:Again that seems awfully big (and probably heavy) for a hand axe.

perhaps the trick was getting the weight of the tool to do the work?

Possible.....you still have to lift it. Probably more than once. And then some unknown genius got the bright idea to tie it to a stick to give leverage. It's a cinch that guy was not a Club Member.

perhaps the trick was getting the weight of the tool to do the work?

Hey Many.

That's what I observed as I worked with the piece. Kinda like a sledge hammer: Work the tool, don't let it work you.

Minimalist wrote:And then some unknown genius got the bright idea to tie it to a stick to give leverage. It's a cinch that guy was not a Club Member.

I found the genius:

perhaps the trick was getting the weight of the tool to do the work?

3. Over-estimate the size of the maul so that you do not have to muscle the blow. Knowing what size to use comes only from hands-on experience. By selecting an overly large hammer, your attention can be devoted to just guiding it to the top of the core, allowing it to drop of its own weight. Remember: What you are trying to do is to set up a complex of forces so that they work themselves out in the core. When you try to muscle the blow, at least early on in practice, it could be very dangerous where not only your knuckles but entire hands may discover the acute realities associated with spiral fractures. By holding onto a large maul and allowing it to drop of its own weight on a held core, your muscles will be ready to pull the implement away from the core quicker if/when the strike wobbles the core.


http://www.earthmeasure.com/bipolar/index_bipolar.html

Though not discussing hand-axe use per se, it seems the same principles apply.

What do you guys think?

I suppose it would help to know what these tools were being used for.

A few weeks ago I went to the anthropological museum at
Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem. There was a display comparing natural rocks to American Indian stone tools.
One of the tools was the largest "axe" I have ever seen.
It was about a foot long and a nice symmetrical shape, bifacially flaked into an oval with one thick end and the other a sharp edge.
(It was about 4-5 inches thick and about 6 inches wide!)
The attendant would not let me take a picture.
It's hard for me to see how something like that could have been used by being held in the hands.
Maybe it was hafted originally.
It looks too heavy to have been used as a hoe, but maybe could have been used as a heavy axe for splitting logs or something....