FOUND LAST EVENING: ARTIFACT OR STONE?

[Peyton Manning]

I'm not good at pics, I hope they are good enough.
fits nicely in the hand, maybe a scraper?

 

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[Treasure_Hunter]

Looks like a Celt. The poll ( small end) goes in hole at end of handle, the more it is used the tighter it becomes..

 

[RGINN]

Yep, looks like a celt. What does 'fits nicely in the hand' have to do with it? (Haha! Sorry, that phrase is one of my pet peeves, and really means very little in artifact identification.)

 

[Peyton Manning]

I was picturing a nice young maiden scraping a deerhide!

 

[rock]

I was thinking possible Gouge on it by the way the bit looks concaved but I could be wrong. Its nice either way.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I was thinking possible Gouge on it by the way the bit looks concaved but I could be wrong. Its nice either way.

Could be but hard to tell from picture for sure..

 

[Indian Steve]

I would call it a adze. Nice!

 

[Peyton Manning]

it was made concave, has a couple plow marks

 

[Mrtodd]

Didn't they use hand tools way before using sticks? Or vice versa? Prehistoric stuff Serious questions... No sarcasm intended.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Didn't they use hand tools way before using sticks? Or vice versa? Prehistoric stuff Serious questions... No sarcasm intended.

Sticks came first, the stones.... Remember " sticks and stones may break my bones, yada, yada, yada." LOL [emoji1] .....

In evolution sticks came first...

 

[quito]

Celts have a bit that runs straight across.

It has the general form as your average celt but the bit looks more like what rock said, a gouge. Nice one regardless!

 

[Charl]

The bit configuration is adze or gouge. But, I don't see a channel, so I would go with adze.

 

[Mark Todd]

I'd have to agree that it looks more like adze/gouge because of pic. # 2, or possibly reconditioned Celt for more specific woodworking.

 

[GatorBoy]

I agree its not a celt.. I would consider it more of an adze.. Either way it would have been hafted perpendicular to the handle.

 

[mainejman]

The over all shape looks like a Celt.But I would have to say adze also because of the bottom being rounded on the bit end not flat like a Celt...mjm

 

[Hitndahed]

Looks like a Celt. The poll ( small end) goes in hole at end of handle, the more it is used the tighter it becomes..

============================================================
Hey Treasure Hunter,,,,
What is/was this actually used for? (Celt)
I would have thought it was just another "stone".

Thanks
Hit

 

[Charl]

============================================================
Hey Treasure Hunter,,,,
What is/was this actually used for? (Celt)
I would have thought it was just another "stone".

Thanks
Hit

Well, it isn't a celt, but rather it is an adze. But all three tools, celt, adze, and gouge are woodworking tools. A celt is a form of axe. Chopping.
if you consider the gouge and adze as part of a tool kit for crafting dugout canoes, the gouge, with its' hollowed out scoop, shaved the interior, hollowed out the interior. The interior was charred to make that job easier. The adze was used to shape the exterior of the dugout. A gouge for concave surfaces and an adze for convex surfaces, such as the exterior of the dugout.

On the left, an adze, and on the right, a gouge. Closeup of gouge. These tools were highly prized in the Northeast woodlands especially. As evidenced by a cache of three adze from Ct., with one being fashioned with an effigy head at the poll end....

 

[Charl]

From Keith Wilbur's "The New England Indians". The full grooved adze is a foot long and from RI. For heavy duty jobs, yet I have seen these in excess of 2 feet in length.

 

[Peyton Manning]

Thanks to you all for the education.
A new tool for my collection

 

[sandchip]

Gouge.