IRON AGE KNIFE IN NORTH CAROLINA

geotaughtme

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Found this thought is was an iron nail hit with my awesome rock hammer and its razor sharp and three sided. Found an identical example online dates 3-4K years ago. Spainsh Gold boogers came through here and they were known to carry such. only explaination I could could up with. Had alot of gold precipitated to it. Thanks Joe gold7 036.jpg gold7 049.jpg
 

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Z.K.

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Found this thought is was an iron nail hit with my awesome rock hammer and its razor sharp and three sided. Found an identical example online dates 3-4K years ago. Spainsh Gold boogers came through here and they were known to carry such. only explaination I could could up with. Had alot of gold precipitated to it. Thanks Joe View attachment 1462852 View attachment 1462853

"Spainsh Gold boogers." Mmmm. My favorite.
 

unclemac

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you would think someone in Mensa could spell...
 

OutdoorAdv

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Sorry calling crap on that assumption.
Corrosion of iron varies over time based on many variables, there is no 1 measurement, even if you did an average of every combination it wouldn't be that much. Found loads of iron thats 2000 years old & its not anywhere close to a quarter of that figure.

I totally agree with Cru! As someone who preserves a LOT of iron, I see a ton of different types of oxidation and the amount of oxidation means nothing to determine age. I've preserved 250+ year old artifacts with hardly any rust on them and 20 year old "artifacts" that are a huge ball of rust or half way eaten to nothing. It has much more to do with the soil conditions it was buried in, the soil drainage and the alloy of the iron artifact, as well as MANY other variables. Its impossible to date something based on the thickness of oxidation on a piece of iron.
 

tinpan

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Sorry calling crap on that assumption.
Corrosion of iron varies over time based on many variables, there is no 1 measurement, even if you did an average of every combination it wouldn't be that much. Found loads of iron thats 2000 years old & its not anywhere close to a quarter of that figure.


HI Crusader, Just cool your engines for a moment , This can be solved by taking the iron to a metalurgist. He could determine the where the iron came from and the temperature the iron was made at. TP
 

Donnie B from VA

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I totally agree with Cru! As someone who preserves a LOT of iron, I see a ton of different types of oxidation and the amount of oxidation means nothing to determine age. I've preserved 250+ year old artifacts with hardly any rust on them and 20 year old "artifacts" that are a huge ball of rust or half way eaten to nothing. It has much more to do with the soil conditions it was buried in, the soil drainage and the alloy of the iron artifact, as well as MANY other variables. Its impossible to date something based on the thickness of oxidation on a piece of iron.

I agree 100% with this and Crusader's statements.
 

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geotaughtme

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I usually don't respond to an ass but my phone can't spell. I can. I also saved a bunch of money on my car insurance.
 

pepperj

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I usually don't respond to an ass but my phone can't spell. I can. I also saved a bunch of money on my car insurance.

I see that your not at all amused with the comments regarding your iron find. Though referring to a member as an ass isn't the way to go about replying to experienced folks that have processed iron/dug iron for years. In digging holes for nearly 50 yrs I would side with the previous comments from the experienced members. The one being Cru and having the timeline that would put finds back to the iron age and having the experience in digging I would listen myself.
Really in reading the comments of the membership I really thought they were trying to be easy on you and the assumption of this being that old. Good luck on your dating the find, and I hope your dreams are true.
 

screwynewy

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If you really want to know whether its an iron age knife or just a rusty piece of metal why don't you consult with an archeologist instead of relying on the opinion of an "ol timer". The are a lot of Universities in NC with experts that would tell you exactly what it is. But my guess is that you are convinced that you know what you have and will continue to call anyone who doubts you (which is everyone except the "ol timer") an idiot or ass.
 

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geotaughtme

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The local mineralization was taken into account on the ballpark estimate. It was just to rule out a hundred year old anomaly from a nearby business. Thx Joe
 

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geotaughtme

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Heres two of the pics I found onliine that were similar and are Iron Age tools. I still cant find the one that was exact. They are the same size same works (razor sharp also) ironknife.jpg ironknife2.PNG
 

Scrappy

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Get the sheriff 'cause it's time to put the old gal down. Put this cow out to pasture.
 

joeyfresh

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America didn't have an Iron Age that I know of??? I've heard of copper culture but not an Iron Age. There were colonial era foundries but that's as old as it gets.
 

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unclemac

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America didn't have an Iron Age that I know of??? I've heard of copper culture but not an Iron Age. There were colonial era foundries but that's as old as it gets.

...we tried that approach already....
 

Jeff H

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Shame on me! If that is the case, I have thrown out COUNTLESS iron age artifacts over the years. If only I had known!
 

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