Bar Amulet

[Jonzer]

About 8 years ago I found the small piece and today the rest! Stoked!

 

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[ClovisOak]

Awesome find(s)! Congrats doing Illinois proud. Find some more

 

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[Argentium]

Ok , I'm still actively engaged here , and to those who responded to my plea for information ( and those of the other two ) Thank You !
however , I must say , the information was so murky - really vague in fact ! which begs my question - How is it that so many responders
are over the moon for this ?, when by your own admission, nobody is really confident about what this is, what it means , what the use
was - pragmatic/ shamanic / ? Can somebody please give me some information here ? Am I the only one who is mystified here - really

 

[63bkpkr]

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/north-american-artifacts/205708-bar-amulet.html

Congratulations on the complete find!
Learned something new today, had no idea what a "bar-amulet" is, thought of something like a necklace of beer can rings... hahaha.

Interesting item, never heard of these before, guessing they would be used for grinding. Before I looked it up it reminded me of, now don't hate me, a toilet paper holder and that's about as bad as a neklace of beer can rings. From the content of the other posts the Indian Artificat group know what it is and I'm with many others on this part, finding the other part means you must have been being very good in your life! Congrats on the reunion....................63bkpkr

 

[larson1951]

nice to see up on the banner mr jonzer boy
thank you for allowing your larson atmojo pro flippin' stick to help
good doggy...roof roof!

keep pickin'

larson1951

 

[IlliniGuy]

Jonzer, I congratulate you on an amazing find. To call this a rare find is an understatement and as an Illinois collector, I am thrilled to see it now as complete. Argentium, I can understand your frustration but Archaeology is not an exact science. Many things are still unknown and many always will be. One thing is for sure......I wish I had found it!

 

[1320]

Ok , I'm still actively engaged here , and to those who responded to my plea for information ( and those of the other two ) Thank You !
however , I must say , the information was so murky - really vague in fact ! which begs my question - How is it that so many responders
are over the moon for this ?, when by your own admission, nobody is really confident about what this is, what it means , what the use
was - pragmatic/ shamanic / ? Can somebody please give me some information here ? Am I the only one who is mystified here - really

I feel your pain....everytime I see a George Washington button up on the banner I scratch my head. The reasons for being over the moon on this piece are because no one knows what it is, what it means and what the use was. We know that it was hand made with great care several thousand years ago and so few examples of the form exist. On the other hand, we know what a button is , its' purpose, how it was made and how old it is......so why not get excited over this piece?! Seems to me like you're debating whether this piece is banner worthy......which in my opinion is a fair question however, one of the first banner votes came from a member who is known throughout the artifact world on a global scale, chances are you don't recognize his name. We he gets over the moon on an artifact, it has a ripple effect and rightly so.

 

[old digger]

Congratulatins on an exemplary find!

 

[Jonzer]

I really appreciate all the compliments you have all given me on this find. I have major respect for a few of you on here and and feel overwhelmed by your praise. Thank you. The spot this amulet came from is about 2 acres of dozed out trees. Ground that has never been hunted, as far as anyone knows. I plan on devoting some time to this patch of ground.

 

[GatorBoy]

Find a good spot for your tent!
Huge congratulations on that Super find!!

 

[bryanleemc]

Very cool and thanks to everyone who explained for us laymen!

 

[Hippy]

Ok , I'm still actively engaged here , and to those who responded to my plea for information ( and those of the other two ) Thank You !
however , I must say , the information was so murky - really vague in fact ! which begs my question - How is it that so many responders
are over the moon for this ?, when by your own admission, nobody is really confident about what this is, what it means , what the use
was - pragmatic/ shamanic / ? Can somebody please give me some information here ? Am I the only one who is mystified here - really

Unfortunately you're never going to get an answer that gives you the exact use. There are no records of these items being used which is why they are called prehistoric. Much of the reason we know how some of the Native Americans used items is because of the accounts of early Spanish explorers in the Americas. They detailed accounts of how artifacts were being used to some extent. However, in the case of bar amulets and birdstones, their use had long since disappeared by the time the Spanish were exploring. Why their use disappeared is as much of a mystery as how they were used. Apparently the traditions weren't adopted by the next culture for some reason.

Okay, now that we're clear on that, I'll give you a few schools of thought for their use. Some believe they were either used as handles or weights for the atlatl. The atlatl is the ancient spear throwing "machine" which consisted of a foreshaft, a shaft, a handle, a hook, and probably a bannerstone or some other weight. They used weights on the atlatl to increase the force applied when swinging hte atlatl. It's simple physics that applying weight to the moment arm will increase the velocity of the spear. Experimental archaeology shows that adding weight has an impact to velocity. Also, since bannerstones were found in context with buried atlatl hooks which lead to the conclusion that adding weight was needed. Anyway, back to the bar amulet; it's been theorized that the holes in the end of the bar were for suspension to the atlatl. Or, since the shape of the amulet is somewhat like a handle, they were used as a handle for the atlatl. To my knowledge, there hasn't been a bar amulet recovered in a good enough context to make a better judgement for their use. They are attributed to a culture that only lasted for a short time (maybe 500 years) so there's not a lot of evidence to go on.

The reason they are called bar amulets is because early collectors often theorized about their use and assigned names to objects. The collectors knew they were Indian and the most functional thing they could come up with is they were used for jewely or charms which lead them to the name amulet. An amulet, by definition, is a charm or ornament often worn around the neck sometimes thought to ward off evil or injury. There could be some creedence to the idea of them being jewelry as the holes often show wear from being tied on to something. After wearing one of these as jewelry in the movement of the amulet on a string would cause wear in the holes.

In summary, you're never going to get a definitive answer to their use. Why are they so rare? Well, honestly, there weren't many of them made. In contrast to coins which have records of quantity of production, there are no records for these items. No one knows how many exist. I probably know hundreds if not thousands of collectors and I have only known 3 people that have found one whole or broken. Maybe that will give you some idea of their rarity. Now speaking for value, even a small hardstone bar amulet is quite valuable. A friend of mine has two that he purchased that are smaller and not as well made and he's asking $2500 each for them. Also, a friend of mine owned the best hardstone bar amulet known to be found and he let that one go for $10,000. I don't think you could buy it back now for anything under $15k.

Hopefully that gives you some idea of use, rarity, and value. Value is highly subjective and out of respect I wont begin to try and assign a value to Jonzer's find. I'll just say that I would love to have it!!!!!

Here's a link to another picture of one made of slate: http://www.nmai.si.edu/searchcollec...811&objtype=Hunting/Fishing/Warfare&objid=Bar amulet (throwing stick/atlatl weight)

Hippy

 

[Jonzer]

Here is the back story. About 8 years ago I found the little end. I had no idea what it was so I put in one of my cases with my other "brokes". I had a plummet, a nearly whole Agate Basin, and some other miscellaneous nicely crafted "brokes" in that case. Never having anything really to brag about. I took the case to a show in Mason City IL where I met Hippy and Mooch. They told me all that they knew about what the piece was and were very excited to see it. I had no idea that it was even an artifact. It was too perfect and looked modern. Anyway, last week while stumbling around picking up roots and debitage from a freshly dozed row of apple trees, the other, and biggest piece emerged. I instantly knew I had the other "half" at home in my case. I cant even tell you how long that 20 mile ride back to my house was.... And of course, I already knew that it would match. It was the best feeling Ive ever had finding an artifact. I still cant believe what I am holding in my hand right now. Wow.

 

[GatorBoy]

That was so awesome to read just now!
Makes me want to put my headlamp on and go!
Thanks for sharing that.

 

[Wildcat1750]

Now that's what I call closure! Congratulations on an amazing BANNER find!!!

 

[larson1951]

Here is the back story. About 8 years ago I found the little end. I had no idea what it was so I put in one of my cases with my other "brokes". I had a plummet, a nearly whole Agate Basin, and some other miscellaneous nicely crafted "brokes" in that case. Never having anything really to brag about. I took the case to a show in Mason City IL where I met Hippy and Mooch. They told me all that they knew about what the piece was and were very excited to see it. I had no idea that it was even an artifact. It was too perfect and looked modern. Anyway, last week while stumbling around picking up roots and debitage from a freshly dozed row of apple trees, the other, and biggest piece emerged. I instantly knew I had the other "half" at home in my case. I cant even tell you how long that 20 mile ride back to my house was.... And of course, I already knew that it would match. It was the best feeling Ive ever had finding an artifact. I still cant believe what I am holding in my hand right now. Wow.

yup you said it jonzer
still got a good one goin' over this once in a lifetime find
now let's go write a guitar song about this w/yer new strato

larson1951

 

[Pancake]

Awesome find and great to see it up on the banner.

 

[catherine1]

Nice save finding both pieces. Patience is the best virtue. Amazing artifact!!!!!

 

[HutSiteDigger]

That is super awesome find! I just have a quick question. Now i am 100% sure you would never ever sell this. But let's say 30 years from now your kid or grandkid wants too sell it. For say $15,000. They find out it was clued back together. Does at all this hurt the value any such way? I have the slightest idea but I think it looks awesome clued back together.

 

[Breezie]

FANTASTIC find and totally AWESOME you found the matching piece 8 yrs. later! CONGRATULATIONS on making a well deserved BANNER.

Breezie
PS: Beautiful daughter and granddaughter!

 

[Mooch]

Here is one of my bar amulets that was pictured on the back of the last Prehistoric American. It measures 7 inches long from Jackson Co, Ala