Arrowhead in bone

[txfire]

This was given to me by a friend when I was a kid. Obviously he didn't know what he had and I never found out where it was found. It's been in a display case at my parent's for 20 years. Can somebody tell me what kind of point it is and what kind of bone it may be, I know its a spinal bone but I hope it's not human. I don't think I could ever sell it but I do wonder what it's worth.

 

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[jeff a]

alot of these were made up for tourists out west during the 50 s and 60s ,ive seen two types one with an authentic point and some have fake points ,the most value you will have is in the point its self

 

[Tnmountains]

That is way cool. I hope its real. Have onle seen one in bose and that one healed around the point. That was a killing blow I imagine. Lets see what some of the others say. Thanks for sharing it. I wish I knew more !

 

[Tnmountains]

It does resemble an upper human vertebrae. What is interesting is there seems to be an impact fracture at the base of the blade. That is common fracture when a spear was thrust into its target. I think if you were to get closer lighter pictures of the embedded point we may be able to get identify point type and possibly get some of the Doctors and Archeologist on here to give their opinions. I am a layman in these areas. It may be human and it could possibly have been stuck in for sale. Be aware that here at least I am not allowed to pick up human bones but it may be grandfathered in due to its age.

 

[unitas]

I LIKE IT!--real or tourist trade it's still pretty sweet and a great conversation piece.

 

[jbones1]

killer i love it. can i have it. lol

 

[creek astronaut]

cool piece,thx for sharing the pics

 

[txfire]

While I have you guys, can anyone identify any of these points. The bottom pic has bison teeth identified by Texas A&M. We found them in my front yard.

 

[pickaway]

That is a neat piece,hope it turns out to be real...

 

[Guamg8r]

Your arrow

This was given to me by a friend when I was a kid. Obviously he didn't know what he had and I never found out where it was found. It's been in a display case at my parent's for 20 years. Can somebody tell me what kind of point it is and what kind of bone it may be, I know its a spinal bone but I hope it's not human. I don't think I could ever sell it but I do wonder what it's worth.

It appears to be the first lumbar bone of an American bison. The arrow is typical flint used by A plains indian. Perhaps Apachee but not sure. It is basically a broad tipped arrow used for big game.

There are all sorts of videos on you tube showing their penetration power and even one that showed it to be superior to modern broad tipped arrows.

The angle of incident through right superior pedicel approximately 1/2 inch into the spinal canal suggests that the shooter was mounted on a horse. This means it was fired between 500 (when Spanish reintroduced the horse to North America) and about 120 years ago (when domestication and firearms negated this method of hunting)

All this is assuming that it is real and not a, "reproduction" popular from the 5o's when car loads of tourist would travel to the old west in search of, " real artifacts" while in vacation.

One of the best ways to tell is to see if you can physically remove the arrow by hand. If you can then it's almost positively a fake. Why would an indian leave a valuable tip in the bone?

If it stayed in the bone and the bison lived- unlikely- then the bone would grow around the wound.

If it is between 500-120 years ago and it was outside all that time before it was found, particularly if it was buried then the petrification process would have begun turning the bone to rock or dust. You can look at where the flint and bone meet and see if there is an exchange of ions that looks like the flint is becoming part of the rock and vice versa. The older the bone the longer the line. It should be uniform in shape.

There are examples of Greek arm bones being hit by arrow tips from 2500 years ago in which this line looks like it was painted solid along the entire point of contact. Your sample should not be so prominent being as that it is only a few hundred years old if real. Not saying that it is.

Please provide more detailed pictures showing the point if contact magnified with a better lighting source.

 

[Guamg8r]

100% sure it is not human, 100% sure bovine more than likely American Bison.
99% sure it's the first lumbar

The rest I wrote is logical speculation assuming its real. Need more pictures.

 

[curious kat]

....If that's real...Awesome! If it's not...still nice!

 

[Gold Maven]

What a cool artifact if it is real.

The upper right pic. shows flaking that looks like a fake point. Hard to tell for sure. hope it's real.

 

[larson1951]

welcome to the tnet mr txfire

larson1951

 

[monsterrack]

JMO look on the inside where the point comes out, if this is a real item it will show a blow out of bone form the impact. I hate to tell you though, there is a lot of reproduction piece like this out there and I know because I made a bunch of them. If it is real and there is not many that are, it will be worth a lot. I would have someone that knows about such items take a look at it ,or better photos would help. It's a cool item

 

[Harry Pristis]

I think it's wise to be skeptical of this piece. If the spear point has been planted, it may be glued in place -- look under magnification for traces of glue . . . . And, it would be a spear/dart point, not an arrow point, because of its size (too heavy for an arrow).

As for the bone itself, it is an axis, the second cervical (neck) vertebra. It appears to be from an artiodactyl such as a deer (I'm betting that the actual dimensions will prove it to be too small for a bison).

I know of no 'exchange of ions' between bone and stone that occurs during the process of 'petrification.' If you see any evidence of the merging of bone and stone, you're probably seeing Elmer's Glue.

Some (relatively few) bones are preserved by being mineralized - that is, by becoming impregnated with or replaced by minerals.

Bone is primarily composed of hydroxyapatite and collagen. Hydroxyapatite is an inorganic compound of calcium, phosphate, and hydroxide which is organized in a crystal latticework that gives bone (and teeth) structural rigidity. It preserves well under some conditions (e.g. cave deposits).

Collagen is a fibrous protein that serves as connective tissue in bones and muscles. It does not preserve well.

After collagen decomposes, it may be replaced in the hydroxyapatite latticework by minerals from the depositional environment (e.g. silica dioxide dissolved in groundwater). Silicified bones are common in silica-rich Florida rivers. That is not an ionic process, as I understand ions.

Bone reinforced with exogenous minerals is said to be "mineralized."

A 'burn test' or 'match test' will usually indicate whether there is collagen remaining in a bone -- scorched collagen has a 'burning hair' smell. Hold a butane lighter flame to an inconspicuous part of the bone for 5 seconds or so. (Teeth - dentin and enamel - contain hydroxyapatite, but don't contain much collagen, so the 'burn test' on a tooth would be a waste of time.)

 

[Jon Stewart]

That is a tough one to call. I would think the tip of the point would be crushed a little after going thru bone. The tip on that point looks to be pretty sharp/pointy (if that is a word).

Just an observation.

 

[tomclark]

Agreed with Harry. It's an AXIS/Epistropheus/C2, the second cervical vertebra. Of a quadruped mammal boom.

 

[yakker]

This was posted in 2010... I think txfire is long gone-- it was Guamg8r that picked up the thread. I'm I wrong? I'm so confused... Yakker

 

[Charl]

This was posted in 2010... I think txfire is long gone-- it was Guamg8r that picked up the thread. I'm I wrong? I'm so confused... Yakker

You're right. Lately, got to look at the dates as a great many old threads are coming up...