bone game pieces,.....MORE added 2-9-10, MORE on 2-19-10

[larson1951]

boring winter, shovel snow every sucking day
looking at boxes of stuff I forgot I had
found these shiny little bone game pieces that are engraved on both sides
what is your opinion of these markings?
thanks, Larson1951

 

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[coteau]

Re: bone game pieces

Maybe that hour glass design is a Viking symbol. I'm not really being serious. But the bird track design, the MMMMMM design, and the hour glass design on some of your artifacts look very similar to the Viking "alphabet".

The Vikings came to North America around 1000 years ago, and I know a lot of people believe that the Vikings "intermarried" with the natives. Some people believe that the Mandan's sophisticated architecture and the way some of their villages/towns were constructed, and so on, was a Viking influence. Of course, most professional archaeologists don't believe this and some attribute the technology to be a Mississippian influence.

Many of the early explorers who lived with the Mandans wrote that some of the Mandans looked European. Back then many believed (or wanted to believe) that the Mandans were Welsh Indians, descendants of Prince Madoc. George Catlin wrote that 1/6 of the tribe had light colored hair, blue eyes and oval faces. Personally, I don't believe the Vikings (or Prince Madoc) had any connection with the Mandans, but a lot of people in North Dakota like to talk about it. I always believed that some of the early French traders, and others, mixed with the Mandans and that could account for some of the physical characteristics noted by the early explorers. The smallpox epidemics of 1781-1782 and 1837-1838 killed most of the Mandans, but a few survived and there is nothing in their appearance, language or their oral history to suggest that they are descendants of the Vikings or Price Madoc. In addition, scientists can tell by the shape of the skulls that the Mandans were distinctly Native American and Siouan.

Here are Viking symbols and a link. Oh, by the way, this shouldn't be taken seriously, just for fun!

http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/index.html

 

[larson1951]

Re: bone game pieces

very interesting coteau, thanks much
does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

lars

 

[pickaway]

Re: bone game pieces

Those are amazing that culture was definately artistic as well the right one kinda looks like a sun motif just a guess...Do you think maybe they wouldve personlized thier game pieces?

 

[larson1951]

Re: bone game pieces

it sure does look like a sun to me
I am going to post a couple more pieces now
Lars

 

[larson1951]

Re: bone game pieces,.....MORE added 2-9-10

here are a few more with different markings
what do you think of these designs ? the one on the left has 2 arrows pointing in opposite directions towards the outer edge of the piece
lars

 

[pickaway]

Re: bone game pieces,.....MORE added 2-9-10

I think thier awesome...

 

[larson1951]

this is another one I found in a box with points & scrapers

the design on the back is the same symbol as the one on the first image
the design on the other side resembles the large game piece

 

[IndianRiverSonrise]

I thought the one on the right resembled an eye rather than the sun, but I can see that it could represent the sun.

boring winter, shovel snow every sucking day
looking at boxes of stuff I forgot I had
found these shiny little bone game pieces that are engraved on both sides
what is your opinion of these markings?
thanks, Larson1951

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Larson, I'd say that the one that you said has arrows on it might actually be 2 turkeyfoot designs. I know you said you had a Net Weight with a turkeyfoot design on it, so it would be plausible that they would put it on other items. In my area the Ft Ancient people used that design on a lot of their stone and pottery discs.

 

[Tnmountains]

Larson
I think that having to shovel this snow(sucking snow ) every day is the price you pay for the good days in summer where you cant walk in your fields with out tripping over fantastic artifacts.
Nice engraved bone and tell the Mrs's I said hello.
TnMtns

 

[larson1951]

tnmtns, caroline says hi

what does anyone think about the marking on the first and last image is?

2 different pieces with the same design
Larson1951