bracelet ends

[larson1951]

here are some bracelet ends
these are made from split elk antler which were boiled in buffalo fat after they were split to width and polished
the triangular pieces are the piece that is left over after as many pieces as possible were split
the remaining pieces were usually made into awls or some type of perforating tool
her are examples of the process
i think quito or coteau have access to a book with pictures of this
i hope one of them chimes in her with either a link or can copy and paste the pages i am talking about
they might be in Steinbreuck's book but i am not sure

 

[pickaway]

Great artifacts and info...

 

[Neogeo]

Awesome!

 

[flintdigger]

Very interesting artifacts.

 

[*Molly*]

Steve, those first bones look like the chest bones, the indians wore, you know lots of those type in rows on their chests? or aint they long enough?
I like um no matter what they were used for..

Molly.

 

[*Molly*]

P.S. Have I been watching too many westerns..lol.

 

[coteau]

Lars, I like these types of posts that show the manufacturing processes!

Starting on page 456, Steinbrueck illustrates bracelet manufacture in the following 100+ year old book:
http://books.google.com/books?id=LK...ty of north dakota&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

Beginning on page 13.31, the Scattered Village site report has some excellent pics and info also:
http://www.dot.nd.gov/manuals/environmental/scatteredvillage/ch13.pdf

 

[Jonzer]

More killer stuff from the Lars collection.
I've been looking at your area on google earth.
I can see the lay of the land and I understand why it's such a rich area.
Cant wait to try out my new Furry-mojo stick.
They are harvesting now. Won't be long.

 

[larson1951]

here are the images from the links and also a piece of elk antler which was in the process of being prepared to be split into bracelet segments

thank you Coteau!

 

[flintdigger]

That is a very interesting piece of antler Steve.

 

[larson1951]

hey molly
see the small bracelet ends are kinda the same ?
thanks for the compliments everyone

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Very cool looking pieces Steve and great info in the links by coteau.

Thanks for posting these guys.

 

[rginn]

Once again Larson, great post and info we might not be aware of. Molly, those are breastplates you're talking about and are made of hair pipe bone. Kind of a primitive armor. They didn't come into vogue until after the 1850's or so. I ain't no expert on it, but I read sometime back that Indians admired the bone pipe stems on the white men's pipes, and began putting them to their own use. These items were actually manufactured by Europeans for trade with the Indians. You can still get these today, the cheap plastic, and the actual bone. I don't know that the Indians ever actually made many of these, as you could obtain them in trade. Larson, who is an expert on this sort of thing, could probably clue us in.

 

[*Molly*]

I see now Steve. I guess mine are bracelets too then. That's neat. Nice to know what they are for sure.
Informative thread.

Molly.

 

[larson1951]

thanks much everyone

Molly,they are not from breast plates but i see why you might think that
i will try to go to a pawn shop tomorrow or so
they always have several of those so i can take a few pictures and then post some images for comparison
thanks again,
steve

 

[flintdigger]

Those braclet ends and the worked piece of antler are interesting. I have often wordered how long it would have taken them to make thing's like that.

 

[pickaway]

I want one...