🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Knife w/bone handle, who made it?

digi-shots

Jr. Member
Aug 6, 2022
63
85
Virginia
I got this a few years back, seller had no info on it.

The handle portion is made of bone.. you can see the marrow on the very top. The blade is a bit crude and could possibly be made from a file? Or car leaf spring?

The bone handle feels very different from most bone….
it is cold to the touch and has a glass or ceramic feel to it.

It has a Polynesian or perhaps Inuit look to it. The very top does not appear to be broken and looks like it could be used as a spoon.

Knife and spoon?

Thanks for looking and your comments!
 

Attachments

  • 07252E55-B0DA-4E38-BC2B-023368BE5519.jpeg
    07252E55-B0DA-4E38-BC2B-023368BE5519.jpeg
    639.7 KB · Views: 96
  • 6599D5D0-4FFC-4158-8A7B-DE293EF05089.jpeg
    6599D5D0-4FFC-4158-8A7B-DE293EF05089.jpeg
    900.6 KB · Views: 50
  • 8CDE26EB-95DA-4414-B0E9-8BAD53EBAB5B.jpeg
    8CDE26EB-95DA-4414-B0E9-8BAD53EBAB5B.jpeg
    280.8 KB · Views: 53
  • 9AEB58C4-496A-43C1-B176-200F8390D618.jpeg
    9AEB58C4-496A-43C1-B176-200F8390D618.jpeg
    661.9 KB · Views: 49
  • 9338BD17-8FBB-4565-8E01-6D78081418D8.jpeg
    9338BD17-8FBB-4565-8E01-6D78081418D8.jpeg
    609 KB · Views: 50
  • 379B53B3-1F10-439C-80AC-6564BD71C711.jpeg
    379B53B3-1F10-439C-80AC-6564BD71C711.jpeg
    697.7 KB · Views: 46
  • E5AD47DC-47C7-4309-A4E9-87F96D74316D.jpeg
    E5AD47DC-47C7-4309-A4E9-87F96D74316D.jpeg
    278.8 KB · Views: 49
  • 7D2E10D3-BCE9-4FDE-AD45-FB801C2237FE.jpeg
    7D2E10D3-BCE9-4FDE-AD45-FB801C2237FE.jpeg
    751.5 KB · Views: 52
Last edited:

villagenut

Gold Member
Oct 18, 2014
5,760
10,248
florida
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
As old and used that the blade looks, the bone handle has no wear patination or surface loss. Could be a married handle and blade.Cool knife though.
 

Upvote 1
OP
OP
D

digi-shots

Jr. Member
Aug 6, 2022
63
85
Virginia
Interesting shim… looks fairly new…

Most bone pieces I’ve seen almost look like ivory and has a nice soft feel… this handle is cold and feels like ceramic or glass.

The “circle-dot” carving is found all over the world.
 

Upvote 0

Back-of-the-boat

Gold Member
Apr 18, 2013
6,883
8,500
California
Detector(s) used
AT GOLD/Garrett /C.Scope cs4PI/Garrett(carrot) pro pointer/ 5x8 double d coil and sniper coil/Lesche digger/Lesche "T" handle shovel.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
The blade almost looks like it has a concave center. It could have started it's life as a lot longer blade.
 

Upvote 0

unclemac

Gold Member
Oct 12, 2011
7,009
6,893
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I think perhaps this knife has been extensively cleaned and thus any patina is scrubbed off along with rust when it was polished and resharpened. Are all those circles exactly the same size, as in, made with the same etching tool? It looks more Sami or Scandinavian to me. I would also suggest it is not ancient but rather, it was made out of convenient materials by someone who used it (fishing?) and had skills to craft crude but serviceable tools. 100 or so years ago, that would have been just about anyone living on a farm or the coast in the winter. Farmers today are still pretty handy with fixing and modifying.
 

Upvote 2

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top