Large broken knife?

[IMAUDIGGER]

Found in the 60's. In N. Cal.
Is it a large blade of some sort? My naive first impression was that it was a large spear head intended to intimidate. Seems too large to be very practical.

 

[welsbury]

I'd say it was a broken hafted knife.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I wonder what the heck they would do with such a heavy large knife?
I guess cutting grass or something similiar, you would want a longer blade and to be strong, it might need to be larger.
Somebody abused it that's for sure. You don't ever pry with the tip of a knife

Definitely an uncommon find in my area. Most every piece of worked obsidian is small which makes sense given the nomadic style..pack light.

 

[welsbury]

That piece would have given them a lot to work with. It was strong and you could get many resharpenings out of it. Plus having a bigger knife was a plus for their ego i'll bet.

 

[excorcist]

Id say drill /awl

 

[quito]

Halfted scraper my guess.

 

[dognose]

Could it be a large hand drill, with the drill tip broke off?

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

In the first picture you can see the straight even edge on the left side. Right is similiar.
Love to know how they did that.
The back side doesn't have that same edge. It's almost unworked.

 

[welsbury]

Here is pic of a piece that I have that made me think hafted knife. Kinda crude almost uni on one side.Mine has quite a lot of use wear on edges. Yours doesn't look quite finished like it was broken in process with tip gone.I have another back or two somewhere that are similar. Who knows I sure don't

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Here is pic of a piece that I have that made me think hafted knife. Kinda crude almost uni on one side.Mine has quite a lot of use wear on edges. Yours doesn't look quite finished like it was broken in process with tip gone.I have another back or two somewhere that are similar. Who knows I sure don't

Nice find. Be neat to see how they carried their knives. It always surprises me how primitive they were compared to other developed parts of the world.

They sure left a chunk of workable obsidian laying around. Maybe if it broke it was deemed weak material.

 

[ToddsPoint]

That piece started out as a core struck blade, rectangular, flat on one side, worked on the other. The end of it was then worked down to a point. I agree with awl. Gary

 

[GB Paleo]

I also think it is a broken Awl/Drill

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Ok I think I finally get what you all are saying.

The large width gave leverage for the drilling action.
It may have been wrapped in hide to protect the hands.
Much less broken off that I was envisioning. That makes sense from a practical point of view.
So the tip could have been worked some more and resharpened if they wanted?

 

[excorcist]

Ok I think I finally get what you all are saying.
View attachment 1687807
The large width gave leverage for the drilling action.
It may have been wrapped in hide to protect the hands.
Much less broken off that I was envisioning. That makes sense from a practical point of view.
So the tip could have been worked some more and resharpened if they wanted?

Exactly, I should have noted it was broken. Have found very similar pieces in Northern NV.. rarely found in tact as the "point" is obviously very fragile. I will also say I have never seen one that large, but I can imagine some applications required it.

 

[joshuaream]

But compared to the penny, that thing is comically huge. No clue what it was used for, boat oar?

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

It stands out in my dad's collection as being unique.