pottery plummet..may hint at use.

[GatorBoy]

I have heard of a couple of these... only a couple. I was lucky enough to find 1 of them. With all the debate and questions about the use of plummets I thought this was worth sharing. since most are made of stone or shell they are limited in the types of use that would be visible on their surface. I believe this rare artifact may be showing some information very rarely seen. I inhanced one of the photos to bring out small wear patterns that do not appear to be intentional. they look to me like cloth or cord impressions. Have a look..

 

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[unclemac]

boat stones for net weights and plummets for fishing lines with hooks....

 

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[newnan man]

I always thought they had something to do with looms. The looms needed weights to keep the vertical yarn straight. As far as fishing.....I tend to agree with Gator. A lot of work for a sinker when a lot of the shells laying around had holes in them already. Also the groove that holds the line wouldn't hold well enough to sling it out for fishing. Just my thoughts so I'm probably dead wrong!

 

[GatorBoy]

I had an entire thread About that same thing a while back. I agree. There is already artifacts to fill the slot for sinkers..atlatl weights..bola stones..pendants..but what about thread spinning tool? We know for a fact they spun thier thread. Even as a tool for one person to make cordage without being part of a loom makes perfect sence.

 

[TimeWaster]

I would think about what they were using for fishing line/net line if those were for fishing. I can't imagine getting 4lb trout line tied to that where it would stay on. I think if it were a fishing weight they would find most of them in the lake where they came off and sunk to the bottom. It just seems more logical to me that if I wanted a fishing weight, I'd just make something with a hole in it and be done. I think these things would have to be tied to an atl atl thrower or something along those lines. Even as a plumb bob, it just doesn't seem like you could tie anything on there that would hold. Cool stuff though!

 

[rock]

Thinking out of the box....What about a lure? Put some feathers on it and drag it to ya. Just kidding I dont think they had lures or did they?

 

[unclemac]

a lot of these did have holes....

CACHE OF GODAR PLUMMETS
CALHOUN COUNTY, ILLINOIS

I mean common...just look at these lead ones...look familiar?

 

[GatorBoy]

Do you really think they were fishing with those beautiful pieces? I doubt it. If we were shooting for the obvious we would just call them plumb bobs.. because that's where the name came from. This is a personal find of mine.. it has a groove on both the top and the bottom.. neither of which would have worked to hold on to a fish of any size. I think what you pictured are a totally different artifact mistakenly categorized under the same name because as of yet nobody knows better. It looks like what they actually found with that cache is evedence of a loom..not a tackle box. ..and also..they predominant method of fishing here was with nets. Have you ever heard of a plummit being found in Association With a fish hook? Here is a quick read. Google scholar.... HTTP://cat.lnist.from/?aModele=affichen&cpsidt=25262452. I don't just make this stuff up

 

[Gold Maven]

I bet it's hard to cut up a mastodon with a pointy stick.

My memory is failing me, but I believe these were recognized as part of the spinning process, to make thread.

 

[GatorBoy]

Look at this artifact found at the Hoko site.



Then there are these artifacts from Europe referred to as loom weights.

 

[GatorBoy]

Those were for spinning single thread. once the single threads were made they were spun together in pairs. With one of these . another artifact like the plummet that was given its name.."gorget" because that's what it resembled to a European. Having nothing to do With its actual function.. And confusing people For many years.

 

[newnan man]

Those plummets are highly polished and show that a lot of time went into making them. No way they would do that and then chunk one out for fishing. They really don't need to be that fancy for use on a loom either. The mystery continues...............

 

[GatorBoy]

They may have used the same loom for generations..There is no reason why they may not have embellished on them. I'm sure those fancy ones were found at a well established permanent site.

 

[GatorBoy]

Just google loom weight artifact images and it will look like you're looking at a bunch of plummets and gorgets.

 

[GatorBoy]

 

[Age_old]

Wow, nice job Gator

 

[Martingeetars]

Interesting topic, I have a plummet from florida made of stone of some sort with a fish head carved on it! Why a fish head you may ask if not related to fishing, I don't have an awnser.

 

[GatorBoy]

I've also seen them with duck heads on them. what would you make of that? Please post a photo of yours.

 

[GatorBoy]

Wow, nice job Gator

Thanks

 

[tomclark]

Plummets from Hillsborough Co, FL from a mound on Baker Creek North side of Lake Thonotosassa. Gatorboy I'm trying to find my pottery plummet!!! It's in the bins!

 

[Age_old]

Plummets from Hillsborough Co, FL from a mound on Baker Creek North side of Lake Thonotosassa. Gatorboy I'm trying to find my pottery plummet!!! It's in the bins!

Wow, cool stuff Tom. Maybe the bottom three are supposed to be manatees.