Shell Tools - Florida

[tomclark]

 

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[newnan man]

I do like the shell pendants with the figures carved in them. I've only seen pics and some in museums. Newnans, Marions, Hillsboroughs rule!!!

 

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[steve71]

i can tell you dont know much about indian artifacts.shells with holes are everwhere but not all are artifacts.soft material?oystershell is pretty dang hard.i have shells that are a million years old.my stones beads flint artifacts and shell artifacts are awesome thank you.they had to use shells as tools where i'm from becouse there is no natural flint for at least 20-30 miles.

Oh Almighty Oz of the Artifact world please forgive my ignorance! Actually I'm not as dumb as you think, I just like busting Tom because he is "The Shellman". He also has a super collection of other artifacts. He too has a great sense of humor. I just find shell tools boring but respect others opinions.
As far as being 20-30 miles from the nearest source of chert/flint it is well known that Native Americans traveled and traded far and wide for the desired stone they used. I'm sure in your area that shell artifacts were the no.1 source of tools because of their abundance. Rest assured those same people had stone and used it up to a nub before discarding it. I have an artifact found in Ross Co. Ohio made of Knife river Flint from S. Dakota. As you know many exotic materials used by prehistoric cultures were found literally thousands of miles from their source.
To be sure they used mostly local stuff but could and did receive materials from far and wide. Just some thoughts from an ignoramus! P.S. Use spell check next time!;

no one said you were ignorant.thinking oysters in a halfshell at a bar are the same as artifacts is pretty ignornant.i never claimed to know much but i know that.see i dont know much becouse i thought KRF was from north dakota.spell check is for people who give a chit.i dont care if i dont know how to spell.i'm not here to impress anyone. almighty oz has spoken,lol .anyone can use spell check it dont make you smarter.

 

[tomclark]

Found another Macrocallista (SunRay Venus Clam) Shell Knife. At the site I found it most are worked the distal third of the shell edge for some reason. At other sites they are worked the entire edge. Found in an area of a zillion scallop shells and soft type clams. I think they were used to cut the "scallop" muscle off the shell, as well as for general cutting of conchmeat and fish-scaling.

Trying to get a better pic of the edgework, something some people would miss, muhaha.

Oh yeah, and a Florida point type that's found with shells with holes. Gonna soak it in oil a few hours/days....

 

[Hill Billy]

I have to find my shell finds and post them for you.Maybe you could tell me what they were used for Tom.Nice point you have there.Is it a Sarasota?
HB

 

[tomclark]

It's a Duval. The site has Columbia, Sarasota, Pinellas and Duvals mostly. Post yur shell stuff! Shell is becoming real popular on this site!

 

[archaeon]

shell is cool. the very fact that it's a soft material makes it more rare to find in pristine shape. the coastal people had a shell technology that was awesome. here is a hammer that was in the process of being made. the notch was roughly beat out of the edge and the hole for the haft was being pecked out. most people wouldn't notice this dimple in the side for what it is, but after you stare at shell on the ground for so long, you pick up little things about them and start seeing work where you never saw it before. you start looking at all the shells a little harder.
to me it's not the value of the artifact, i see a little work done to the edge of a shell to make it sharper and i see time spent by a timuccuan making a tool. there is energy to it, just like points. the tool started as food shell(collected by hand), had a life as a tool, and you see it hundreds of years later..alot of labor in that one shell.

 

[tomclark]

by all rights and all that is holey, that brown baybottom belong to me! weh! muhaha.

 

[archaeon]

you know it's in your case

 

[Hill Billy]

Well guys,here are all of the shell tools I can seem to find right now.I have some conch hammers but there packed up somewhere.Any ideas what the little piece was used for?Actually what were the uses for each of them?Nice stuff Tom and Nick and Steve. Thanks HB

 

[tomclark]

nice, hb! the one right top looks like a spoon to me. The middle one a celt. I don't know about the columnella...

 

[Hill Billy]

I noticed handling these items that a white chalk comes off of them.Any way to preserve them?

 

[tomclark]

per Thornton "Dr. Gomer" Pyles:

We use Duco glue and Acetone for all our sealing needs both personally and for customers in the majority of situations. I am sending our sealing recipe for dried artifacts. The mixing can be changed if one prefer's different finishes. The finish we prefer is basically obtained by mixing one tube of glue per a pint of Acetone. One gallon of Acetone plus 8 tubes of glue should give you enough solution to dip this artifact in. You leave the artifact in the soultion untill it quits fizzing or bubbling. When you take it out it will dry very quickly and can even be held while it dries. If one has any whitening to appear from moisture still trapped inside one can lightly wipe the areas with Acetone to get rid of. This sealing will not change the looks of the artifact. So however it looks now that is how it will look when done. Only if it is dipped more than once will the outside finish change. Hope this helps. If it ends up being more than you bargained for we can do it for you.....Gomer

The Duco glue is sold at Wal-Marts, etc. It is in a green and yellow colored tube and costs about $1.29 a tube. This gives pretty much exactly the same results as Butvar and Acetone that Universities use." Butvar leaves a nasty shiney look to everything you use it on! Use the duco acetone mix!

 

[archaeon]

you beat me to it! 8)

 

[Hill Billy]

What was the use for the so called columnella?Thanks for the glue recipe.

 

[archaeon]

columnellas were used for chisels, "peckers"(rounded ends to make holes in shells), and plummets.
after many years in the water, or from people walking on them, the shells would break up, leaving the center spire, or columnella. The one you found looks like one of these...some sites we go to have thousands of them. now, sometimes, we find columnellas that are very smooth, ground down to points, and they may have been used as awls.