What is this tool?

[druidity33]

I was told someone in this forum might know what this stone may have been used for. It was found near Put-In Bay in Ohio... directly across the lake from Rattlesnake island. I should've put a penny in the pics for scale but forgot. The irregular hexagon shape is roughly 3" in diameter and 5/8" thick at its thickest edge. When i first held it, it amazed me how many different ways i could hold it where it felt both narural in my hand but also useful in different ways. I have always imagined it to be a fletching tool (yes, i know modern ones use a hole not a notch) but i have also heard it couldd be an abrasion syone or a hatchet head. Anyone know for sure?

here's two pics:







a few more pics here:

http://homepage.mac.com/eclecticspecialist/littleflagart/PhotoAlbum48.html

[MADem]

1. No idea, but tell us, for edification's sake, what a fletching tool is!

Interesting object, at any rate....

[druidity33]

2. a fletcher

Is a tool that helps to make arrows. Sometimes it just helps to set in the feather strips, other times the tool is multifunctional (kinda like the original Leatherman tool)... it can help straighten the wood for the arrow, have a sharp edge for cutting a notch, or use the notch to skin bark... but i don't know that that is what this is. No one i've talked to has been able to say for certain or even say with near certainty what it is. Unlike an arrowhead this tool has not been "knapped" (chipped away at little by little to obtain a sharp edge).

I know it's special somehow, just don't know why.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. is it sandstone, or something harder?

can't tell from the pic. the edges look very rounded. any sharp edges?

[druidity33]

5. seems harder...

And there is one "sharpish" edge that has a chip in it... i think the bottom side on the second pic. How can i tell what type of stone it is? It was found on top of an old stone wall like you'd see here in New England. I picked it up because it had a slightly different hue than the other stones and it caught my eye. Also it seems pretty heavy for its size... denser rock maybe?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. Probably granite

basalt was used alot, but it's darker.

in view 3 it looks like the groove has a lot of wear.. I'm on a mission now to find anything that looks like it.

You might also look up ohio archeologist sites, during my surfing I saw that there is a local site for Put-in bay.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

11. have you done any experiments with it?

find a stick a little thicker around than a pencil, run it thru there and see what happens.

Roommate suggested maybe it's cold tool (not heated in fire) used for stripping bark, or polishing.

[MADem]

9. Thank you--ya learn something new every day!!!

Let us know what it is, if you ever find out about it!

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. arrow straightener...

you would heat the stone in the fire, wet the arrow, and run it through the groove or hole to "steam it" straight.

[Arkansas Granny]

7. Just using my imagination here, but it looks like it would be

useful for shaping or smoothing the shaft for an arrow. I found a picture of an arrow straightener here

http://www.kumeyaay.com/history/museum1.html

but it looks like the groove for the arrow is longer and would accommodate a greater length of the shaft than the tool you have found. The picture is kind of small.

At any rate, good find!

[druidity33]

10. thanks!

Interesting site you pointed me to. Well designed and useful.

When i first picked the stone up i felt sure it had something to do with arrows... a gut feeling more than anything else. I've been trying to find something similar looking for ages. Course i haven't spent any serious amount of time looking... just at museums, and every once in a while i'll google stone tools, and native tribes in Ohio region, but i still haven't really seen anything quite liike it.

[LiberalEsto]

8. Prehistoric Swiss army knife?

It looks like it has more than one use.

[htuttle]

12. If the inside of the notch were sharper, it might be good for skinning

Animal skinning tools often have a sharp 'hook' or notch like that to slip under the skin and make a long very shallow cut.

As it is, though, I'm not sure it would be sharp enough. Something made from bone or tusks/fangs would probably have worked better. :shrug:

on edit:
Since you mention it hasn't been sharpened, the notch might have also been for attaching some sort of cord or rope, to swing or otherwise hurl the stone.

[eppur_se_muova]

13. So you're near Put-in Bay? Is "World's Largest Geode" for real"?

Or is it more of a tourist trap?

[druidity33]

14. not really...

At the time i was working as a roadie and stage builder with an upstate NY company (mostly county fair stuff, some local venues and outdoor shows). We got a private gig with some country club/rich folk den on "Rattlesnake island"... we drove out there and stayed on the island for a couple of days while they had some fancy awards dinner on the outdoor stage we built for the occasion. When we broke the stage down and left, we had time to kill so we walked around Put-in Bay for awhile... didn't see the giant geode, though it wasn't at all hard to find a drink at around 10:30 AM as i recall. Wandering from the bar to the beach is where i found the stone... while singin a Clash song with my friend Johnny Mohawk... magical times... truly.

Now that i think about it the town was kinda snooty... i got a few comments about the dreadlocks i had (this was '93 so it wasn't quite as common), and i remember it reminded me of Long Island, NY and polo shirts.

this is radio clash on pirate satellite!

[sutz12]

15. The first pic looks like a....

cord threader. A crude and large 'needle' for poking holes and pulling leather thongs through hides. That is, of course if the indentation that looks like a hole goes all the way through. It kind looks like it does.

The second one looks like a cord puller. You wedge a cord in the slot, clamp down on it with your thumb against the flat surface and pull on it to tighten things like the 'strings' that hold a drum head on the body.

Both could be used in the manufacture of drums.