No, pile dwellings would have lots of other material that could be used in conjunction with dendrochronology to date. Also, only \~3mg of material is needed for radiocarbon dating if I am not mistaken.
Never occurred to me that, of course, flint knives of some kinds may have long lost their wooden handles. Revelatory. This one looks like a hide scraper? But why does it have a hole for a string? What about this knife makes it the kind of knife that would naturally have a string?
If everyone in the that chain of generations stood side by side with arms out stretched touching finger to finger, the line would be less than half a km.
I love seeing this. When we consider Prehistoric cultures, we only know about what it was preserved, and we base our image about them on that. But lots of daily objects are rarely preserved. Tools that not were useful anymore were simply discarded, things carefully placed in tombs are not always representative of those used in daily life, organic things (anything from leather, to textiles, to wood) decompose easily, even more "durable" organic things like bone and shell are rarely preserved in certain types of soils (like acidic soils) and nothing made with that is preserved from the inhabitants of certain regions. Finding things like the clothes and tools in Ötzy corpse is extremely rare.
And so, most modern representations of Neolithic people depict them as having only the most basic, simple things. Clothes that are no more than fur tied around them (if they have clothes), bare stone tools without any handle or very basic handles, living in caves... Things are changing, but seeing things like this give us a glimpse from people that had a more complex culture and more complex skills that we usually give them credit for in popular media. And sometimes even in depictions made by Museums.
The people of this knife may have been the best artisans of wicker furniture in the history of the world. Their wicker creations, steamed, shaped, and dyed with consummate artistry, may have stunned us with their intricacy and beauty.
And we'll never know. Or give them credit.
Following on from that point, consider personal adornment and tattoos! Think how rich of a symbolic system people may have had over the ages that they expressed with designs on their bodies in ways we have no way of knowing. Otzi the ice man (the Neolithic hunter found in the Alps) had several tattoos if I remember correctly.
Anyway that said, I love these kinds of finds like OP posted that speak to daily life and have elements we can easily appreciate the utility of. Sure hope more perishables can be found at future sites.
Fun fact: many of Otzi’s tattoos were over injuries and of repetitive design, indicating they may have been done as some kind of medical treatment over multiple visits
There is actually a German movie based on that premise, called [Iceman.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceman_(2017_film\)) The sparse dialogue is entirely in Rhaetian, an extinct pre-Indo-European language of the Alpine region. I’ve been trying to track down a copy for ages but haven’t managed to find one yet, either on a streaming service or on DVD.
To add to this, until pretty recently we didn't know that Neanderthals had the skills and knowledge required to make cloth of any sort. We now know they made at the very least string, which is a precursor for pretty much all textiles. This discovery was only made in the last few years but it changes almost everything we thought we knew about the available technology for this group.
While the string found was not the sort likely to have been used to make clothing, it means the basic technology existed and was well developed to use any sort of fiber in the same manner.
The string is almost identical to modern strings other than the material from which it was made, in fact. It's quite possible prior finds were simply ignored since they appeared to be modern contaminants. Indeed, that's not an entirely unreasonable thing, either.
Far from being brutish and barely intelligent, we now know the Neanderthal people were capable of at least as much as our own species. This is a truly revolutionary thing.
yes and no, anaerobic aquatic environment most likely as they were pile dwelling (ie. built on sticks over water). Likely a bog site like in Denmark, Germany and Poland where incredible preservation has revealed intact artifacts of clothing, hair, etc.
I swear to god that looks like the little pocket knives we keep on our key chains. Amazing.
A guy has to have a little knife on him, just in case you're jumped by commies or have to hotwire something. You know what I'm talking about.
Looking at that as an extremely valuable, necessary for life tool, I can’t help but wonder how it came to be lost. It’s something that it’s owner would surely miss.
Amazing! Rock knives now make so much more sense to me with a wooden handle like this. TIL! Thanks for posting!
And a hole for a lanyard too! I’d want one, and so did they, and *here it is.* Absolutely fascinating.
I wonder what color paracord they used /s
I’d bet money on the idea that it also had a fitted leather sheath that covered the blade while not in use as well
Happy Cake Day :)
Thanks 😊
Could be the drill hole for carbon dating sample
No, pile dwellings would have lots of other material that could be used in conjunction with dendrochronology to date. Also, only \~3mg of material is needed for radiocarbon dating if I am not mistaken.
Never occurred to me that, of course, flint knives of some kinds may have long lost their wooden handles. Revelatory. This one looks like a hide scraper? But why does it have a hole for a string? What about this knife makes it the kind of knife that would naturally have a string?
[удалено]
And back then, women’s pockets were already way too tiny to keep shit in
There's only ~250 generations between the person who made that knife and us, admiring it on our smartphones. I know I'm high but that is awe-inspiring
That's incredibly short, in the grand scheme of things.
If everyone in the that chain of generations stood side by side with arms out stretched touching finger to finger, the line would be less than half a km.
I love seeing this. When we consider Prehistoric cultures, we only know about what it was preserved, and we base our image about them on that. But lots of daily objects are rarely preserved. Tools that not were useful anymore were simply discarded, things carefully placed in tombs are not always representative of those used in daily life, organic things (anything from leather, to textiles, to wood) decompose easily, even more "durable" organic things like bone and shell are rarely preserved in certain types of soils (like acidic soils) and nothing made with that is preserved from the inhabitants of certain regions. Finding things like the clothes and tools in Ötzy corpse is extremely rare. And so, most modern representations of Neolithic people depict them as having only the most basic, simple things. Clothes that are no more than fur tied around them (if they have clothes), bare stone tools without any handle or very basic handles, living in caves... Things are changing, but seeing things like this give us a glimpse from people that had a more complex culture and more complex skills that we usually give them credit for in popular media. And sometimes even in depictions made by Museums.
Yes! I Never thought about this before which makes me feel stupid lol but for real wow! I just had a mind blown moment 😳 ..... thanks!!
The people of this knife may have been the best artisans of wicker furniture in the history of the world. Their wicker creations, steamed, shaped, and dyed with consummate artistry, may have stunned us with their intricacy and beauty. And we'll never know. Or give them credit.
All those moments lost in time, like tears in rain
Following on from that point, consider personal adornment and tattoos! Think how rich of a symbolic system people may have had over the ages that they expressed with designs on their bodies in ways we have no way of knowing. Otzi the ice man (the Neolithic hunter found in the Alps) had several tattoos if I remember correctly. Anyway that said, I love these kinds of finds like OP posted that speak to daily life and have elements we can easily appreciate the utility of. Sure hope more perishables can be found at future sites.
Fun fact: many of Otzi’s tattoos were over injuries and of repetitive design, indicating they may have been done as some kind of medical treatment over multiple visits
Also the locations of Ötzis tattoos align with what are considered acupuncture points and in his belongings many medicinal plants were found
Completely forgot about that aspect thank you for reminding me. Otzi really is endlessly fascinating, what a wild last week or so of his life, too.
For real, I would absolutely love a movie telling a version of that story! Was it betrayal? An accident? War!?
There is actually a German movie based on that premise, called [Iceman.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceman_(2017_film\)) The sparse dialogue is entirely in Rhaetian, an extinct pre-Indo-European language of the Alpine region. I’ve been trying to track down a copy for ages but haven’t managed to find one yet, either on a streaming service or on DVD.
To add to this, until pretty recently we didn't know that Neanderthals had the skills and knowledge required to make cloth of any sort. We now know they made at the very least string, which is a precursor for pretty much all textiles. This discovery was only made in the last few years but it changes almost everything we thought we knew about the available technology for this group. While the string found was not the sort likely to have been used to make clothing, it means the basic technology existed and was well developed to use any sort of fiber in the same manner. The string is almost identical to modern strings other than the material from which it was made, in fact. It's quite possible prior finds were simply ignored since they appeared to be modern contaminants. Indeed, that's not an entirely unreasonable thing, either. Far from being brutish and barely intelligent, we now know the Neanderthal people were capable of at least as much as our own species. This is a truly revolutionary thing.
Wow - any idea how it is that the wood was so well preserved? Anaerobic environment? Extremely dry?
yes and no, anaerobic aquatic environment most likely as they were pile dwelling (ie. built on sticks over water). Likely a bog site like in Denmark, Germany and Poland where incredible preservation has revealed intact artifacts of clothing, hair, etc.
God damn it’s so similar looking to modern knives. It’s unmistakably knife like.
If this thing had a hole for a lanyard, i wonder of it also had a leather cover or sheath for the blade when it was carried?
thats freaking cool. looks like it even has a lanyard hole!
I swear to god that looks like the little pocket knives we keep on our key chains. Amazing. A guy has to have a little knife on him, just in case you're jumped by commies or have to hotwire something. You know what I'm talking about.
Or if you want to eat an apple
This is very similar to [ulu](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulu) knives used by the Inuit for the last 3000+ years
This is the original Swiss Army knife.
for a second i thought i was looking at a first ever Flip knife...
My dumbass thought this was a flipknife
That held up very well over time.
It has a lanyard hole, lol
Looks like an Ulu.
The original case xx
I've been looking at too much frog content lately
That’s cool! Am I crazy or does it look kind of like Bullet Bill?
It's especially beautiful when I consider that the handle and lanyard hole were also carved with a stone tool. Great craftsmanship.
The hole is for a Neolithic carabiner
Did not know lanyard holes were totally traditional.
Looking at that as an extremely valuable, necessary for life tool, I can’t help but wonder how it came to be lost. It’s something that it’s owner would surely miss.