Tomahawk Artifact - Anasazi

[Little John]

My wife found this artifact yesterday while we were working on fence in S.W. Colorado. I think it is granite and has been sanded and polished both sides with notches chipped in for a handle. Looks to require less skill and more elbo grease to manufacture and seem to be fairly common to this area. I am intrested in finding a river rock spall and try my hand at something like this. Does any one have experience making this kind of tool. I don't know if it was a head knocker or if it could have been sharp enough for cutting or shaping wood. Too bad it was broken, she found it in a rough area away from ancient dwellings. I figure it das discarded when it broke.  kenneth

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[jamie]

most of the pecking and grinding work i do is done by a stream when i have plenty of time. granite isnt that hard to work compared to the basalt ive used but it is still time comsuming. the best way to start is to find something with the basic shape of what you want. i found a good chunk of basalt will chew up granite pretty quickly and all you need to grind is the edge to get it sharp. and basalt will hold a better edge than granite just not sure if its available in your area. the basalt axes (celts) made in the north east were treated like gold because of the time it took to make one.

[Little John]

Thanks Jamie, I don't know if bassalt is in our area or what it looks like to recognise it. If Granite is easier I will give it a try, will try to find apiece the basic shape next time I am ovet to the river. We have only sandstone were I live and where the piece was found. Someone took a good hike to fetch this piece back to the homestead. Do you think sandstone would remove material from the granite?    kenneth

[jamie]

if you can find a large stone to sit next to , better if its near a stream . it acts like a wetstone and will grind down the granite. if there is nothing dense enough to peck the stone with first you really need to find something that is the shape you need

[cowboy]

That's cool Kenneth! Yep, looks like - get ready for the elbow grease . I like tromping around up there in your neck of the woods, have found piles of pottery shards. Federally protected one's that is ..

[Sparrow]

 Thats a cool find.I'm down in southeast washington right now,was helping my buddy do yardwork yesterday,looked down and there is a nice,worn hammerstone laying there on the ground,he lives on the bank of the yakima river so his whole property is an archy site. It's great to sit down there and knap.

[Little John]

Thanks guys yea it is nice to tromp around in this countryside, I can geel the presence of the Lonesom Gods and the ones that came before. Maybe I should also do some knapping out there. Here is another one that my wife found on the same property. It has had a groove pecked in for attaching a handle  and just a little grinding to make a sharp edge. I would say it was much less labor intensive to make.    Kenneth

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[jamie]

that looks like a small adze or scraper for tanning

[cowboy]

Nice! Looks like some of that pink granite? Would be extra nice to find some whole one's .

[Little John]

I am not so sure the second one was not used as a hoe for cultivating crops. You never know the job they were used for. I know I would hate to cut a winters supply of firewood with stone tools.   Kenneth