Putting a handle on the Amesbury Archer's copper dagger?

[palmnut]

I'm looking at the excavation report of the Amesbury Archer (some info here: http://www.wessexarch.co.uk/projects/amesbury/archer.html). I've developed a curiosity about some of his kit and have decided that my first ever experiment in making a knife will be to try to replicate (albeit using modern tools) his 'dagger'. The grave is dated to the UK Copper Age (chalcolithic) between 2400 and 2200 cal BC and is of the Bell Beaker set.

I've cut out the blade shown in the photo below from some 2mm copper sheet and have hammered it around the edges to work harden it somewhat before filing bevels on it prior to sharpening. Before I work on finishing the blade I now come to the question of how to put a handle on it. The picture below shows the blade laying on top of the archaeo-artist's impression of how it might have been handled shown in the excavation report. All we actually know is that the tang had oak next to it, as there is a trace of mineralised oak attached, and that the didn't find any rivets in the grave. I've decided to come to the experts here to see if you have any ideas how this could have been handled. The blade section is 7cm long, the entire thing with tang is 11cm.

Would pine pitch or birch tar glue have been enough to hold two handle scales together and to the blade in use? I suspect not, but I'm no expert.

Would the handles have been two scales with some form of glue as above and a cordage binding around them?

Could it have been a one part handle? If so, how could they have hollowed out a cavity for the tang in the Copper Age?

How would you handle a blade like this if it were modern and made of steel?

Your thoughts please?

Here's an image of the blade as found:

Peter

 

[S.C.M.]

that reminds me of the "arrow knives" or was it archer's knives, which are made with a broadpoint arrow for a blade. I have no idea how to make them, but maybe a similar way to an arrow?

 

[wicca]

I'll have a guess.. A simple one piece handle of wood, the recess for the blade tang made by gradully burning out with a thin strip of heated copper, then filled with a pine pitch adhesive and the heated tang inserted and allowed to cool. As you point out there's no sign of rivet holes or even a 'barb' to retain the blade, so perhaps a simple push fit and glue was his method?

 

[HillBill]

I'd be inclined to suggest wood bound with cordage, the wood split upto the binding with the blade inserted then the cordage bound up to the blade itself, perhaps also covered in birch or pine resin tempered with ash.

 

[Beefy0978]

I'll venture an idea. Two piece wooden handle glued as you suggest. Handle then covered with wet leather sewn with sinew. As it dries it shrinks? I think. Tightening around the wood handle and forcing a stronger grip on the blade.

 

[palmnut]

Excellent, and all perfectly viable on paper so far. I can see myself making several blade blanks and trying all of these methods to see if one appears superior to the others.

If only I had time I'd write it up as an experimental archeology learned paper and quote you all as contributors ;-)

Any more ideas folks?

Peter

 

[boatman]

My own copper "Amesbury Archer's" knifed was hafted by simply ramming the tang into the slightly hollowed honeycomb core of a piece of Red Deer Antler of an unadapted handle shape. Holds it tight. Remember you cannot do much cutting and resharpening of a copper blade before you are getting down to remnants such as the other two blades.

 

[John Fenna]

That looks very interesting!
Do you have links to anywhere that shows his clothing and kit well?
I feel a project coming on!
I can do/have done the arrow heads and scrapers - but what soet of bow did he use?
What was his clothing/shoes/pouches realy like?
Is there as much info on the AA as on Oetzi?

 

[palmnut]

That looks very interesting!
Do you have links to anywhere that shows his clothing and kit well?
I feel a project coming on!
I can do/have done the arrow heads and scrapers - but what soet of bow did he use?
What was his clothing/shoes/pouches realy like?
Is there as much info on the AA as on Oetzi?

Sorry John - strongly alkaline (chalk) ground, so no soft or organic remains (other than bone) at all. The link to the Wessex Arch website shows most of the finds if you dig (sorry!) through.

I am currently researching the type of bow he may have carried. All we have to go on are the usual suspects around his date (the Rotten Bottom bow 4040-3640 cal BC, the Meare Heath bow 3655-3080 cal BC, the Ashcott Heath bow 3646-3019 cal BC, the Stadskanaal Onstwedde (Netherlands) bow 2600-2400 cal BC, the Barrysbrook (Ireland) bow 2399-2042 cal BC, the Cambridge Fen bow 2351-1754 cal BC and the Edington Burtle bow 1781-1308 cal BC). Based on these it will be a relatively narrow (Meare Heath is an extreme outlier in width) yew self bow of about man height with a strongly defined D shape with the D section at the back of the bow (italics to stress this as this is the opposite of medieval longbows); probably some sapwood on the worked back. The individual in the grave wasn't local however, but came from deep in the continent, so there has been some speculation that he may have had a shorter composite bow. Personally I don't think this was the case, as all of the other NW Europe bow finds around the date range (see above) are all self-bows - surely if a new and much better technology came in with the immigrants it would have exploded all over the country like the rest of the Bell Beaker set did? I currently have a hazel stave beside me that I'm using to play with appropriate bow forms (mainly to see if those almost pointed handles that we see on some of these bows are actually comfortable - looking good so far) - I'll post a pic or two if it ever gets to bending; hopefully hazel's tension strength will allow me to get what is in effect a heavily 'trapped' back to bend without drama.

We can then speculate on whether his stone bracers were worn on the inside of his arm to protect against string slap or whether they were a status symbol adornment attached to the outside of a leather bracer (or whether they were just symbolic grave goods). This is a very live debate in the archaeological community (that cares about such things) just now. Also, how would you mount a bracer which has single holes at each end? No traces of rivets were found.

The excavation report is a 270 page hardback costing £30 (my Christmas present), so there aren't any good online details other than the Wessex Arch pages. A pity really.

There is a reasonable amount of data on early BA clothing from Denmark. For the men imagine a long wrap-around dress with straps over the shoulder, tied with a sash at your waist. I can't wait to see a photo of you in one (not!). ;-) ;-0) Here's a linky: http://www.crumbleholme.plus.com/Beakerfolk/cloth/beakerfolkcloth.htm

Peter

 

[mountainm]

The shape of the tang implies a push fit to me. Otherwise its a daft shape for retention. It seems to be designed to give the least resistance when pushed into a handle material.

 

[boatman]

I wear a stone bracer all day at our Bronze Age displays quite comfortably all day. Could well have been a status symbol as well, not evidence but many archers at Reenactments seem like to wear their bracers as identification as archers.

Of course the symbolic creation of a bracer in stone might have a similar motivation in translating leather into stone as the translation of wooden posts into large stones at Stonehenge as suggested by the archaeologist Mike Parker-Pearson.

We have wondered if the adoption of shorter bows, cordage or composite maybe, did lead to the adoption of the bracer with the greater possibilty of catching the arm perhaps.

Incidentally we found that thin brass sheet replicas of the the gold "earrings" work best as wrap around hair ornaments. Visiting schoolgirls like having their hair temporarily decorated by my wife with them.

 

[palmnut]

boatman - Edwin? I'm guessing based on posts elsewhere. If that's you then we met briefly at a PAAS event at Butser a year or three ago.

mountainm - I see your point, however the fit would work nearly the same if fitted into a two part handle with a cavity for the tang hollowed out in one half and the halves then held together somehow.

I'm still having visions of John Fenna in one of those Bronze Age dresses - I'll self-medicate with this bottle of Port until I'm cured

Peter

 

[mountainm]

mountainm - I see your point, however the fit would work nearly the same if fitted into a two part handle with a cavity for the tang hollowed out in one half and the halves then held together somehow.

Peter

If someone had access to carve the recess then i think they'd put a spur or barb on the tang to stop forward movement on the blade. The only reason not to do that is if actually doing a push fit.

Cheers

Mike

 

[palmnut]

I've decided to go with the burnt-in tang approach, as I feel that this has the best chance of producing a good result.

I've knocked up the following handle out of a piece of best English oak laying around in the workshop. There still a couple of rough tool-marks on the wood, but I'll sort these once I know it's a keeper. As you'll see, I made the handle significantly bigger than that shown in the excavation report as I wanted it to fit my hand. The one from the report would fit the hand of an 8 year-old perfectly, but surely was too small for a rough, tough chalcolithic warrior?

Here is the handle and the blade side-by-side:

And the handle laid over the tang to give an idea of the finished product:

As you will see, the handle is still a bit too wide where it meets the blade. I'll adjust this fit once I have the blade burned in.

Next stage is to burn in the tang hole using a piece of scrap copper worked to mimic the tang on the blade. I'll then 'glue' the tang in using birch tar (once my supply of this arrives from my contact in the Netherlands). I'll freely admit that I've cheated immensely with this handle - using steel rasps and files is not period authentic I know - but I'm confident that something similar could have been made with flint tools, it just would take much longer!

I'll post again once I have the blade fitted.

Peter

 

[John Fenna]

Sorry John - strongly alkaline (chalk) ground, so no soft or organic remains (other than bone) at all. The link to the Wessex Arch website shows most of the finds if you dig (sorry!) through.

I am currently researching the type of bow he may have carried. All we have to go on are the usual suspects around his date (the Rotten Bottom bow 4040-3640 cal BC, the Meare Heath bow 3655-3080 cal BC, the Ashcott Heath bow 3646-3019 cal BC, the Stadskanaal Onstwedde (Netherlands) bow 2600-2400 cal BC, the Barrysbrook (Ireland) bow 2399-2042 cal BC, the Cambridge Fen bow 2351-1754 cal BC and the Edington Burtle bow 1781-1308 cal BC). Based on these it will be a relatively narrow (Meare Heath is an extreme outlier in width) yew self bow of about man height with a strongly defined D shape with the D section at the back of the bow (italics to stress this as this is the opposite of medieval longbows); probably some sapwood on the worked back. The individual in the grave wasn't local however, but came from deep in the continent, so there has been some speculation that he may have had a shorter composite bow. Personally I don't think this was the case, as all of the other NW Europe bow finds around the date range (see above) are all self-bows - surely if a new and much better technology came in with the immigrants it would have exploded all over the country like the rest of the Bell Beaker set did? I currently have a hazel stave beside me that I'm using to play with appropriate bow forms (mainly to see if those almost pointed handles that we see on some of these bows are actually comfortable - looking good so far) - I'll post a pic or two if it ever gets to bending; hopefully hazel's tension strength will allow me to get what is in effect a heavily 'trapped' back to bend without drama.

We can then speculate on whether his stone bracers were worn on the inside of his arm to protect against string slap or whether they were a status symbol adornment attached to the outside of a leather bracer (or whether they were just symbolic grave goods). This is a very live debate in the archaeological community (that cares about such things) just now. Also, how would you mount a bracer which has single holes at each end? No traces of rivets were found.

The excavation report is a 270 page hardback costing £30 (my Christmas present), so there aren't any good online details other than the Wessex Arch pages. A pity really.

There is a reasonable amount of data on early BA clothing from Denmark. For the men imagine a long wrap-around dress with straps over the shoulder, tied with a sash at your waist. I can't wait to see a photo of you in one (not!). ;-) ;-0) Here's a linky: http://www.crumbleholme.plus.com/Beakerfolk/cloth/beakerfolkcloth.htm

Peter

Thanks for that - I see a cpombination of AA and Oetzi clothing forming a future project!

 

[palmnut]

FWIW (off topic, I know), this is how the handle of the bow is shaping up. It's a copy of the style used on the Rotten Bottom and Ashcott Heath bows, so to the Amesbury Archer it may well have looked a bit like his grandfather's old bow, but what the heck:

Peter

 

[mountainm]

As you'll see, I made the handle significantly bigger than that shown in the excavation report as I wanted it to fit my hand. The one from the report would fit the hand of an 8 year-old perfectly, but surely was too small for a rough, tough chalcolithic warrior

Do we know for sure they were for fighting? And not something more mundane like peeling veg or butchery? It could just be the equivalent of a pocket knife.

 

[palmnut]

Do we know for sure they were for fighting? And not something more mundane like peeling veg or butchery? It could just be the equivalent of a pocket knife.

I don't know if we know one way or the other. AFAIK, in this context, 'dagger' is a standard archaeological term that simply describes a knife of a particular set of proportions.

I will work the width of the handle down somewhat once I have the blade fitted. I'll then see how it feels in use to peel the veg and cut up the sausages. I'd better not try it out to see how it feels as a dagger though - mind you, the Old Bill would be scratching their heads when they had to deal with the first death by chalcolithic copper dagger in 4200 years! ;-)

Peter

 

[palmnut]

Thanks for that - I see a cpombination of AA and Oetzi clothing forming a future project!

FWIW, you certainly have coarse woven wool as an option and pretty certainly linen cloth too.

If Otzi could have leather hose, then there's no reason why LN/EBA man wouldn't have wool hose or leg wraps. I believe that sleeves were known in the continental culture too (although I seem to recall they've only been found on female burials from this era - doesn't mean they weren't used by men too, just not been found). This all opens the way to a somewhat more masculine (by modern standards) combination of a long tunic and something on your legs. Wool for winter, linen for summer (or under tunic) use. Should be quite comfy in fact.

P

 

[palmnut]

As an update, I also made the small handle shown in the excavation report - here it is mocked up by laying the unfinished handle over the blade.

So much prettier than my effort. The handle fits in the hand after the index and middle fingers and seems to work well. If the family with the 'flu give me enough time tomorrow I'll hopefully have a go at burning in the tang hole.

Peter