incised bone

incised bone

incised bone

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Introduction

Animal bone (possibly the leg bone of a deer) incised with rings on both ends and in the middle. May have been used as the handle or hand-piece to a string for carrying weights, as the inner edge of one end is worn round and smooth, but it may also have been worn on a string passing round the neck. Normal School Collection.

Date Made or Date Range: 19 C
Materials

Bone (possibly leg bone of deer)

Techniques or Format

Incised

Other Notes

From Annual Archaeological Report of Ontario for 1891. Provincial archaeologist David Boyle wrote: "It is made from the leg-bone of a deer, probably. The surface is highly polished, and the rings - five in the middle and four at each end - are rudely cut. The supposition that it may have been used as the handle or hand-piece to a string for carrying weights, receives some force from the fact that the inner edge of one end is worn round and smooth, just as it would be in employed in this way. It is quite as likely, however, that it was simply worn on a string passing round the neck. The inside of the other end is too much weathered to offer much evidence, but even there are indications of similar wear." See publication history below for full citation details.

ROM record item name: Bead

Dimensions: 15 × 3 × 0 cm
Condition: Intact.
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

ROM record notes it was collected by W. G. Long in 1886.

Item is described in the Annual Archaeological Report of Ontario for 1891. See publication history below for full citation details.

Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: NS7291
Collection at Current Location: Normal School Collection
Date of Acquisition by the Institution: 1912
Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: Toronto Normal School Museum of Natural History and Fine Arts
Date Relative was First Removed or Collected from its Community Context: 1886
Collection Narratives and Histories

Item is part of Mr. W.G. Long's findings in the county of York.

Publication History

Sketch & comment appear in the Annual Archaeological Reports of Ontario: David Boyle, "Notes on Specimens," in Fourth Annual Report of the Canadian Institute, Session of 1890-91, being an Appendix to the Report of the Minister of Education, Ontario, 1891 (Toronto: Warwick & Sons, 1891) p. 54-55.

Comment on Source of Exhibition & Publication Data

A complete set of the AAROs are available in the library of the Royal Ontario Museum. This volume is also available as a digital copy through the Internet Archive (www.archive.org)

GKS Reference Number: 25398
How to Cite this Item

Unknown artist, incised bone. Currently in the Royal Ontario Museum, NS7291. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip December 2008; GRASAC item id 25398.

Record Creation Context

Record created as a result of a GRASAC-sponsored research trip to the Royal Ontario Museum, December 15-19, 2008. Research costs supported by a SSHRC Aboriginal Research Grant (2007-2010, Ruth Phillips, PI). Record created during post-trip clean up by project RA Lisa Truong, under the supervision of Heidi Bohaker.

Approximate Place of Origin

43.860348, -79.518831