March 6, 2006
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Mar. 6, 2006
The weather after church was warm enough for a picnic lunch outside at Tama Center. On the way back to the station we saw a free exhibit of artifacts that had been excavated in the area, so we went in for a look.
There were a couple of fellows giving a demonstration of how the ancients made spear heads and arrowheads from flint and obsidian. The demonstration was done behind glass, of course, to prevent chips of flying glass from hitting us observers. These guys were pretty good and would have been skilled toolmakers. The gentleman on the left was particularly vocal about his love of ancient life. He gave us a private lecture about typical items on the dinner menu of the folks back then, but admitted that he had tried some of it and didn't like it. His eyes absolutely twinkled when he started talking about the Iceman and the tools that he carried with him on his eternal trip into a European glacial crevasse. Later investigations that located an arrowhead imbedded in the poor fellow's shoulder indicate foul play, but I digress.
Yeah, there he is, the good old Iceman! Apparently he was found carrying some tree branches cut into short lengths and imbedded with pieces of antler, and it was deduced that these were tools for chipping stone to make arrowheads.
"When splitting the big rocks, you have to hit them just right or... %$&#!!" Folks, this man was really intent on getting it right!
The right tool for the job was the base of an antler, and several sizes were being used according to the fineness of the chipping required. The fellow on the right just want silently about his work, and produced an arrowhead that could take down your Naumann elephant, wild boar or fleet tanuki.
completed arrow/spear heads
This was dug up in our very neighborhood!
As was this,
these,
and this, only 4,500 years old. This was found in Wakabadai 2 Chome, where we live. Wow! They are making 30 replicas of these which will be sold for about $20 each. Numbers are limited, so we put our name in a hat and hope we are among the thirty chosen to purchase the thing.
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