Bronze Age artifacts. What are they and origin?

Discussion in 'Metalware' started by J Dagger, Oct 7, 2019.

  1. J Dagger

    J Dagger Well-Known Member

    1F53DD51-76D1-4C42-ABB8-67984C5F924F.jpeg 69CB638C-3FFA-4C8E-9A38-878238B9671A.jpeg 694B024F-F0DF-4088-84D8-904486707EF9.jpeg

    69CB638C-3FFA-4C8E-9A38-878238B9671A.jpeg
    Bought an odd bag at an estate sale which had a bunch of really old stuff from around the world. Some of you may recall a ton of Filipino Kris daggers/swords I made a post about. The bag had some presumably Bronze Age artifacts in it along with some random bits of much newer textiles. Not even sure if they realized the bronze stuff was in there or not. Showed it to sale runner and he seemed surprised. Wondering what their origin may be and what some of them are. Also if they are indeed that old and do they appear authentic? The largest piece almost looks like the decorative elements were added after it came out of the ground or wherever they were. Some of the items look like Roman stuff I’ve seen but not sure. I think there’s an amulet, ring, and maybe the cone shaped item is an arrowhead? Obviously a large sewing needle too. Not so sure about the large item and the item in bottom left. Any help is appreciated. 1F53DD51-76D1-4C42-ABB8-67984C5F924F.jpeg
     
  2. 2manybooks

    2manybooks Well-Known Member

    The large piece at the top looks like a precolumbian Peruvian "tumi" knife, made of copper/copper alloy. Bottom row, 2nd from right (after the needle) is a pair of tweezers. The other items may be Peruvian artifacts as well. Is the textile peeking out from behind one of the ones that was in the lot? It also looks to be Peruvian. It is not uncommon for textiles to be well preserved in the desert areas of Peru. They are, unfortunately, often looted from burials.
    tumi knife (409x800).jpg
    https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/315242

    Inca tweezers.jpg
    https://www.artemisgallery.com/auction/lot-of-5-chimu-inca-silver-copper-tweezers
     
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2019
  3. J Dagger

    J Dagger Well-Known Member

    Oh cool! That makes sense, there was definitely a bunch of South American and Mesoamerican stuff there. I’ll look into Peru more tomorrow, falling asleep now as I type. That is indeed one of the textiles from the bag. It’s just a fragment of whatever it was but pretty. If you’re interested in seeing them I can post those soon. Thanks
     
  4. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    That was indeed a very special estate sale.:)
     
  5. J Dagger

    J Dagger Well-Known Member

    I missed the part of your post about the tweezers last night and the burial looting. Must have fallen asleep while reading lol. I thought it was an odd design for an amulet. It would be very unfortunate if these were taken from a grave. Yuck. I often wonder when I buy North American Native American artifacts if that was the case and very much hope it’s not. Any ideas on bottom left object and cone shaped object? The bottom left has a horizontal concave trench like line through the middle on the backside which creates a little ridge on the front. Not sure if you can see it in the photo. There were a couple other little pieces that I must have misplaced.

     
  6. J Dagger

    J Dagger Well-Known Member

    Indeed! I only wish I made it there earlier. I got there during the last 30 mins.
     
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  7. 2manybooks

    2manybooks Well-Known Member

    I continued to add some things to my message after you fell asleep. :)

    The cone shaped item might be a decorative pendant, one of several that would act as rattles, or perhaps part of an ear plug:
    [​IMG]
    http://ancientpoint.com/inf/156006-...bian_copper_ear_spools__peru_moche_chimu.html

    I don't know what the other objects might be.

    All of these items show the corrosion typical of having been recovered from under the ground. I wouldn't call them "archeological" (though some people would), because of the lack of context that would have been preserved through a professional excavation. Uncontrolled "excavation" of material from Peruvian sites has a long, sad history.
     
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