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Copper Tipped Awl
Approx. 10 cm long
Native people prized metal
for its qualities for tool making. Even native copper,
a very soft metal, is harder than bone and less brittle
than stone. In Maine, Native people probably acquired
copper by trading with people who had access to it
locally. We know that some native copper came in from
the Great Lakes, for example. After European contact,
copper, brass and iron became available and people
quickly switched to using it for making arrowheads,
awls, knives and so on.
The copper tip of this awl is long
gone – it may have broken off when the tool
was used. All we can see now is the staining from
copper salts.
Using a technique called x-ray
fluorescence (XRF), archaeologists can differentiate
native copper from European copper or brass. Native
copper is very pure, while trade copper contains traces
of lead and silver. Copper artifacts from this site
were tested and their pattern indicated they were
all pure native copper. |
