Often in collections I find that the collector who previously owned and assembled the collection either made, or bought, an axe, celt or other tool that was modernly hafted to a handle. I think these are great examples to show kids and new collectors as it gives them a visual of how these items were hafted in ancient times.

The two items to left were in a collection I bought some time ago, and they are an authentic axe, and an authentic celt, that were recently placed into handles for just this purpose.

So when I bought a collection from Western Indiana last year, I didn't think much about it when this hafted hoe was found in one of the boxes. I thought it would make a great example for when I do talks at the schools, and I tossed it on a shelf in my office, and really didn't think much about it for a spell.

Then, a couple of my local Ohio collector friends came over to look at and talk relics for a while, and my good friend Rob Dills kept handling the hoe, and looking it over intently. Finally, he asked me what the story was on it, and I explained it was just an item that I found in a box with a collection I had, and that I set it off for a prop to use when I next talked to the school kids. He continues to look it over, and finally asked if I had taken a close look at it - which I hadn't. Rob told me he didn't think it was made all too recently, as it looked like it had some age on it. I didn't think much about it at the time, but later that evening with nothing on TV and everyone in the house shuffled off to bed, I decided to take a better look at it, and I became quite puzzled. While I had just assumed the item was made in the last 20 or 30 years or so, I was seeing some things that made me wonder just how long ago this hoe was really hafted to that handle.

The first thing I did was take a good look at the flint hoe itself. While the hafting was unique, and the leather strapping looked like it had some age, that is just not my area of expertise, so I thought I would study the flint. It was no doubt Midwestern flint that is commonly seen in the Indiana/Illinois/Missouri area, and I decided to put it under a scope and see what all I could see with a little magnification as there were some visible signs of age on the surface.

The first thing that caught my eye were the heavy iron deposits that are found scattered about on much of the relics surface. (blue)

The second thing I noticed was the use polish on some of the high spots of the flint (red)

The third thing I noticed were areas of use damage along the very edge of the bit where the flint edge was damaged from striking hard objects. (green)

There was no doubt this hoe had done some work in its time.

There was also no doubt that the hoe itself was an ancient hoe, but what about the handle, and the hafting? Were they old - or was this just an example of an ancient hoe that had been inserted into a handle for display - just like the axes shown above?

For the next week or so, I would pick this hoe up and look it over, trying to notice the little things that one doesn't look for when first handling an item. I wanted to know just how long this hoe had been in the handle, but was not sure where to start looking. 

One of the first things I saw was a piece of wood that had, over time, attached itself to the bottom of the flint hoe itself. This sliver of wood is firmly attached, most likely from moisture etc. acting as a bonding agent.

At first I thought this wood had become separated from the main handle - but upon talking to several experts a bit later on, I learned that often after the haft was secured with leather strapping, sinew or cordage, small "wedges" or "shims" would be inserted in various areas to tighten the tool in place so that it would not wiggle free. This just struck me as a step that a person making a display type item would not do - why worry about it coming loose during use if you are only making an item for display?

As I looked closer at areas where wedges could be placed, I did find two other wedges that had been inserted to tighten up the hoe. The arrow to the left shows a piece of a wedge that was placed under one of the "ears" of the hoe.

As I talked to more people familiar with historic era items and reservation period items, one of the things I was told to look for was to see if the leather was machine cut - or hand cut. Machine cut leather would be a consistent width, while hand cut would fluctuate in width. Most reproduction items and alot of the later reservation period items used rolls of machine cut manufactured leather strapping.

As I took a closer look at the leather strapping, I noticed that there were actually two different types that were used. One, which appears to be the original leather ( B ) is thinner and more brittle than the other leather ( A ). I decided to compare the older original leather first to see if there were any differences in the width.

When comparing the width, there was no doubt this was not machine cut leather - it varied in many places. Some variations were slight, other areas like the one indicated in the photo to the left were vastly different.

Once again, the thought kept running through my mind that if someone was going to make an item such as this for display, they would probably go out and buy some leather that was ready to go at a craft shop rather than taking the time to cut it up into strips.

When I took a look at what appears to be the "newer" leather, I found the same differences in width, and I also found one area (green arrow) where the person cutting the strips of leather began to cut it too narrow, and corrected themselves before they cut the strip in half. Again, alot of work for a display type item.

While I was looking at the ear areas where this hoe had been notched, I noticed that one of the ears had broken off. I was not sure when, but then I noticed on the good ear - pictured to the left - that the leather had worn where the ear had rubbed against it. I would think that such wear would be a result of use, once again - not something I would expect to see on a display prop type item.

When I looked at the side where the ear is missing, having broken off at some point in time, I saw two areas where the ear had made contact with the leather, and both areas displayed wear consistent with the leather around the remaining ear. The ear was still in place, at least for a while, while this hoe was being used as a hoe.

I have spent about 8 months showing this item to some very respectable collectors of historic as well as prehistoric artifacts, and no one has any idea how old this item really is. opinions vary from "quite old" to one person saying it was probably made by boyscouts or for use in an Indian village recreation - but I have a hard time believing that they would use wedges and hand cut leather when they made such items. 

The other thought is that the minerals on the flint hoe itself could only get there by having direct contact with the ground and moisture which would allow the minerals to form - but that would surely have caused rotting to the leather if not the wood, and both are in excellent condition.  

My thought after looking at this from as many angles as I can think of, is that a person - either Native or Pioneer, found the flint hoe which was not in its original handle, and then placed it in this handle so that they could put it back in use for tending their crops. Whether this was in the 1400's or 1800's is really hard to say without some scientific testing of the leather or wood. There is no doubt in my mind that this item as seen now was used just as it is for its intended purpose - cultivation. One fact that leads me to believe this hoe and handle set are have been together for at least a hundred years is the way that the wood wedge naturally adhered itself to the surface of the flint. My guess, and it is only a guess, is that it would take some time sitting for that to happen.

This was a fun artifact to handle and look into, and I learned alot of valuable information while talking to the people who are experts in the historical artifact area about leather and hafting techniques. I hope you have enjoyed reading and viewing the pictures - I would love to hear what anyone else thinks about this piece or its possible history. If I ever do find out exactly how old this item is, I will be sure to post an update.

Jim Bennett