I was putting this gorget up on in my store at the sales gallery on arrowheads.com, and as I was describing it, I thought I would pop in here and mention a couple of the terms that are often heard when talking about slate - those being "hole wear" and "spotting".  So, I took a few extra pics, and here are the explanations of these two terms:





Hole Wear / hole wear pattern
The reason gorgets and pendants are perforated with holes (pendants have one hole, gorget have two or more holes) is so that it could be attached with a cord, or suspended, as ornamentation.  A couple reports I read on an exavation with multiple slate ornaments had the placement of the slate just below the waist of the skeletal remains, situated in the front. This leads one to believe that while we like to think they were worn around the neck or on the chest area, in at least some cases, they were worn on the belt handing down in front.

They were attached loosely with a cord, and as they moved, the hole(s) would become worn from the cord moving back and forth. This would leave a "wear pattern" on the surface of the artifact. 

Examples:



 






In this pic, the white line is an example of how the cord would have been tied through the holes. This is why on Gorgets, you most always see the wear marks point in, towards each other.



Close up of the wear pattern on the edge of the perforation hole.

Wear marks are positive trait to look for on authentic slate, and the study of them adds to the fun of collecting as it adds that dimension of reality to the fact that these stones were long ago worn by our American forefathers.


Spotting :




Often on completed drilled slate items as well as preforms, you will see where the slate was "spotted" to be drilled - that is - a mark was placed on the surface to line up the hole.  On preforms, they would spot the hole on one or both sides, then begin drilling.  If the hole didnt go exactly as planned, or if they found the spots would'nt line up correctly, the crafter would re-spot the hole, then drill, leaving the orginal spot mark on the surface, as is the case here.  Another phrase you may occasionally hear that refers to these marks are "touch marks".  

Hope this helps anyone curious about the above terms -

Jim Bennett
10-04-08