Well, I am excited to announce that I spent the day in Lancaster, Ohio visiting with Sue Hothem of Hothem House Books with my good friend Doug Hooks, and we picked up the collection of Sue's late husband, author Lar Hothem. There are literally THOUSANDS of quality artifacts, mostly from Ohio, with the excpetion of the Bingman collection which Lar bought some years back which was from S. Illinois. What a time we had. Doug and I spent from 10 am until 4 pm packing and loading the artifacts, while stopping to drool on more than one occasion, and then driving very slowly and carefully back to our office to store them in the vault.
 
This is truly a fabulous collection that Lar put together. Of course, many of the artifacts have been published in his various titles, and the fact that so many artifacts are from known Ohio collections really makes this a great group of artifacts. 

We will begin auctioning these artifacts off starting in October, and continuing with a series of auctions (5 to 6 probably) into 2008. At the end of the last auction, I am going to take all of the auction catalogs, combine them, and publish them into a limited edition book which will help document his collection and indicate all of the prices realized. As Lar wrote so many value and price guide books, I think having his personal collection as the basis for an auction price guide will be a nice tribute to the artifact collecting world's most noted author. 

If you are not on our auction catalog list yet - make sure to email us so you wont miss out on what is sure to be a very important series of sales.  To get on the list, please email my office manager Diana at dianaduff@verizon.net  

Jim Bennett



Many thanks to my good friend and noted Ohio collector Doug Hooks (shown here) for his help in sorting. packaging, and then wearing out his back helping to carry crate after crate of artifacts to the van. 




A small sample of some of the flat slate in Lar's collection to whet the appetite


  
Lar was fond of stone tools - as evidenced by the many boxes and tubs of nice grade axes, celts and adzes, a few of which are shown here.

        

We all know that an artifact in one's hand is like holding a link to the past. Iit is hard not to visualize in our minds the ancient crafter making the item, and then using it for its intended purpose. While many artifacts are similar and their use pretty much the same (example - flint dart points), others have something about them that is different, and their link to the ancient past has more to tell.  Anciently salvaged artifacts are an example of this - and I find them fascinating to collecting. A broken point that was renotched, a knife that was reworked, a pendant that was broken and then redrilled are some examples of such salvaged items.  But adding another layer of intrigue to salvage relics are those artifacts which were broken and discarded, only to be picked up hundreds or thousands of years later by another ancient one and then salvaged and put back into use.

Think about this: You are walking along 5,000 years ago - you look down, and there is a big knife with a broken base. First, it would be a curiosity even back then to pick it up and look it over - see how it was made, what the material was, etc. Then, if it were possible to add a couple notched and use it again, why not? It would save time as it is already made. Add in the fact that we do not really know the mystic qualities of such items in ancient times, but it is possible that they viewed such items as good luck, or a link to their own past. Who knows. What we do know, is that tools were in fact picked up generations later and put back in use, and such items are a favorite of mine to collect.

With that being said - I came across this flint hoe not long ago.



One of the first things I noticed about it was the use heavy "use polish" to the bit area. If you are not familiar with use polish, it is a polish that flint (and stone) takes on around the bit area from repeated use in ancient times. Sometimes just the high spots on the flake ridges with have polish, while other times the entire bit area will be highly polished smooth and taking on almost a tumbled look to it, as is the case with this hoe. 



This is a good shot of the glossy use polish that covers almost 1/3 of the hoe's top surface.

When I turned the hoe over, I saw something that was really cool - it had been anciently salvaged by someone hundreds of years or longer after it was originally made.



If you look at the reverse side of the bit that is shown here, you can see three things: 1.) the heavy patina that has built up on back 2/3rds. of the relic   2.) The different color patina on the bit area where it was reworked at a much later time removing the heavy patina 3.) a fresh nick to the blade edge which removed the second stage of patina and shows the original unpatinated flint color (bright white). 



Looking for a difference in patina color is a great way and the first thing one should do when trying to determine if an artifact has been modernly enhanced - but make sure you keep in mind that in rare circumstances, some differences in patina could still be thousands of years old - just a case of later ancient salvage.

Jim Bennett

        

Recently a friend of mine consigned two collections he recently came into for us to sell.  The first on is a small little collection of Ohio points and knives all personal finds from a collector who hunted his farm in Washington Twp., Richland Co., Ohio until he passed on.

The second collection is a great selection of over 2,000 High Plains and Western points with a few midwest pieces that were all personal finds over a 40 year period. There are over 300 Knife River points in this collection from when the finder was working in the Dakotas for a decade or so. We will begin adding the points from both collections to our website very soon.
 


To view more pics of this collection - please visit http://www.oldrelics.com/photos/a/hodson.htm

Thanks!

Jim

        

Folks, I am sorry that I have not posted much on the blog lately. We have been so busy with the auctions, moving our office and personal issues that I have neglected to post an update lately so I figured I would take a few minutes and catch everyone up to date.

Arrowheads.com Buy-out 
In case you heard the rumours that have been going around the last couple of months, yes, it is true.  I did partner-up with my good friend John McCurdy who is a collector from Mississippi and we bought the arrowheads.com website recently.  We are really excited about the purchase, and after months of working out the details, we finally concluded the deal.  We will be re-vamping the entire site including adding an artifact sales area where sellers can rent their own shopping carts to sell relics directly on arrowheads.com and we are also currently having a "collectors blog" area built where collectors can rent blog space and have their own blogs right on the site. It is going to be a lot of fun, and I can't wait until all the new programming is done so we can open the new site to the public.  Our goal is to make arrowheads.com more of a true "artifact collecting community" than just a page full of banner links. We plan on having topical articles right on the main page, and fun stuff for everyone.

Auctions   
At this time we have recently returned from Nevada where we boxed and shipped back a wonderful private collection of over 500 artifacts, mostly Southwest higher-end flint that will be in a September auction. Some truly awesome relics in this collection, and the nice thing is that 90% of the collection already had Rogers papers on them. 

We have 5 auctions currently scheduled and almost filled for the fall/winter season - including a couple well known Ohio collections already consigned, so keep a lookout for the auction info on our website at www.oldrelics.com 

Catalogs
So far we have only produced one relic catalog this year, and are starting to work on the second one. We have been so busy getting the auction business and the arrowheads.com projects going, that we have not had the time we would have liked to get more catalogs out in the mail.  We will be back on schedule soon, and we do plan to continue producing our full-color artifact catalogs.

Website
Our website database has been upgraded and fixed so that now we can add multiple photos of each artifact, so we will begin re-loading the website with relics next week.  It will be nice to once again have a full inventory of guaranteed authentic artifacts back on the site! Keep an eye on the "New Listings" section for the latest offerings.

This Blog
I have about a dozen items I have set aside to write blog articles on, just a matter of getting the time to do it. With the above projects now completed or nearing completion, I should have more time to write and take pics soon of some of the interesting items I have been laying back for blog articles.

My Books
The next book to come out that I have written is called "Collecting Ancient Indian Artifacts - Vol. 1".  It is the first book of a 6 book series on collecting, and is being published by Collector Books Publishing Co.  It should be out this month (July 2008). Look for it at the bookstores or you can order it here as soon as it is out. It is a beginners guide to collecting, and a lead-in to the other books that will follow in this series.

The Bannerstone book that Lar Hothem began and I am finishing is still in the works, and getting closer. Not sure of a release date yet, but it should be complete and at the bookstores sometime between this winter and next spring. 

I guess that is about it for now - thanks for visiting my blog and I hope everyone is having a great summer! 

Jim Bennett   

        

Of the millions of artifacts that have been collected over the years, a few are so exquisite they become well known throughout the artifact collecting community. Many of these rare few artifacts take on their own name along the way as a tribute to their individuality and rarity. Examples of this would be the Sweetwater Bi-face, one of the thinnest and largest blades in existence - or the Rinehart Dove, a massive Dovetail knife that will have Dovetail collectors drooling for decades to come. Another such example of the personification of an artifact is the artifact pictured here, known for obvious reasons as "Old Scarface".
 
Old Scarface is in the collection of Mr. Charlie Wagers in Ohio, and recently I was honored with an invitation to view this magnificent collection with permission to photograph some of the artifacts for my upcoming books.  While I was at Mr. Wager's, I was amazed and intrigued by many of the super relics this collection houses, and I was able to obtain some great photographs for the Bannerstone Artifact book I am completing for the late Lar Hothem - yet - while I was there, I just couldnt leave Old Scarface sitting on the shelf. While the main purpose of the visit was to photograph bannerstones and atlatl hooks, standing only a few feet away for the display case that housed Old Scarface was too much to bare. Towards the end of the evening, as I was finishing shooting photographs of some wonderful bottle banners and composite atlatl hooks, Mr. Wagers invited Old Scarface out of his case for a short visit. As I held him and turned him over in my hands, I was amazed at the amount of detail that was put into this centuries old work of art.



Body scarring, a form of tatooing among natives was done not only in America, but has been practiced in many other countries as well and continues within some remote tribes on other continents to this day.  While occasional finds have revealed evidence of scarring by cultures associated to the Mississippian time period, Old Scarface truly opens a window into the past by showing to what great lengths this body art sometimes took.

In the above photo, I find the design of the facial features and the construction of the head unquestionably tied directly to the makers of headpots. Notice the thin lips, slotted eyes, peirced ears and the squared perforated protusion at the top of the head - all traits seen on most Native American head pots. Another stylization link to headpots from this cultural time period is the coloration split at the top of the forehead. 

 

This photo shows to what great extent the scars covered the body, including the arms, shoulders, chest and stomach areas.
 




This photo clearly shows the back of this person acted as a large human canvas for a variety of geometric style designs.  Since no written record is available for study or referencing such designs made during the Prehistoric, we can only speculate as to the meaning of the shapes and design styles, but there can be no doubt that many of these designs must have held some significance in ancient times warranting them to have been carved into ones body.   

I wish to once again express my thanks to Mr. Wagers for the exciting and fun visit we had, and hopefully the next time I stop by to shoot some photos there he will allow me to feature another one of his superb artifacts here on the Artifact Blog.

Jim Bennett

        

As many of my customers know, I have a tendency to move in alot of different directions at one time - and it has become increasingly hard to fit everything that needs done into the week.  When we opened Bennett's Artifact Auctions in December 2007 in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky and realized it was going to be a success, I quickly realized there was no doubt that the time had come to move into a larger office, and to hire a person who would not only serve as an office manager, but also a person who was willing to take an active roll in running all of the various venues we use to offer our artifact selections to the collecting public.

After two days of interviewing potential candidates, I had the chance to meet with Diana. After reviewing her qualifications, and getting a good feeling for her personality, I was quickly sold that Diana was the person I was looking for to assist my customers with their needs, plus, the software qualifications to assist with the production of our full color catalogs and website. 

Please meet Diana - our new Office Manager - and the next time you call us, please make sure to take a moment and introduce yourself to her.  I have an inkling that Diana is going to be a great addition to Bennett's for some time to come!  


                         Welcome Aboard Diana!  

        

 

One of my favorite things about writing books is visiting with
other collectors and seeing all their wonderful relics! Pictured here
are Tim (left) and his dad Gene Edwards from N. Ohio who
were nice enough to invite us down to photo their superb collection
of artifacts, especially their large assortment of bannerstone preforms.
As we are finsihing the final stage of the Bannerstone artifact book that
Lar Hothem began, we found we needed some good examples of all of
the manufacturing stages of bannerstones, and visiting with these fine
gentlemen and looking through the hundreds of examples they have
assembled was a wonderful learning experience.

 

Gene and Tim have built a wonderful selection of artifacts which
includes a TON of personal finds from some of their favorite sites
in Ohio and Arkansas as well as other states.

 

The Edwards collection has a superb focus on Hopewell artifacts
recovered from a site they have worked for a long period of time.
While I was there visiting with the notion of getting a lesson on
bannerstones, I left with some great additional knowledge of
Hopewell culture items as well - thanks guys!

 

I will be posting an article here soon on some of the bannerstone
manufacturing steps as soon as I get a chance to cull through the
hundred or so photos we were able to take during our visit.

Again - Tim, Gene - thanks so much for allowing us to visit and
for sharing your wonderful collection!

Jim Bennett

        

I have only come across a few examples of what are called
"Flint Saws" in the last decade or so, but I know that many
are out there. Saws are made off a large spall or flake, and
are unifacially flaked (flakes off one side only)

While uniface knives are often associated with the Paleo culture,
the truth is that uniface tools of all shapes and sizes have been
found in every cultural time period. What distinguishes a saw from
other uniface knives and scrapers is the large, widely spaced
serrations along the cutting edge.

When I first became introduced to this tool type, I had assumed
it would have had a use such as cutting slate or some other very hard
material due to its being designed to be a hand-held tool, where a
high degree of down-force could be directed to the cutting edge.
However, while all of the examples I have handled thus far have exhibited wear
on the tips of the serrations, none appeared to have ever been resharpened
like you would normally see along the edges of other styles knives.
Also, saws usually are devoid of heavy damage to the serrations, which
makes one wonder if these were actually used for cutting softer, rather
than harder material.

If anyone has examples of flint saws in their collection, I would love to see
a photo or two so that I may continue studying this interesting tool form.

Jim Bennett

 

        

I was talking with a customer a few days ago about pottery and how
hard it can be to detect restoration. I had mentioned to him that I
had some great CT scans of some rare Quapaw pottery in my files from
some items that the Museum of Native American Artifacts had sent out
for study. Rather than emailing the pictures to him, I thought I would
post them here for everyone to see.

Many pots that are totally solid have been found, bur the larger
the pottery gets, the more likely it is that it will have had some
damage to it. Quite often pottery will be found in many pieces,
and those are known as "sack pots". The question when looking at
a pottery item is - how much of the item is actually restored? Many will
just have a small amount of restoration to the rim area or a patched
probe hole where it was struck by the long thin probe used to find
pottery - while others will be totally restored sack pots with a large
amount of filler in them.

One way that pottery is checked to see how much restoration has
been done is with the use of CT scans. Below are a few high-end
Quapaw vessels from the Museum of Native American Artifacts
that were sent out for study.:

Here are the same pots with their respective CT scans:

This teapot shows only a few large pieces that were re-attached
with a solid spout and neck area.

---

The top view of this Otter bottle indicates only one break on this
side which is around the bottom of the spout area.

---

This Resting Fawn has had some more serious restoration done to it.
You can easily see where many pieces were fitted back in place.

Again, I thought these photos were interesting and worth sharing -
as an example of what can be done with today's technology, as well
as to provide a few examples that what you see on the outside of a
pottery item may differ from what might be laying under the surface

Jim Bennett

** My thanks to the Museum of Native American Artifacts for
allowing me to use these photos for this article **

Also - if you ever need CT testing done, or if you have high-end pottery or artifacts that really need a thorough checkout, the people who did the pot pictured here can be contacted at:
CT scanning and analysis by Rare Collections - www.rare-collections.com

        

 At first when I posted this, I assumed this
was a moose horn - then I received a comment
by one of the blog visitors who stated this was
probably a buffalo scupula bone - and after looking
at the photos again, that sure makes more sense. 

I took these photos when I was at the Museum
of Native American Artifacts down in Arkansas
last year. I have seen examples of these types
of tools being used for various tasks ranging
from hoes that were attached to handles
to digging tools to paddles.

This example does not have much in the
way of use polish any where along its
edges, so I doubt it was heavily used
as a hoe or spade. Bone and antler will pick
up a polish along its edges from use, and this
one does not exhibit any polish indicating it
was not heavily used as a digging tool.

However, while I am not sure what the
ancient use was exactly for this artifact,
I do know is that it was modified from
its original shape in ancient time to be used
a tool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I looked along the bottom edge, it was evident it had been
intentionally rounded off.

This is a photo of the worked edge showing how it was rounded off, and you
can see the "bit like" angle put along the edge.

In a couple areas you can still see the original scribe marks and saw cuts
from when the bottom edge was originally shaped.

Although I can't say for sure what the exact use in ancient times was, there
is no doubt this was intentionally shaped for a specific purpose
by ancient man. Just another oddity in the artifact world

Jim Bennett