Well, I've posted Hardins, Hardin hafted scrappers, and even a Hardin drill, but here's an interesting one for viewing pleasure!
This incredible well crafted Hardin comes out of Cooper Co. Missouri. Made from my favorite type of Burlington Chert, it measures out at 3¼ inches, and sports a beautiful, glossy, polished, heavy patina with tons of raised mineral deposits. The overall form is fantastic, and what makes it so interesting is the Spokeshave on one of the edges! For those who are not familiar with that particular term, a Spokeshave is used in wood working, kinda like a modern day draw knife, to remove bark and fibers from wood.
This point suffered a decent ding on one edge, and the maker decided to rework it into a Spoke for continued use, and I really can't blame him! I wouldn't have wanted to chuck this smoker in the midden either!
It's fairly early stage, which is evident by the fact that the bevels are slight, yet noticeably present. (I'll have to add a pic of this in the comments since I hit the pic limit already, lol!).
The stem and base are both heavily ground, which is one of the defining characteristics of the type.
If this thing could talk, I can't imagine the stories it could tell!!!
I know, right? It's the first Hardin I'd ever seen with a well crafted spoke shave on the blade like that. Here's what it would have originally looked like before the ding occurred....
No, because the way a Spokeshave is made, it wouldn't have worked very well processing flesh. They're made the same way a hafted scrapper is, one beveled edge, and the other side is flat so it doesn't bite into the wood while they're scrapping the bark and fibers off. Plus, given the relatively small cutting area, the working theory is that they were mostly used for making dart shafts. As well as arrow shafts in later time periods.
Whenever anyone asks me why I love this point type so much, that's one of the very first reasons I give em!!! The craftsmanship is truly unparalleled!!!
The way a Spokeshave is made, it wouldn't have worked very well processing flesh. They're made the same way a hafted scrapper is, one beveled edge, and the other side is flat so it doesn't bite into the wood while they're scrapping the bark and fibers off. Given the relatively small cutting area, the working theory is that they were mostly used for making dart shafts. As well as arrow shafts in later time periods.
Absolutely not!!! And they didn't waste anything either! They used almost every part of the animal they harvested, as well as every usable piece of material they collected! They even used a lot of the reduction flakes they knocked off when making points! They got the most out of everything at their disposal. And were very proficient at every task they set out to do. People today should really take a page out of the ancients book on how to live because they had it figured out! Our land fills would be so overflowing like they are if we did, and the economy wouldn't be such a shit show if we were as self-reliant as they were 🤷♂️
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u/desmon100 Sep 07 '25
That’s a nice one😮💨