Posted 8 years ago
ScottSchoo…
(1 item)
Hand ax Cheesequake Creek NJ I found this as a child at low tide in Cheesequake Creek NJ. [Raritan Bay area.]
thanks Scott
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Clay or Sod? good eye & quick hand as a kid great find.
Welcome to CW Someone here will know, We have a lot of good helpful and knowledgeable folks, stick around
Is it iron, stone, or what ? Welcome to CyberAsylum/CW
Thanks for the questions! We don't know what the metal is--dense and heavy but not soft like Lead. It's a white metal. Does not attract a magnet. It's heavy. May be it's an alloy? It's not been cleaned. It was found in the water, the rust you see is the only rusting it has had.
It's not native American being metal .
I've been re-visiting this post ever since it was put up hoping someone would identify this piece. It certainly looks hand-forged but if a magnet doesn't stick and its a "white" metal, and heavy, it sounds like tin or zinc and they are cast, not forged. How sure are you that the metal is white? Is there a nick or scrape where fresh uncorroded metal is showing?
It looks too bulky for a "hand axe." Have you show it to someone at a maritime museum? It may be part of a ship(?)
Tin or zinc is not heavy.
Whaling Industry Blubber knife? AKA Cutting Spade?
Bronze maybe? Lead would be heavy but too soft.
Bronze/brass would be the most logical but he said "white" metal.
Heavy is relative. Aluminum is not heavy; a chunk of tin or zinc that size would feel heavy (only 11% lighter than iron*), especially for using one-handed as a knife-like tool. I have an ingot of pure zinc that is roughly one-third the volume of that piece and it weighs 3 lbs.
*Relative masses:
Aluminum 2600 .
Iron 7850 .
Tin 7300 .
Zinc 7100 .
Brass/Bronze 8500-8700 .
Lead 11300 .
6 lbs 4 oz
We originally thought it might have been a blubber-ax, although they tended to "look" lighter, never having held one. Then found out that back in 18th/19th c. the area,the banks of the Cheesequake Creek, were the longtime site of clay harvesting, producing a highly sought after product for potters throughout NY & NJ. Suddenly the weight made sense.
We've contacted some pottery collectors to see if they have a record of what was used for clay-harvesting. Long handles? Wedges and hammers? So far no one has offered information about how clay was cut. We may need to look at what they use in countries where that is still done by hand.
Or back to blubber. There was a lot of whaling in NJ. Will take another look at the metal.
Thanks for your interest!