Plains stone axe for ?ing

[Tim Simmons]

Now I am not saying this is genuine or a skilled reproduction. I just want to point out that the item displays skills, not just balance and aesthetics. You can see the the wood has been treated with fire. You can see the real wood colour showing where there is a crack which I suspect was caused by this process.

[Tim Simmons]

This piece still fascinates and stimulates me. I have found a detailed university research paper which explores the concept of 'art and costly signaling' and the manufacture of seemingly useless and time consuming products among plains people. It is a over 100 pages long with so very nice photos of late 19th century Sioux art. I have cut and paste a in a nut shell extract as well as a link. Long but well worth the effort rewarding you with enlightenment.

Hypothesis 1: Displays of body decoration and personal adornment by
nineteenth century Lakota tribal members operated as social signals of
prestige and skill, and were costly in terms of energy and resources.
These costs guaranteed that only those individuals who could bear
them would be able to produce the displays.
Hypothesis 2: Costly signaling through body decoration and personal
adornment by Lakota tribal members reliably indicated some hidden
trait or characteristic of the signaler, and in order to maintain the
honesty of these signals, some social mechanism operated to prevent
free-riders from faking signals.
Hypothesis 3: Costly signaling through body decoration and personal
adornment by Lakota individuals was beneficial to both the signaler

and receiver, resulting in a payoff of enhanced prestige at the level of
the individual.

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/vi...t=anthrotheses

[Tim Simmons]

For those who would like quick reference pages 56 70 122 and onward are best.
You can see this axe could well play a role at a sophisticated gathering where the carrying of real weapons may cause insult.