Sickle Knife, India ???

[Billman]

Originally Posted by VANDOO

THE SICKLE AND BILLHOOK HAVE A HISTORY PREDATING THE METAL VERSION IN SOME SOCIETYS. THE OLDEST AUTHENTIC EXAMPLE I HAVE PERSONALLY SEEN WAS IN THE MUSEUM AT CAIRO EGYPT. IT WAS WOOD IN SCYCLE SHAPE WITH A GROOVE ALONG THE INSIDE CURVE INSET WITH CLOSELY SET FLINT BLADES TO FORM A GOOD CUTTING EDGE.

Flint sickles, with a body made of antler, wood or bone, with the flints held in by resin have been found in Iron Age sites in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. Stone axes are also well known, but the billhooks appears to have first appeared in the Bronze Age, with small pruning hooks cast in stone moulds, similar to those used for bronze sickles. Bronze sickles and pruning hooks (billhooks) would appear to have originated in ancient Sumer(ia) in lower Mesopotania c 2900BC, now modern Iraq & Iran, and spread east into Egypt and Greece, and west into India.The billhook, as we know it today, appears to date from the Iron Age, and was common in Britain before the Roman occupation c 50BC. Roman billhooks, sickles and other tools are still regularly found on archelogical dig sites and are almost identical to modern versions. Up until the mid to late 19th century the small billhook, or pruning hook, would have been the tool used by all gardeners, fruit tree and wine growers for pruning etc.

[manteris1]

no marks, nice horn collar, very heavy blade and sharp, i think its from india what do you all think.................jimmy

[Billman]

Originally Posted by manteris1

no marks, nice horn collar, very heavy blade and sharp, i think its from india what do you all think.................jimmy

What type of horn is it?? (I have seen cow horn used as the ferrule on European billhooks - but I thought in India that the cow was sacred, so unlikely they woud have used its horn for tools). Buffalo (water) tends to be solid, but other types of horn - goat, sheep and some types of deer antler have hollow sections...

Identifying the origins of this only emphasises the need for provenance with a tool as certain tools are generic and found in many continents and countries..

I have built up an archive collection of several thousand images, and have over 6000 billhooks - yet I cannot identify the origins of this one with any degeree of certainty....

[kronckew]

water bufala* are commonly used to supply mozzarella cheese to a horde of hungry italians and inhabitants of other western countries who have become addicted to pizza and grilled slabs of mozzarella. it has a higher melting point than other cheeses and can be grilled or bbq'd. (some inferior non-italian 'mozzarella' is made from cow's milk - caveat emptor)

i thus imagine buff horn is fairly common in italy, as it is in nepal or india/SEA.


* - italian for the female buffalo. male buffalo milk is unsuited to making edible cheese. they are also harder to milk and the resulting milk is highly perishable, so is kept at cryogenic temperatures and used almost exclusively for making additional buffaloes.

[manteris1]

thanks, i've cleaned it and it does look european/italian, say billman how about some photo's................jimmy

[Billman]

You learn something new each day:

Bufala mediterranea italiana, is the only indigenous Italian breed of water buffalo.It is of the River subtype of water buffalo, and is similar to the buffalo breeds of Hungary, Romania and the Balkan countries. Previously considered to belong to the Mediterranean buffalo grouping, it was officially recognised as a breed in 2000, based on its long isolation from, and lack of interbreeding with, other buffalo breeds. A herdbook was opened in 1980....

Not sure how their horn compares with other breeds of water buffalo - but if solid, not a lot of good for ferrules.

Jimmy, I'll try to find some comparable images, but if you could take a) an image at 90 degrees to the blade, and b) a close up of the marks on the blade, it would help..

[manteris1]

i hope this will help......