Tracing the tools by their traces. Identification and documentation of tool traces -illustrated through punch-decorated objects from the Early Germanic Iron Age

Abstract

Tracing the tools by their traces. Identification and documentation of tool marks - illustrated through punch-decorated objects from the Early Germanic Iron Age.

During excavation at Sejlflod near Tofthøj a very rich woman's grave was found in the summer of 1979, among the contents of which were a sheet-silver fibula and two delta­shaped pendants (fig. 1). The grave is dated to the Early Germanic Iron Age.

Idenfication and comparison showed that 11 different punches had been used on the three silver ornaments.

By making silicone-rubber impressions of the surfaces of the ornamented objects, and then documenting the tool traces, both optically and by scanning microphotographs, it was possible to identify the microstructure of the 11 different punches which had been used in decorating the three sheet-silver objects in the grave. The appearance of the punches is documented with scanning-electron-microscope (SEM) photographs (fig. 11).

It is noteworthy that three different punches: B, F and G, each occur on all three of the investigated objects (fig. 12). The sheet-silver fibula and the two pendants were thus produced with the same set of tools, and there is good reason to conclude that all three were made by the same person.

The method of analysis here described could, if systematically used, give new and better possibilities of evaluating the interdependence of our ornamented objects from prehistoric times.

Erling Benner Larsen