Umpqua Knife (SOLD)

This knife is a replica of a prehistoric artifact found in a rockshelter in the North Umpqua River drainage in central Oregon. The original knife had an obsidian blade set into a conifer handle with pine pitch glue.  In addition to charcoal, the glue had vegetable matter mixed into it, though no binding of any kind was wrapped around it to reinforce the haft.  The handle had a hole drilled through the center.  Surely some type of cord or leather strap passed through the hole, but it has since rotted away. 

This knife follows the original artifact's design. It has a blade of obsidian, and it's glued into a handle of western red cedar with the same type of glue recipe as the original artifact (pine sap mixed with charcoal and vegetable fiber).  No wrapping of any kind was present on the original artifact, so I followed suit.  The handle is somewhat flattened when viewed from the top.  It also has a hole drilled through the handle, about midpoint between the blade and end of the handle.  A 2-ply cord of twisted poplar bark is looped through the hole to finish it off.  Driftwood stand is included.

All the design elements and materials used in this knife are true to the original artifact, but this design isn't exclusive to just Oregon.  An almost identical knife was found in Sand Dune Cave in Arizona.  It also had a stone blade set into a soft wood handle with pitch glue and it had a hole drilled in the center of the handle with a fragment of cord still present in the hole.  The loop of cord through the handle is a clever design.  The loop wraps around your wrist and with a quick flip of the hand the knife immediately swings into the palm and is ready for use.  Although there was no binding holding the original blades in place, the pine sap glue was obviously strong enough because both the Umpqua and Sand Dune Cave knives still had the blades firmly cemented in their handles when they were found.      

Length of knife: 6 3/4 inches 

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