Help identifying finds

pueblo

Both these found this week in a river in Co. Kilkenny.

First one is I am fairly sure a tooth...appears to be the tooth of a carnivore, possibly fossilised but not sure. The question is what animal did it belong to??







The second find is ceramic but what was it? A brush? a musical instrument? a late medieval shower head?? :-)

bogwalrus

second piece a telephone handle?

pueblo

bogwalrus wrote: »

second piece a telephone handle?

Interesting, but seems to be too 'hand made' to be a commercially made telephone piece...

maybe an early 'ear trumpet' for the hard of hearing?

Wibbs

The "tooth" looks like a fossil alright, but with no tooth morphology I've ever seen. IMH it's a naturally eroded fossil that looks vaguely tooth like.

Maudi

pffftt..absolutely no idea but i look foward to your finds..first one slightly suggestively tooth shaped..growth rings? carved?no idea..second one....red ware early 18th??

Cailleachdubh

First one: very nice fossil? Of what I don't know but doesn't look like a tooth to me.

Second one: some kind of ceramic watering can?

http://www.123rf.com/photo_11874029_close-up-of-small-ceramic-watering-can-over-white.html

Ps thanks for posting! I love when people post pics of finds on here.

Fuzzy Clam

1st pic looks a bit like a shell, possibly a Conch.
http://www.google.ie/imgres?q=shell&sa=X&rlz=1W1AURU_enIE499&biw=1024&bih=625&tbm=isch&tbnid=-scVwT7ibRO99M:&imgrefurl=http://www.photo-dictionary.com/phrase/3806/conch-shell.html&docid=tQ3X8XlepLO-EM&imgurl=http://www.photo-dictionary.com/photofiles/list/3806/5124conch_shell.jpg&w=700&h=466&ei=pWJpUa2PH6GK7Aai34HwAw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=109&page=1&tbnh=144&tbnw=245&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0,i:153&tx=134&ty=70

Fries-With-That

I love looking at the pictures of the stuff you find in rivers, and followed your last thread with great interest.

I have no idea about the tooth, but I'm nearly certain that the second picture is the spout from a teapot.

The part where the holes are was the part that attached to the body of the teapot and the other end (spout) is broken.

The purpose of the holes was to prevent the tea leaves getting into your cup, it also suggests its fairly old as the tea leaves would have to be coarse cut for it to be effective.

http://ceramicartsdaily.org/pottery-making-techniques/handbuilding-techniques/how-to-make-a-properly-functioning-handbuilt-spout-for-a-teapot/

You can see one being made here at 10.10 on the video.

pueblo

Fries-With-That wrote: »

I love looking at the pictures of the stuff you find in rivers, and followed your last thread with great interest.

I have no idea about the tooth, but I'm nearly certain that the second picture is the spout from a teapot.

The part where the holes are was the part that attached to the body of the teapot and the other end (spout) is broken.

The purpose of the holes was to prevent the tea leaves getting into your cup, it also suggests its fairly old as the tea leaves would have to be coarse cut for it to be effective.

http://ceramicartsdaily.org/pottery-making-techniques/handbuilding-techniques/how-to-make-a-properly-functioning-handbuilt-spout-for-a-teapot/

You can see one being made here at 10.10 on the video.

Thanks for all the replies. Nothing further on the 'tooth like' object.

Fries-with-That, I think you have correctly nailed the ceramic piece as a teapot spout. Well done.

slowburner

That tooth shaped object is intriguing.
It is difficult to decide if it is manmade or natural without more detailed analysis. If the find hasn't already gone to the Museum - it definitely should.
I'll throw my hat into the ring and guess that it is a fossilised section of branch wood. The rings look like the annular growth rings of wood.
Teeth, as Wibbs said, don't grow and wear in an annular fashion, but trees do.
I think there is also an outside possibilty that it is a fragment of a carving. Very difficult to tell from the pictures or without seeing it first hand.
For your own information (although it would be nice to share it here) it could be interesting to weigh the object and compare it to a similarly sized section of tooth. You could also informally measure and compare the hardness of the two. This might help give an idea of what the material is, tooth enamel, bone, ivory, fossilised something or other, antler - it could be a lot of things.
Let us know how you get on.

Cailleachdubh

I'd say the Museum might politely tell you you can take it back home with you if you brought it in!

Is there a geology forum or thread you could post the pics on?

slowburner

Geography is the closest thing to a geology forum.
Palaeontology might be worth a visit too.

If the NMI dismiss it out of hand (which I doubt they'll do), the Natural History Museum might be able to tell more about this rather curious object.

pueblo

slowburner wrote: »

Geography is the closest thing to a geology forum.
Palaeontology might be worth a visit too.

If the NMI dismiss it out of hand (which I doubt they'll do), the Natural History Museum might be able to tell more about this rather curious object.

Thanks for the input everyone...I have already posted the 'tooth like object' in the palaeontology forum with no responses as yet.

I will certainly take it to the NMI though, as I have agreed to bring them all my river finds which include over 1,000 pottery sherds, various pieces of flint, bones, architectural stone work and various bits of metal (one possible fibula/brooch).... God help the person who has to sort through all that!