What is this strange 6000 year old artifact?

I haven't seen anything like this before. There isn't any additional information at the link below, but I included it to show where the artifact was found. I've also searched Google Images and didn't find any additional information. It just seems a little odd to be that old. It looks to me like it's some sort of cast metal, and the "pin" looks like it is hinged, but it's hard to tell without more pictures.

Has anyone seen anything like this before, or have an idea of it's purpose?

So urce

One of the artefact from archaeological site where the gay caveman was found - believed to date from the neolithic period

First impression would be a sort of carabiner

Hold on, where the gay caveman was found?



I don't want to imagine what that could have been used for..

But all serious-ness it looks like it was used for agriculture, when did people start doing agriculture?

its half a pair of scissors, or sheers with one side rotted off
I think
en.wikipedia.org...
(pic scroll down left side)
the handle spring is the old school way they did it back then

reply to post by Danbones


Thought about some kind of cutting tool, too.

I added a link above
Gay cave man?
hair stylist tool

reply to post by Danbones


Was it even possible to make a spring 6000 years ago?....or scissors?...I don't know, it just seems too old for that. I'll do some searching and see if I can find something similar.

Edit:

I don't think that's it judging form the information at your link.

It is most likely that scissors were invented around 1500 BC in ancient Egypt.[1] The earliest known scissors appeared in Mesopotamia 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. These were of the 'spring scissor' type comprising two bronze blades connected at the handles by a thin, flexible strip of curved bronze which served to hold the blades in alignment, to allow them to be squeezed together, and to pull them apart when released.

The design would be too complicated and too old for it to be scissors ( I think ).

leatherworking tool with a blade for cutting and a piercer to make holes to make sewing the pieces of leather together

reply to post by Maxatoria


That sounds like a very likely possibility. Good thinking!...

Originally posted by Maxatoria
leatherworking tool with a blade for cutting and a piercer to make holes to make sewing the pieces of leather together

Exactly my thoughts, Its a Tanner's tool.

Originally posted by NewerBeing
Hold on, where the gay caveman was found?

I don't want to imagine what that could have been used for..

But all serious-ness it looks like it was used for agriculture, when did people start doing agriculture?

edit on 10-5-2012 by NewerBeing because: (no reason given)

Thank MSM for blowing the whole Gay Caveman thing out of proportion. Here is a CNN Report on the Scientific community response.

That tool almost looks like a agricultural tool for cutting away bush or crops. Not sure about the dating methods these scientist are using or how accurate they are though.

Gay caveman???
How can they tell.

Originally posted by adnachiel21
Gay caveman???
How can they tell.

Becuse it was Homo Erectus.

Harte

the link explains why they think gay
.......................................................................
and yeah,
leather working tool sounds better then plain scissors
good call

Originally posted by Harte

Originally posted by adnachiel21
Gay caveman???
How can they tell.

Becuse it was Homo Erectus.

Harte

A star for the bad joke!

Wow this could start a whole thread on "how can they tell he was a gay caveman"!

My answer...They found crudely drawn cave paintings depicting broadway musicals surrounding his gravesite.

reply to post by isyeye


Looks a lot like a straight razor to me, but I have no idea what the pointy end that pivots around on a hinge would be used for.

reply to post by wtbengineer


ooops sorry,
Lather working tool
with a combo nose picker / earwax scoop

Copper or arsenical bronze cloak pin. 6000 bp is not stone age in that part of Europe. Chalcolithic/Neolithic . Looks like the pointy end has been snapped short.

I wonder what the size of this thing is? It is hard to tell what it is unless we have a perspective on size. I like the leather tool idea. It seems to make the most since in my mind.

This strikes me as very odd. This tool is clearly made of metal. Either iron or bronze. Yet it is dated to 6000 years ago in the Neolithic age(stone age). The other artifact shown in the source article is also metal and has stones (jewels) set into it. Does it strike anybody as odd that this is a stone age metal tool,which predates either the iron age or the bronze age.

I agree that it was probably used for working leather. The shape, I think makes this very possible. As for the skeleton being gay, I think this is a great leap of faith. Perhaps he was a leather worker and that job was the realm of females at the time. Perhaps he was a good cook and that would have been the domain of females. Perhaps he was a hermaphrodite and was possessed of female genitalia with a primarily male skeletal structure. if he had female characteristics perhaps he was given female tasks. Any of these ideas could account for the circumstances of his burial.

So what do you think?