Hi Ann In a completely unrelated search of the internet today (looking for information on pastry wheels carved out of walrus tusk as background for an object in the collection of the Queensland Museum) I came across something in the online collections of the Nantucket Historical Association which looks similar to your second mystery object. It is a thimble carved from whalebone with an extremely similar shape to yours, and given you described the material as chalky, it could well be bone. Here is the link to the object in their database http://www.nantuckethistoricalassociation.net/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?AC=GET_RECORD&XC=/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll&BU=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nantuckethistoricalassociation.net%2Fdbtw-wpd%2FCollectionsQuery.htm&TN=CollectionsWeb&SN=AUTO28815&SE=1872&RN=25&MR=20&TR=0&TX=1000&ES=0&CS=1&XP=&RF=WebBrief&EF=&DF=WebFull&RL=0&EL=0&DL=0&NP=2&ID=&MF=&MQ=&TI=0&DT=&ST=0&IR=2537&NR=0&NB=1&SV=0&SS=0&BG=&FG=&QS=CollectionsQuery&OEX=ISO-8859-1&OEH=ISO-8859-1 If the link doesn't work try searching "Whale bone thimble" in their online collections http://www.nantuckethistoricalassociation.net/dbtw-wpd/CollectionsQuery.htm Hope this information helps Cheers Karen Karen Murphy Assistant Curator Cultures and Histories Program queensland museum south bank po box 3300 | south brisbane bc | queensland 4101 | australia t 07 3840 7572 | [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> | www.southbank.qm.qld.gov.au <http://www.southbank.qm.qld.gov.au/> ________________________________ From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY on behalf of Ann Raab Sent: Tue 29/06/2010 1:07 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Mystery Objects Thanks for the information about the accordion reeds. I received two responses about that, so that has been great. If anyone has an idea about the other object, I'd love to know what you think! Ann ________________________________ From: nicole brandon <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Mon, June 28, 2010 4:20:31 PM Subject: Re: Mystery Objects Anita, the objects in the first image look similar to some accordion reeds recovered from a tavern/inn site dating roughly 1870 to 1890. Anne Raab's reeds might be from a concertina, a similar instrument to the accordion. A quick internet search will showcase various images of the instrument and reeds. Nicole Brandon --- On Mon, 6/28/10, Anita Cohen-Williams <[log in to unmask]> wrote: From: Anita Cohen-Williams <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Mystery Objects To: [log in to unmask] Received: Monday, June 28, 2010, 4:39 PM Anne Raab has found several unidentified artifacts and would like help in figuring out what they are. Here is a link to my archaeology blog where I have posted her notes and the photos: http://ow.ly/24nK4 -- Anita Cohen-Williams Organic SEO and Social Media Marketing http://mysearchguru.com <http://mysearchguru.com/> Twitter: @searchguru
