John, that's an interesting artifact!

Dedie, no need to laugh at all :) I'm a bagpiper and it looks quite similar
to a pipe mouthpiece. The odd factors are the additional holes drilled
perpendicular through the shaft. Those holes would make the blowpipe
essentially useless, and they are not present on any modern/historical
pipes that I know of...if this artifact represented a chanter, it's
possible that you would find holes drilled through the shaft, but they
should only appear on one side.

I know Galician gaitas vary in design from Scottish (highland) pipes,
especially in their drone structure, but these basic characteristics should
be the same. So I would be surprised, but also excited, if this was from a
bagpipe...I suspect though that it represents something else!

Now you've inspired me to want to understand the archaeological record for
bagpipes!

Take care,
Cyler

-- 
Cyler Conrad, M.A., RPA
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Anthropology
University of New Mexico
[log in to unmask]

On Sat, Aug 26, 2017 at 10:33 AM, Dedie Snow <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> John, et al.
> Please don't laugh, but my immediate reaction upon looking at the
> photographs of the unidentified artifact from the Tristan de Luna site was
> that the object is the mouthpiece for a bagpipe.  The problem is, I don't
> play the bagpipe or even have one close at hand for comparison.  According
> to Wikipedia though, the Galician gaita was popular in Galicia and northern
> Portugal from the 9th century on.  Now that I've gone way out on a limb,
> I'd love to know what your unidentified object really is.
>
> Cheers,
> Dedie Snow
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of John Worth
> Sent: Friday, August 25, 2017 7:57 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Artifact ID question: Luna settlement site, Pensacola
>
> I'd like to request help or suggestions regarding an unusual copper-alloy
> object that was found in general midden context at the Tristan de Luna
> settlement site in Pensacola, Florida, and which may therefore date to the
> mid-16th century (and would thus join our substantial and growing
> assemblage of Spanish materials from the expedition).  However, it might
> also derive from 20th-century occupation in the same vicinity, possibly
> resulting from bioturbation from above.  The object is thick-walled and
> heavy, perhaps cast bronze, and has a narrow hole at the ball-shaped tip,
> as well as two narrow holes just below the tip at different positions on
> opposite sides.  It also has a larger hole off-center in the base, which
> seems broken off, and which has localized corrosion traces around the
> base.  Despite its appearance, my impression is that it is too light and
> small to be a nautical sounding weight, and it is too heavy to be some sort
> of whistle (two of the suggestions that have been made).
>
> The object is pictured in the album here:
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/johneworth/albums/72157685583409904
>
> ​Thanks in advance!​
>
> --
> John E. Worth, Ph.D.
> Professor, Department of Anthropology
> University of West Florida, 11000 University Parkway, Pensacola, FL 32514
> Phone: (850) 857-6204    Fax: (850) 857-6278    Email: [log in to unmask]
> Home Page: http://www.uwf.edu/jworth/index.htm
> Luna Settlement Project: http://lunasettlement.blogspot.com/
> https://www.facebook.com/lunasettlementproject/
> <http://www.uwf.edu/jworth/teaching.htm#Advisement>
>
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