Please help me identify this 2 inch by 1 inch wood carving

[azzaro]

Hmmm... I guess then the Mystery will only unfold after Archeologists at the University Of Ottawa take a look at it. I lived in Minnesota for 10 years and The football team is called the VIKINGS there since 90% of the people there are Scandinavian descent. I am greco-roman descent.

[waywardangler]

Read about the Kensington runestone from Minnesota for some Viking history.  http://kensingtonmn.com/runestonepg.html

[azzaro]

..And here are the pics to VINLAND..the oldest European (Viking) settlement in North America:

http://www.superstock.com/stock-photography/Viking+Settlement

[azzaro]

Here are the links to everything you wanted to know about VINLAND, as the Vikings called it, when they came to North America as first-ever European settlers around 1000 A.D:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinland

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/nl/meadows/index.aspx

http://www.mnh.si.edu/vikings/voyage/subset/vinland/archeo.html

http://www.nfb.ca/film/vinland_mystery

http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/vinland/home/indexen.html

[fancypants]

My first look @ your item : It 'looked' to me as if it may have been a 'bell' from the end of a wind instrument (made from horn/wood) .

The curious inscriptions on your item do not appear to have any great deal of patina to them (@ least it appears to my eyes so) , suggesting that they may be of much more recent work than the good 'ole 1000's .
The crispness of the cuts in the item also speak to this item not having a great deal of wear upon it (almost like sorta new-ish) .

Interesting whatsit , azzaro .

[azzaro]

The fact of the matter is whoever did this..in the good ole 1000s or more recent, they did not do it with the naked eye. You can hardly see the symbols ..much less etch them..the item is 2.75in by 1.5in. It is a horn 4-sure..It will be examined by experts in archeology to determine it's age and possible decipher what is on it. All the artifacts disappeared when the Vikings left in the 1000s after a brief stay..it's a Mystery..than Columbus came 500 years later..Mystery continues to this day..

[cogar]

This etching is done with such a small and sharp object that it is quite possibly comparable to the sharpest of the sharpest strong needles in existence today. I

No problem, ....... as it is the other way around. The use of the sharpest of the sharpest predates modern by thousands of years ..... and is still preferred today for delicate surgeries.

Good quality obsidian fractures down to single molecules which can produce a cutting edge 500 times sharper than the sharpest steel scalpel blade

 

Because of this lack of crystal structure, obsidian blade edges can reach almost molecular thinness, leading to its ancient use as projectile points and blades, and its modern use as surgical scalpel blades.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsidian

[waywardangler]

I have been thinking the same as fancypants as there is also no wear to this object. If utilitarian in use, such as a calendar or counter, it would be handled and the etchings would be smooth from use. In no way do I think it is from the pre-1900s. I was originally thinking Africa and the 1950s but could not find anything that looked like the centipede-like figures. I only put the Mayan centipedes out there because they were the closest I could find. I do not think it is from the Mayan times. I also think the horn is not that old and not rhino horn. I was thinking more buffalo or carved down water buffalo but I am not familiar with African dark-horned animals that much.

An interesting comment that it looks like part of a musical instrument. Bell part from a snake dancer's flute?

As to the smallness of the etchings...that has been done many, many times before by the naked eye with miniature books, miniature carvings, etc. Not unusual in the least.

[azzaro]

Thanks for the obsidian blade info. I did not know that. The only thing we now know so far is that whatever this is was so important that it had to be miniature-carved on a horn. Experts should have no problems deciphering the symbols if there are other artifacts like this. If they like what they see they can carbon-date the horn. This piece may or may not be something important, but it sure seems like somebody spend a lot of time to put it on the horn for frequent and quick referencing of information on it. Here is  the pics again.

[mariok54]

I sincerely hope that it is 'old' and even 'valuable', but as I mentioned after viewing the video, it seems to be pristine, and as Wayward and fancypants point out, it does not seem to have had a lot of wear, it is just ... 'so sharp'. Keep an open mind and be prepared to take bad news as gracefully as good news
But GOOD LUCK with it!