File:A post medieval bone knife handle dating AD1500-1700. (FindID 579356).jpg

English: A post medieval bone knife handle dating AD1500-1700. The fragment consists of a bone scale with a D-shaped cross-section that would have comprised one half of an oval-sectioned pistol-grip knife handle. The handle has been decorated with an incised geometric pattern that divides the scale into three panels running along the length of the handle. The central panel has been infilled with bands of three engraved transverse lines repeated along the length of the handle. On either side of this panel is an linear border, below which on each side the panel has been filled with a double cross-hatched design. A ring and dot motif has been carved near the butt of the handle. The central dot has been carved to a greater depth than the ring but it does not complete perforate the handle. It is possible that this designed to hold a decorative element that has now been lost, similar to the inset glass on this knife: LON-2F42F2. At the opposite end of the handle the bone has been carved to be stepped to seat the bolster. Fragments of iron survive on the reverse side of the handle which are the remains of the iron scale tang of the knife.

MacGregor (1985, 170) notes that such cross-hatching design is commonly encountered on knife handles from the post medieval period, as it serves both a decorative purpose and a functional one, as it improves the grip of the handle. A similar example with almost identical decoration has been recorded on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database e.g. LON-F004E6.

Dimensions: length: 97.94mm; width: 26.19mm; thickness: 9.27mm; weight: 24.08g.

Reference: MacGregor, A. 1985. Bone, Antler, Ivory and Horn. The Technology of Skeletal Materials Since the Roman Period. Croom Helm, London and Sydney.