Oetzi's Knife sheath

Last night I stripped some basswood (American Linden) fibers from some basswood branches I scavenged, and made a replica of Oetzi's lime bast knife sheath. Its holding up well, and looks nice. I simply made a ring of basswood, then looped vertical strips on the ring, then twined it together and tied off the end. Fairly simple and easy to make.

Elk Ear Pouch

I sewed up the tear in the elk ear. I had to do it carefully and precisely, so I used a very small splinter of chert and a little stick to poke through the ear and push the buckskin through with the stick. Its very thin, so you have to be careful not to tear it. Its works and holds together though. I left the buckskin long so it can be wrapped and tied to hold the pouch closed.


I tried skinning a Mule Deer ear tonight, however the inside part of the ear stuck firmly to the cartilage and it tore easily. I also noticed the hair to be very different from the elk, far longer and thicker. The inside of the deer ear was almost bare.

Knapping Texas Chert

I went about spalling and knapping some chert today, and created a small, crude, but still useful blade/spear point. I'll probably end up using it as a knife. It has a rather thick spot towards the base, I was able to thin it slightly with an antler punch but it got to the point where I couldnt thin it anymore, plus I was causing some damage to the side.

It does have a nice edge though, so I'll test it by cutting notches in my hearthboard later to see what it can do. Normaly I use a Basketmaker II Sand Dune Cave Knife hafted into a yucca stalk with some pitch, using the same type of stone for the blade. This works well, although it is a short blade. I'll post later how well it works.