A question about carving bone tools.

[Cougar Allen]

I believe they still need a substantial amount of material to do carbon 14 dating -- more than one fishhook. They usually take the charcoal from a fire rather than destroy priceless artifacts.

 

[Codger_64]

True. Seems a quantity of bone fishooks and other materials were found in the excavation including fish bones. And I have serious qualms about the accuracy of carbon dating. The further back from the present it is used, the greater the error.

http://www.archaeology.org/news/637-130311-germany-paleolithic-fishhooks

 

[abo4ster]

The few items I have made from bone were primitive primitive... meaning I used stone. There was no carving per se, it was all scoring, smashing, and abrading taking advantage of the vertical aspects of the bone.