"The Curse of the Axe; documentary

An inquiring lad came forward on this forum last year with those very same Basque touch marks on a metal detector-foundling trade axe ostensibly because younger/modern folks really want to believe these curious artifacts might be warrior tomahawks and it did open eyes on here.
All steel tools (fish hooks included!) created a revolution amongst the indigenous community in n. America beginning 500 years ago. We have long ago forgotten that scavengers of homestead house fires (even 200 years ago) gathered up steel nails from the ruins only because they were unobtainable otherwise, so useful and so valuable. The history of civilization seems to follow the 'taming' of iron into steel.
 
300Six said:
We have long ago forgotten that scavengers of homestead house fires (even 200 years ago) gathered up steel nails from the ruins only because they were unobtainable otherwise, so useful and so valuable. The history of civilization seems to follow the 'taming' of iron into steel.
Click to expand...

People used to buy rotting cabins just for the salvage rights to the nails. They burn 'em down and sift the ruins. Read Thoreau.
 
It doesn't rewrite nothing new apart of Hurons owning a metal object.
That documentary is sensationalist, yes Basques reached Canadan coasts earlier than any other European, yes they shipped axes to trade them and they were the first doing it to America and yes that axe part will be from Basque origin (quite probable taking in account Basques produced 25% of the European iron in 1550). But there is not anything new other than Huron trading network was more extensive than they originally thought. Even what they name as the maker mark is false, I have talked about it with the experts they consulted here in the Basque Country.
 
Folks in n. America pooh-poohed a Danish gentleman 50 years ago for actively searching for evidence that Norsemen (Vikings) settled in the 'New World' 100's of years before Chris Columbus ever set sail. L'Anse aux Meadows in northern Newfoundland was his discovery, everything there has since checked out and the location has been declared a World Heritage Site. The southern tip of Newfoundland is not called Port O' Basques for nothing either; Basque fishermen used the area as a port and built summer camps and processing facilities there long before "the" officially known explorers ever showed up.
People that make TV and film documentaries are not life-long-educated/experienced in what they film nor do they have the luxury of devoting unlimited time to a subject. I think they did a good job of 'making a very credible story' about the touch mark on a fragment of steel that was found at an inland archaeological dig that supposedly pre-dated European contact.
Pray tell; please bring forth your findings about those maker marks.
 
You are right 300Six, Vikings were the first documented Europeans arriving to America.
About the documentary... Documentary makers are not to be supposed to know all of everything, but they must learn about what they are talking in order to not to make fiction. If they produce fiction they can't sell it as a documentary.
Nevertheless I'm not blaming the people who produced this "documentary", I'm blaming the scientifics who studied the artifact. Some of their premises are true, like the most probable origin of that piece of iron. But their affirmation about rewritting history and the mark of the axe are clearly incorrect and they know it.
I'm sorry but the history of the mark is short, there isn't any appreciable mark there. If the mark they discovered was true be sure they would explain all about it, but they are very evasive in this concern. I have talked the experts consulted here, they say they there is no mark in that piece of iron, these experts contacted to other experts from the other side of the ocean and those also say they don't see any mark there. Both experts have been consulted by those who studied the artifact and experts from both side of the ocean have said the same to them...
 
So you're saying the documentary producers so very badly wanted to see a maker's mark that they imagined (pretended to find) one? Never let facts, or the truth, interfere with telling a good story!
 
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