08/24/2026
Tracey uncovered this metal item we've identified as a knife!
We believe it's a whittle tang knife, a common medieval style. They have a tapered tang (unsharpened back of the blade) and are fitted by pushing the blade tang into a hole drilled into the handle.
We're able to make this assumption because we can't see holes where the blade could've been riveted onto a handle as in other knife designs.
Handles would've been made of wood, bone or horn most commonly due to the durability and abundance. Overall the style and material makes this a cheap blade for our medieval ancestors.
In order to fully understand this finds, we would need to x-ray it to see more detail. Metal objects cannot be cleaned using water as with other finds, compacted soil and rust obscure our view and are incredibly difficult to remove by hand.
