Bone Rasps from the Tobias Site, 14RC8

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Bone Rasps from the Tobias Site, 14RC8

Shown here are two of the many bone rasps excavated at the Tobias site, a Great Bend aspect (ancestral Wichita) site in Rice County. The Tobias site was the location of the 1977 and 1978 Kansas Archeology Training Program field schools. The shorter bone rasp was recovered in 1977, while the longer one was recovered in 1978. The rasp was made by cutting grooves into a deer rib. Archeologists believe that artifacts like these could have been used as musical instruments by drawing a stick across the grooves. One rasp does not have as deeply cut grooves as the other, perhaps not being fully finished or perhaps having a different purpose.

Date: 1350-1650 CE