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Just imagine holding a piece of the past in your hand — and willingly giving it away.
Well, that is what happened last year at the Salisbury Relic Show. A man who didn’t identify himself walked into the show and asked if someone was from Salisbury.
Chris Hendrix, president of the Piedmont Archaeological Society, said none of the show organizers were from Salisbury, but he told the man he lives in Charlotte.
“He said ‘good enough’ and handed me a grooved ax, performer blade and a chipped ax,” Hendrix said. As someone who has prospected for stone tools for years, Hendrix immediately recognized the prehistoric tools.
Today, he thinks two of those ancient tools are probably 5,000 years old.
Hendrix was surprised by the number of people who turned out for last year’s Relic Show, the first sponsored by the archaeological group here.
So he has high hopes for the second show on Saturday at Holiday Inn on Jake Alexander Boulevard.
The show is a good opportunity to get a better understanding about arrowheads and other Indian artifacts. “I was pleased with the turnout,” Hendrix said. “Some people didn’t know they had valuable arrowheads in their possession.”
At the show, you begin to realize all the aspects of collecting Indian artifacts, Hendrix said.
“People don’t realize when you find a arrowhead, you may be the first person to touch that arrowhead in hundreds of years,” he said.
And sometimes you may not know what you’ve got. For instance, Hendrix described the three tools the man gave him last year:
- The grooved ax is 5 inches long and 3 inches wide with a groove than encircles the stone. Its maker created the groove by pecking with another hard stone and then smoothing with a second stone. An ax handle was wrapped tightly around the groove.
- The chipped ax is a large stone that was chipped to form an ax. If the edge ever dulled, its user would just re-chip a new cutting edge.
The user would cut a hole in a wood or bone handle and insert the back end of the stone, tying it with sinew, or ligaments from the joints of large animals such as deer and bear.
Once the maker wrapped fresh sinew around a stone and handle and allowed it to dry, the stone would never move again. The early tool makers also use dried blood blood vessels.
- The large performer blade is just a large stone — 5 1/2 inches long and 3 inches wide — worked into a rough form. The tool maker might turn it into a chipped ax, knife or arrowhead later.
The first two tools are probably 5,000 years old, but the age of the third is unknown.
The Relic Show has display tables and exhibits where you can purchase artifacts.
Hendrix has been the president of the archaeological group for three years. The society has three shows a year at different locations in the Carolinas. Although this is his last year as president, he will encourage the future president to continue to have a Salisbury show.
Don’t forget to bring pieces you might have found over the years. You never know what you may have.
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The Salisbury Relic Show will take place on Saturday, from 8 a.m to 3 p.m., at the Holiday Inn Salisbury, 530 Jake Alexander Blvd. The show is free to the public, and organizers will offer free display space to people with artifacts (limit is two). A group charges $20 a table to dealers. For more information, contact Hendrix at (704) 846-6034.
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