Unusual dagger, billfish or bone “blade”?

[Ian]

Originally Posted by wildwolberine

Thanks for the comments, everyone! I agree this is likely a billfish bill, and probably SE Asian in origin. Surprised it’s apparently not a common item. The construction is so simple I assumed it would be a common trinket or curio item.

ww, I guess it depends on the local market for curious items like this one.

[Ian]

Not wishing to extend the debate about swordfish bill versus baculum, but here are some data on the walrus baculum that indicate its unusual length and straightness. There had been some skepticism about the University of Melbourne specimen based on its straightness, but the specimens shown here are consistent with the example from the University of Melbourne.

The data below relate to five bacula of Holocene walrus from Franz Joseph Land (collected by Captain Adams of the steamship ‘Maude’ [Dundee] in 1869 and donated to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh). They appear in the article: L. Bartosiewicz, Baculum Fracture in Carnivores: Osteological, Behavioural and Cultural
Implications. Int. J. Osteoarchaeol. 10:447–450 (2000).
.