Mr. Fenn,

forrest fennWere pottery shards ever repurposed? I wonder if they were ever shaped into arrowheads to be used on small animals? ~ Thanks BW

Sure they were BW. In our digging we found a few hundred human effigies that were shaped from pieces of broken pottery vessels. I picture many of them in my book, The Secrets of San Lazaro Pueblo.f

 

Further Information on the Spindle Whorls from The Secrets of San Lazaro Pueblo book…lots of interesting images and facts in that book.

san lazaro pueblo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other Links of Interest:

Prizes for the Egg Decorating Contest (talks about the Pottery Shards and the ‘Gaming Pieces’ from San Lazaro)

 

Best of Luck with all that you seek!  Enjoy Life’s Adventures!

41 Comments

    1. I remember in TTOTC when Fenn called out Lee Harvey Oswald and John Wilkes Booth. I thought that was strange. These whorls kinda remind me of the shape of the Imagine memorial in Central Park. Oh, hey, what was that dude who murdered John Lennon reading when he got arrested?

      1. Quite interesting reading on this subject. Thank you E.C. Waters…with both the Strawberry Fields Memorial (Imagine) and the strange connection of J.D. Salinger’s novel with more than 1 assassin.

        Things I did not know!

        1. It might not actually be so strange. For the past several weeks, I believe this will have been an intentional connection.

          My theory is that Strawberry Fields in Central Park will be correlated to Strawberry Fields in Colorado Springs, where I believe the treasure is waiting.

          What was Fenn saying about Jackie Kennedy Onassis leaving brandy at his place? She left a whole “lake of life” in Central Park.

  1. Thank you Jenny and Forrest.

    Kids today have no clue about how much fun it was to breath fresh air, clear your mind and to walk down a road playing kick the can. Could totally see myself sanding down shards of pottery to make intricate chess pieces.

    Pressure and time. Right Andy Dufresne?

      1. I will give it a whorl………..
        WE are brought into this world with no direction only an inner voice that we follow. If we are lucky we encounter certain special person or persons along the way that help us in our journey. Our inner voice can lead use down many paths that smooth and polish our edges changing the shape that we started with. If one is very fortunate they might encounter a life-changing event that helps them to follow their dreams, teach them to focus and therefore repurpose an object that is fundamentally sound but slightly off on their journey through life.

        How did I do Jake, documentation is important in the end to someone?

        1. Crazy Eyes, you hit the nail on the head. I love your ideas, if I could just see behind those crazy eyes. My question to you is one of a point. Do you prefer an arrow point with a straight edge or one with serrations? Speaking in a whorly fashion of course. Oh forget that it confuses me, I need to refocus, sorry for interrupting.

          1. That is a great question Mr. Shadow.
            I originally preferred a very sharp straight edge enjoying the abilities it took to achieve such an edge, then one day I cut my finger to the bone with a work knife sharpened by a file. A painful lesson to learn but I instantly saw the advantages to having a serrated edge. In retrospect, I don’t have a favorite I consider them equals depending on the task at hand.

  2. I have this Secrets of San Lazaro book on loan from the library, they are bugging me to bring it back but I don’t want to yet. This copy is 661 or 2000 (first edition) with a dedicated to Laurie and a letter written by Laurie inside. Cool huh?

    In 2000 I painted a freestyle painting that looks similar to Plate 37. Fun to think that anyways.

  3. Mr. Fenn, thank you so much for answering my question. After sending Jenny the question, I remembered the Easter contest and the prize (game pieces from shards of pottery). Then I had a DUH moment. Searchers once before commented on my “weirdly worded” questions. I sure hope you aren’t calling me a dummy. jk 🙂

    BW
    1. Well I do still maintain my youthful tendency towards provocation, It is one of the very ruff edges my lovely wife K has helped me with. You know me…. but there is only one way I see that you could have that information. If I remember correctly it was stated as multidirectional no reference to your intelligence. My past always comes back to haunt me. But I figured it out a long time ago. Some of us have many parts to play, very imaginative. If you think back to when I showed up, I asked who you might be, but you were in denial.

  4. Completed my first read of The Thrill of the Chase this afternoon. A whorl of powerful emotions within. Makes me happy to share this blue marble with all of you.

    Sign says “please touch, we are responsible.”
    Makes me reflect upon my parent’s home where I grew up. Secluded and beautiful with a cabin and trails out back. They always welcome guests who have come as far as the USSR. Had an entire girl scout troop show up once when the girls were washed out by the rain. Nothing like waking up in the wood surrounded by nature. Makes me wonder how I wound up living in the middle of town with nebby neighbors.

  5. I have found hundreds of Spindle Whorls… most had to be left in place due to being on public lands. I have also found shards that have been deliberately shaped and edges smoothed for what could be game pieces. Shards were often ground into small pieces and added to the clay for temper which aids in shaping the pot and for stability in firing. Thus, some pots have minute shards from previous pots. The ancient ones rarely ever “wasted” material such as our current “throw away” society.

    –TW

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