[meteorite-list] Hammer Question

From: Michael Blood <mlblood_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:01:15 -0700
Message-ID: <C83E7B9B.F5D8%mlblood_at_cox.net>

Hi Richard and all.
        The definition you quote below is THE definition.
> "Hammer" - any individual which is part of a hammer fall in which one or more
> of the individuals struck an artifact, animal or human."
        (Note: a "hammer stone" is the specific stone that struck the
artifact, animal or human)
        However, it is inevitable that some will consider a dirt road an
Artifact and some will not. Even a paved road holds no interest to me,
Though I would not unequivocally state it is not a hammer. Howsabout
A fruit tree? Since fruit trees (at least the vast majority) are
1) all grown on rootstock budded to variety (I used to do this for work
When I was young) and
2) said varieties almost always represent decades if not centuries of
Hybridization....
Is a meteorite that strikes such a tree a hammer? THAT is a
Debatable question - the vast majority (dirt roads, paved roads,
Etc) have more to do with when the given collector wishes to consider
It a hammer. It is like, when is a meteorite an "oriented meteorite?"
If it has very distinct aspects? If it has ANY discernable aspects of
Orientation at all? (My soon to be released book will have hundreds of
Photos showing the vast array of different aspects and degrees of
Said aspects of orientation).
        Bottom line is, there are just some things that come down to
The individual deciding for him/her self. Like when is a guy "tall"
Or "short?" Or when is a woman "attractive" or a man "handsome?"
You will get a lot of different answers depending on who is describing
The attribute.
        No matter how specific the definition (and the above definition is
Quite specific) you will have varying degrees of opinion of what constitutes
An artifact.
        Best wishes, Michael



On 6/16/10 10:33 AM, "Richard Kowalski" <damoclid at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Being one who only has a very modest interest in serious hammers (those
> causing damage or hitting a person) the broad definition of "hammer" has
> bothered me a bit as it seems so inclusive.
>
>> From Michael Blood's website:
>
> "Hammer" - any individual which is part of a hammer fall in which one or more
> of the individuals struck an artifact, animal or human."
>
>
> That would seem to me that anything stuck by a meteorite that is man-made has
> to be considered a hammer, including a dirt road, even if Michael has stated
> he doesn't consider it. The example of a shed made exclusively of tree
> branches would too have to be a hammer since the shed is an "artifact". The
> cow patty? No. Or maybe yes if it has become fossilized?
>
> It seems to me either a very much large number of meteorites need to be called
> hammers, rapidly diluting the "cache" of the title, or a very much tighter
> definition needs to be developed.
>
> Since I'm much more interested in what the meteorite is than where it happened
> to land, I have no dog in this fight, but if hammers were my area of
> collecting, it obvious a much tighter definition is desirable.
>
> --
> Richard Kowalski
> Full Moon Photography
> IMCA #1081
>
>
>
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Received on Wed 16 Jun 2010 04:01:15 PM PDT