This modern knife was inspired by one of the tools of the Ancestral Pueblo Basketmaker cultures of the American Southwest(around 1500 BCE to 750AD).   The Cottonwood root handle was fit with a modern hand knapped biface of Texas Georgetown flint.  It was inspired by an article by author David Holladay about a particular Basketmaker knife from Sand Dune Cave, UT, in the Museum of Northern Arizona,  which had a thong through a hole drilled in the middle of the handle. Replica testing showed this style of knife worked extremely well in skinning chores and that the unique thong attachment allowed the handle to be easily released and grabbed again during work.(see video above)  Another idea is that the root wood protected the more brittle knife blades, compared to hard antler.  It is possible that during more dramatic chores,   the brittle knife blade would break before hard antler handle.  A handle of softer Cottonwood root would break out before the brittle blade such as obsidian or rare good flint, and save the precious resource for more cutting. The blades were made wide and short of length, which is also safer than long blades.    We have used this style of knife here for decades, and its a classic that stands the test of time for modern "abo" tool users as a functional.  It measures 7 inches long, and features a braintan buckskin thong in the arrangement of the original artifact that inspired it.  It has been used for cutting hide and plant fiber, and has been resharpened and restored here for the Clearance Collection.  It is in functional use still,  designed for smaller cutting jobs such as skinning and plant fiber cutting.