[meteorite-list] Hammer Question

From: Richard Kowalski <damoclid_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:33:27 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <766405.91261.qm_at_web113604.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>

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
      

Received on Wed 16 Jun 2010 01:33:27 PM PDT