spearbutt

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  • 3D printing resurrects Iron-Age Irish musical instruments

    by 
    Amber Bouman
    Amber Bouman
    09.02.2015

    While 3D printing is often used for advancements in medicine or science, such as FDA-approved drugs or rocket pumps, this week it made an academic one. A PhD student at the Australian National University recently used a 3D printer to duplicate an Irish artifact previously known as the "Conical Spearbutt of Navan," thought to be a tool and weapon. Billy Ó Foghlú's replica was able to prove that the ancient spearbutt was, in fact, an ancient mouthpiece -- likely to an iron-age horn.