Deals from the Dark Side (2011): Season 1, Episode 3 - Mohawk Axe Head - full transcript
- [Stef] What, what is it?
- [Steve] Shh.
- [Rob] It was used to gut the human body.
- Aw, that is so wrong.
- [Man] I really needed the money.
- I found something that
you have been looking for
for your collection for years.
(dramatic tune)
- My name is Steve Santini.
I buy and sell the darkest,
most gruesome artifacts
on the planet.
Welcome to The DarkSide.
(heavy metal music)
(upbeat music)
I can't wait to visit Vince's store.
I hear he's got an amazing
assortment of antique keys.
Stef was telling me you have antique keys,
and this handy for me because aside
from being an odd antique
collector, I'm also looking
for keys because I perform
as an escape artist.
- Well, I do have a
whole bunch and they're
right behind ya, if you just turn around.
- Ooh.
- [Vince] Got a ton over there.
(whistling)
- [Stef] Can you go through all those?
- These are all vintage too.
I see they're priced individually.
(cricket chirping)
You got a cricket here.
- Yeah.
We can't find him.
- Maybe we can ask him
what the discounted,
well, I'll tell you what.
If I went over the top
here, and I wanted to say,
buy all of them?
Number one, would you sell them?
And number two, could I survive the price?
- [Vince] Well, the way I'm looking at it,
there's probably somewhere around four or
500 keys in here.
- Right.
- We could probably do something
like $1,200 for the bunch.
(Steve exhaling)
- I'm thinking maybe $1,000
tops for all the keys.
- I really couldn't do that.
- Really?
- It's--
- Absolutely not, huh?
- There's a lot of keys
there for that price.
I'm afraid I really couldn't.
- That's a shame.
Do you have any old padlocks?
I mean, this many keys, you've gotta have
old locking devices.
Collectible padlocks.
- Uh, yeah.
That'd probably be up here in this area.
- [Steve] Okay!
- [Vince] I'll show you the racks
I got of hardware.
- [Steve] Awesome.
- [Vince] I'm sure you'll find
something you need.
- Thank you!
- Thanks Vince!
- Okay, you're welcome.
- Its a treasure hunt.
- [Steve] Let's start somewhere.
Bolts and screws and
stuff like that and...
(exhales deeply)
No way!
- [Stef] What?
What is it?
- Shh!
Drawer of junk and there's one of these?
- [Stef] What is it though?
- Shhh.
I'll tell ya later okay.
This thing, this thing is worth between
three and four thousand dollars.
- Really?
- Yeah, absolutely.
You know what?
If I can get this thing for a song,
it's the biggest score of the month.
- Awesome.
- I can't believe my luck.
In a drawer of rusty
stuff is a 16th century,
medieval English torture thumb screw.
I mean, I won the lottery today!
Vince, my man.
Didn't find any padlocks, but I found this
rusty piece of junk back there.
Maybe not junk, but...
- [Vince] Oh jeez!
This is one of my fresh farm finds.
Look at this, a hand made chain.
- [Steve] It came out of a barn?
- Finished up.
Yeah.
- Oh cool.
- That's great.
Give you a sweet deal for $50 bucks
you can take it home.
- [Steve] $50 bucks?
You know,
whatever it is, it's--
- Look at this hand made chain.
- Yeah.
But look at the pitting on it too.
- Yeah, well it's been around.
- And the threads busted here.
I'll tell you what.
I'll give you $25 bucks for it.
- Ah, sure.
Sure for it.
- Okay.
Thanks a lot Vince.
- Done deal.
You're welcome.
- Right on!
- I learn a lot shopping with Steve.
He's an amazing eye for things that
are valuable and dark.
(metal music)
- Hey, Steve.
- Hey, Rob, how's it going?
- [Rob] Good! Mail call.
- Mail call?
All right.
Ah, I've been waiting for this!
- You never know what's
gonna show up in the mail.
It's like twisted Christmas every day.
- This is a native axehead.
And it's made of flint
and the knapping which
means the chipping on
it is totally authentic.
And I got it from an online seller.
That said it came from a dig that
happened in the Gananoque
region in the 1800s.
- [Rob] Yeah.
- It's either a tomahawk head or axehead
or it's some sort of scraper.
I mean, but it sure looks
like an axehead to me.
So, that would put this
with the Mohawk people.
- Huh.
- Yeah!
- It is!
I'm not mistaken, these are blood stains.
- [Steve] Blood stains?
- I'm Métis.
Which means I'm part
French, and part native.
And this object I take seriously.
This is very powerful.
- [Steve] What are you feeling there bud?
- Encouraged.
Honor.
Fear.
- It's quite the piece.
- Yeah, it is.
- Your hands are shaking.
You okay?
- Yeah, I'll be fine.
- [Steve] Okay.
(soft music)
- [Stef] This is a cool place.
- [Charles] Mm-hmm.
- Steve's birthday is coming up soon.
I really want to get him something
awesome that's unique.
He's really hard to buy for.
That's kinda neat.
What's that?
- A sword.
- [Stef] Oh!
- Woo.
- Crap, man.
Spear.
$59 bucks.
This is cool, huh?
- [Charles] That's really awesome.
- 1900s typewriter.
$89 that seems good.
Oh hey, this matches my outfit.
Military hat, $35 bucks.
It's U.S. military.
Commander Stef.
- Just need the little skimpy outfit now.
- [Stef] Dude, no!
(laughing)
Oh my God.
Charles.
- [Charles] What?
- Look at this!
Its a freaking shrunken head!
- Is it?
- No don't! No!
Seriously, they're really fragile.
Steven has been looking
for one of these forever.
- [Charles] Mm-hmm.
- Like, he honestly talks
about it all the time,
about how he wants a real shrunken head.
- Ah, I don't think its real, Stef.
A shrunken head in an
antique shop for $150 bucks?
Well...
- Steven has found things
weird antique shops too,
'cause the people don't know
that its worth that much.
He's wanted a shrunken head forever,
so I can buy it for
him for his collection,
not actually as the birthday gift.
Steve is going to love it!
(metal music)
- Today I am going to meet
museum curator, Kevin Windsor.
He has a huge collection
of stone artifacts.
Hopefully, he can help
me date this axehead.
Bought this from an online seller.
And it is a stone axehead.
- [Kevin] Oh, hey!
Wicked!
- Can you tell anything from it about
maybe what it's purpose was?
- [Kevin] Not an axehead, though.
At least, I don't think it's--
- [Steve] Not an axehead?
- [Kevin] No, no.
- Then, why is it? Okay.
I had the idea it was like this.
I mean, it's halved,
onto a sharp like this.
And, now I got a war
axehead or a tomahawk head
or whatever it would be.
If it's held in your hand,
why do we have this end
worked, as well as this, like flite?
- Yeah.
I don't know.
I mean, it's, it's not like
anything I've ever seen before.
My best guess would be this
would be a skinning stone.
Something to work animal hide.
- [Steve] Right.
- [Kevin] But you would
rub it through this way.
- Well, this is attributed to the Mohawks.
- [Kevin] Okay.
- [Steve] Which are what? 1300 A.D.?
- [Kevin] Yeah, around there.
This is gonna predate that.
- Predate that?
- Yup.
This is about 8,000 B.C.
- No way!
- [Kevin] It's possible.
- Don't points that are
paleo, buried in the ground
for long periods of time, don't they like,
somewhat lose the facets to the knap?
- No, not at all.
This one, I mean, this one
here is 8,000 years old,
and you could, you
could probably still cut
your dinner with it.
- I paid $800 for this thing,
believing it was a warrior's axehead.
Now I find out it's
some sort of stone tool.
What is that, by the way?
That stain?
Could it be dry blood?
- It could be.
I mean, it could be dried blood.
Could be animal grease.
You'd probably have to, have to take it to
some sort of medical expert.
- So it could be tested?
- Yeah, yeah definitely.
- [Steve] What do you think the hook is?
This, this is an odd thing here.
- [Kevin] Yeah, I've never
seen anything like that before
on any of the pieces.
- See, my opinion of the hook is that it
was used to gut a human body.
- So you believe this is a war Axe?
- I don't need radioactive,
whatever the hell
it is, to tell me exactly what it is.
I know what it is.
- Biker Rob thinks this
thing is a war Axe.
The seller sold it to me as a war Axe.
Kevin believes it's 8,000
B.C., and it's a hide scraper.
I really don't know what to believe.
(metal music)
Hey Stef!
What's in the box?
- I found something that
you have been looking
for, for your collection, for years.
- [Steve] Awesome!
Let's see!
- Just, be careful with
it cause it's really rare.
- Really rare.
(laughing)
- [Stef] Shrunken head.
- Oh.
- [Stef] Isn't that amazing?
- Can I see it for a sec?
- It's a shrunken head!
- Yeah, no no no.
This is not a real shrunken head.
- You're kidding me.
- [Steve] No!
No no.
- No nostrils, no ear canals.
- It's a real shaved, right?
- Yeah, like,
what this thing is made of is goat skin.
The real shrunken heads,
they cut them down the back.
They fill it up with
rocks and sand and herbs.
The skin shrinks, but you
still got all the features
like Rob said.
The nostrils, the ears.
Oh crap.
You didn't.
- What?
- Did you buy this,
thinking it's authentic?
- Yeah, I thought it was real.
- What'd you pay for this?
- It was only $100 bucks,
don't worry about it.
- It's the thought that counts.
Tell you what.
Put it up here.
- [Rob] You meant well, they
know where your heart is.
- [Stef] Sucks.
Yeah.
(upbeat music)
- [Steve] There.
Tada!
(metal music)
It's quite the place.
I mean everywhere you look, there's stuff.
It's fantastic.
Wow.
See that German fighter plane?
The Focke-Wulf.
That is fantastic.
You collect funerary stuff, right?
- Yeah.
- You know what these are?
I think--
- Look like--
- Yeah, I think they're
embalming fluid bottles.
- The heck's this thing?
- Ah, cool!
Let's see.
You know what this looks like?
It looks like a medieval mace.
Knights used to use these on horseback
to bash in heads.
Yeah.
- That's awesome.
- Well, let's find out if
the owner knows what it is,
and maybe we can haggle.
I don't see a price.
- Yeah, hopefully it's cheap.
- Meh, my luck.
You know, there's real no
diehard tricks to haggling.
I mean, everybody you're gonna meet,
and do a deal with is different.
You live in the moment,
and hope for the best.
I was in the front of your shop here,
and Stef found this.
What is this thing?
- That's for head knocking.
You want yours knocked?
- No.
No, not really.
- If you go to sleep, this is
what they wake you up with.
- What are you asking for this?
- $325 dollars.
- Whoa.
I, you know what, I
don't mean to offend you,
but if this thing were medieval,
I would think the carvings
would've been somewhat worn.
And we'd have more of
a patina to the wood.
I mean, think of it this way.
I'm educating kids with this,
about, you know, medieval times and stuff.
So, it's not for profit.
I'm not gonna resell it.
It's for history lessons.
- Don't forget, I hear that every day.
It's either he's got it
for some class at school,
or something, or he's putting on a show.
- [Steve] Right.
- And they need that
just for a stage prop.
You know, the list goes on and on and on.
What are you offering?
- I was thinking, you know, $50 bucks.
How 'bout that?
As a replica.
- Well, I'll tell ya,
you're never gonna get that for $50 bucks.
Not from me anyway.
Try again.
- Well, I can go to $75.
- Oh, aren't you the happy one?
- Well...
- I don't think he'll,
went from three and a
quarter to $75 dollars?
I don't think so.
I'll give it to ya for
a hundred and a quarter.
And that's it.
(Steve exhaling)
No more complaining.
Dig out your damn money and pay me.
(Steve exhaling)
- It's hard to haggle with a man
that's holding a mace in his hand.
Okay, $125.
Thank you sir.
- Okay.
- I feel like I've just been
beaten over with this thing.
It could, yeah.
That would be more merciful.
(deep bass music)
We have a very unusual artifact here.
It's an ancient axehead or stone tool.
And we're not quite sure
how this thing was used.
- Okay.
- But one thing that seems
pretty persistent on the working
edge, I think, or the leading
edge, is a dark discoloration.
That's the biggest topic of speculation
among my people and other experts.
- [Jillian] Okay.
- There's no speculation,
it's human blood.
- Yeah but, I mean--
- Well, I know it is.
- We need science to back that up.
You just have a feeling and I mean--
- Well, I know it is.
Positive.
- [Steve] What exactly do you
end up doing with this here?
- Okay.
So, the first one that I'm
going to do is called Hemident.
And what Hemident is, is just
a color indicator for blood.
- [Steve] Okay.
- [Jillian] So, all this is
gonna tell me is if that,
in fact, is blood.
We're looking for a blue green color.
(suspenseful music)
- The anticipation is killing me.
(Jillian laughing)
- This test is telling me
that it's negative for blood.
So, the blood could just be denatured.
- Is there any other test you can do
that's maybe more sensitive?
That's more specific?
That, you know, as kind of a last resort?
- Yeah, I actually have one more test.
This one's called BLUESTAR.
It is used to detect latent blood.
And that's blood that we can't really see.
So, it is highly sensitive.
I do need the lights off for
this, because it will glow.
- Unbelievable!
- [;Jillian] Definitely got some blue here.
And lets spray the other side.
- Oh, man!
- I knew it!
See, I knew it!
- It's glowing.
- I knew it!
- It's right in that one spot.
That's amazing.
- We can do the Hexagon OBTI to determine
if it is human.
'Cause that's a positive result for blood.
- And you know what I'm
wondering about this?
I'm seeing in that area where the hook is?
- [Jillian] Uh-huh.
- [Steve] Is a lot of cracks.
Like little areas, fishers
where it could have gotten into.
Instead of the smooth
surface in the flint?
- Right.
- So, we know it's blood.
And this is definitely
for human blood, right?
To indicate for?
- [Jillian] Even a
faint line is a positive
result for human blood.
Take a close look at that.
- [Steve] Oh my god!
- [Jillian] Right where
the T is, you can see--
- There's two lines!
- [Jillian] Yeah, the T is the control.
- Human blood.
- Human blood.
- I knew it!
I knew it brother.
- Wow!
- This is fantastic!
(ominous music)
- [Stef] Human blood?
- Yeah!
- That's crazy!
- This thing right here
in this little nook here,
they found human blood.
- [Stef] Wow.
- I mean, it just glowed when
they put the chemicals to it.
- That's amazing.
- I'm confused with this thing.
Somebody says it's a war Axe.
Another person says it's a tomahawk.
One guy says it's a, you
know, a skinning knife,
or something.
Personally, now that I see the
blood there, I'm starting to
think maybe this thing
was for taking scalps.
- Oh, really?
- Well, it was a practice that was done
sometimes in war as trophies.
I mean, with this hook here,
you can imagine holding this
in the hand, right?
And pulling it across
the top of the scalp.
- Ugh.
- Now, you take this edge,
no, no it gets worse.
Look, you take the edge and
you're scraping backwards,
as you're yanking off the scalp.
What a mess.
- Nah, I disagree with ya.
You know what, its a war Axe for gutting.
This area, straight up.
- I did some research, right?
On the seller's original story?
- Okay.
- He said there was a
Gananoque dig around 1887?
- Right.
- I just keep getting the
same thing popping up.
And it's a dig that took
place on a burial ground.
(Steve sighing)
- [Rob] Oh.
That's not good.
- It's Mohawk.
- Is there an issue with burial ground?
What happens with that?
- Well, I mean, on this
dig, they found weapons.
They found stone tools.
They found, yeah, bones.
Clay vessels that would
be buried with the dead.
- Well, I know one thing guys.
If this is from a burial ground?
It's gotta go back.
- I got money invested
in this thing, you know?
But I need more information.
How can we take something back,
we don't even know what this is.
I've gotta, I gotta meet this seller.
- All right, let me see what I can do.
- Okay, thanks.
(deep bass music)
Stef finally go ahold of the
guy that sold me the axehead.
It was tough enough getting
him to agree to meet with me.
But at least, I might get
to the bottom of this story.
- [Seller] Steve?
- Yeah, hey.
I need to know more about this piece.
You said it came from a
dig near Gananoque in 1887.
That's not enough, man.
I need more info on this.
It just doesn't feel right.
- [Seller] My great-grandmother,
she knew someone
who lived on Tids Island.
And she was little girl.
After the dig it was given to her.
- Tids Island?
- [Seller] Yes, and it's been
in the family ever since.
(Steve exhaling)
- Look man.
I've been doing my own research.
Tids Island was a Mohawk burial site.
This thing would have come
out of a burial mount.
That's, that is so wrong.
- [Seller] I really needed the money.
And to guarantee the sale, I
left it out of the information.
I'm sorry.
- The guy came clean and
I know the true story.
But, you know what, it
doesn't really matter.
You just don't buy and sell
things from burial grounds.
It's not done.
And now it falls on me to make it right.
(soft music)
(metal music)
I picked up an old pair of thumb screws
at an antique shop, on a hunch.
These things can be worth a lot of money.
I'm gonna have my friend,
Robb the blacksmith,
take a look at them, and
tell me what he thinks.
To me, that looks like a torture
or finger or thumb screw.
- No, this is a casting.
This is a casting.
- A casting?
- Yeah.
- It's not forged?
- Is it forged?
- This certainly seems
to be a casting to me.
When I first examined the thumb screw,
it became apparent to
me, almost immediately,
that it was a casting.
It was not hand forged out of rod iron.
This piece had been cast
out of several components.
In the thread you can see why it broke.
It's 'cause its cast, it's very brittle.
So, it wouldn't have had a
whole lotta toughness to it.
- When did people start
casting material like that?
- Wasn't really until the 1800s
and the Industrial Revolution
that cast iron really took off.
And a piece like this would
have been stronger made
out of forged rod iron.
- Right.
Okay, what about the threads?
I mean, they seem very fine.
- [Robb] It looks to
me like a 3/8's course.
- And when was that thread pitch created?
I mean, this is something--
- I believe, again, that
was during the Industrial
Revolution where they
actually standardized threads.
- What about the chain, Robb, could you
tell me anything from that?
- [Robb] This is hand forged chain.
- So, the chain is forged.
The piece is cast.
- This chain could have
been added at any point.
So this, you can't use it as any
indication of nature.
Have some serious doubts
about authenticity
on this particular piece.
It's still a pretty cool
piece for what it is.
- It's a wall hanger to
threaten people with.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
And stuff.
- Good find.
- Now I got a $100 medieval
thumb screw replica.
Well it's not all lost.
I can take it to medieval
fairs and show it to kids.
It's still an educational piece.
(metal music)
We called up the chief
of the Mohawk tribe,
and told them what we have.
They take this issue very seriously,
and were happy to set
up a burial ceremony.
(tribal yelling)
(speaking foreign language)
- The ceremony began with the Mohawk
thanksgiving address, which is
the tradition of our people.
To give thanks for all
the elements of creation,
whether they're on the land,
in the water, or in the air.
We are dependent on those
elements for our survival,
and those elements are not dependent
on us for their survival.
(tribal chanting)
- To have Stef and Rob
here to share in this
experience with me was,
was really important.
I mean, Rob's always been
connected with the native culture.
But to introduce Stef
to that, something she's
never been apart of, it meant a lot to me.
(tribal chanting)
(speaking foreign language)
- Meeting the chief for
me was a real honor,
because the mere fact he
agreed to be apart of this,
and he accepted the
return of this artifact,
it was enormous for me.
I have something ancient
and special to return.
- Oh!
(speaking foreign language)
- It's my pleasure and
it rightfully belongs
back where it came from.
Coming here to the Reserve, for me,
was a spiritual experience.
Not just because of the ceremony,
but because in the air,
when I touch the earth,
when I looked out at the
water, I could see the way
things were hundreds of years ago.
I mean, it was moving.
(spiritual music)
(metal music)
- [Crowd] Surprise!
(cheering)
- [Rob] Happy birthday bud.
- [Steve] What is this?
- [Stef] You're the
hardest person to buy for.
Happy birthday.
- What the heck?
This is pretty twisted.
What's this, a male
chastity belt or something?
(laughing)
- It's a Victorian, arm at the sides,
leather straight jacket.
- Beauty, isn't it?
- It's custom made, for you.
By a leather smith.
- You got this custom made?
- Yeah.
- Yup.
I hope it fits.
- [Steve] I don't feel like
it's my birthday anymore.
- [Stef] There you go!
- [Rob] Oh, give it a good yank.
(laughing)
- Uh, hey!
There's no slack in this thing.
(metal music)
(film reel rolling)
(dramatic music)
- [Steve] Shh.
- [Rob] It was used to gut the human body.
- Aw, that is so wrong.
- [Man] I really needed the money.
- I found something that
you have been looking for
for your collection for years.
(dramatic tune)
- My name is Steve Santini.
I buy and sell the darkest,
most gruesome artifacts
on the planet.
Welcome to The DarkSide.
(heavy metal music)
(upbeat music)
I can't wait to visit Vince's store.
I hear he's got an amazing
assortment of antique keys.
Stef was telling me you have antique keys,
and this handy for me because aside
from being an odd antique
collector, I'm also looking
for keys because I perform
as an escape artist.
- Well, I do have a
whole bunch and they're
right behind ya, if you just turn around.
- Ooh.
- [Vince] Got a ton over there.
(whistling)
- [Stef] Can you go through all those?
- These are all vintage too.
I see they're priced individually.
(cricket chirping)
You got a cricket here.
- Yeah.
We can't find him.
- Maybe we can ask him
what the discounted,
well, I'll tell you what.
If I went over the top
here, and I wanted to say,
buy all of them?
Number one, would you sell them?
And number two, could I survive the price?
- [Vince] Well, the way I'm looking at it,
there's probably somewhere around four or
500 keys in here.
- Right.
- We could probably do something
like $1,200 for the bunch.
(Steve exhaling)
- I'm thinking maybe $1,000
tops for all the keys.
- I really couldn't do that.
- Really?
- It's--
- Absolutely not, huh?
- There's a lot of keys
there for that price.
I'm afraid I really couldn't.
- That's a shame.
Do you have any old padlocks?
I mean, this many keys, you've gotta have
old locking devices.
Collectible padlocks.
- Uh, yeah.
That'd probably be up here in this area.
- [Steve] Okay!
- [Vince] I'll show you the racks
I got of hardware.
- [Steve] Awesome.
- [Vince] I'm sure you'll find
something you need.
- Thank you!
- Thanks Vince!
- Okay, you're welcome.
- Its a treasure hunt.
- [Steve] Let's start somewhere.
Bolts and screws and
stuff like that and...
(exhales deeply)
No way!
- [Stef] What?
What is it?
- Shh!
Drawer of junk and there's one of these?
- [Stef] What is it though?
- Shhh.
I'll tell ya later okay.
This thing, this thing is worth between
three and four thousand dollars.
- Really?
- Yeah, absolutely.
You know what?
If I can get this thing for a song,
it's the biggest score of the month.
- Awesome.
- I can't believe my luck.
In a drawer of rusty
stuff is a 16th century,
medieval English torture thumb screw.
I mean, I won the lottery today!
Vince, my man.
Didn't find any padlocks, but I found this
rusty piece of junk back there.
Maybe not junk, but...
- [Vince] Oh jeez!
This is one of my fresh farm finds.
Look at this, a hand made chain.
- [Steve] It came out of a barn?
- Finished up.
Yeah.
- Oh cool.
- That's great.
Give you a sweet deal for $50 bucks
you can take it home.
- [Steve] $50 bucks?
You know,
whatever it is, it's--
- Look at this hand made chain.
- Yeah.
But look at the pitting on it too.
- Yeah, well it's been around.
- And the threads busted here.
I'll tell you what.
I'll give you $25 bucks for it.
- Ah, sure.
Sure for it.
- Okay.
Thanks a lot Vince.
- Done deal.
You're welcome.
- Right on!
- I learn a lot shopping with Steve.
He's an amazing eye for things that
are valuable and dark.
(metal music)
- Hey, Steve.
- Hey, Rob, how's it going?
- [Rob] Good! Mail call.
- Mail call?
All right.
Ah, I've been waiting for this!
- You never know what's
gonna show up in the mail.
It's like twisted Christmas every day.
- This is a native axehead.
And it's made of flint
and the knapping which
means the chipping on
it is totally authentic.
And I got it from an online seller.
That said it came from a dig that
happened in the Gananoque
region in the 1800s.
- [Rob] Yeah.
- It's either a tomahawk head or axehead
or it's some sort of scraper.
I mean, but it sure looks
like an axehead to me.
So, that would put this
with the Mohawk people.
- Huh.
- Yeah!
- It is!
I'm not mistaken, these are blood stains.
- [Steve] Blood stains?
- I'm Métis.
Which means I'm part
French, and part native.
And this object I take seriously.
This is very powerful.
- [Steve] What are you feeling there bud?
- Encouraged.
Honor.
Fear.
- It's quite the piece.
- Yeah, it is.
- Your hands are shaking.
You okay?
- Yeah, I'll be fine.
- [Steve] Okay.
(soft music)
- [Stef] This is a cool place.
- [Charles] Mm-hmm.
- Steve's birthday is coming up soon.
I really want to get him something
awesome that's unique.
He's really hard to buy for.
That's kinda neat.
What's that?
- A sword.
- [Stef] Oh!
- Woo.
- Crap, man.
Spear.
$59 bucks.
This is cool, huh?
- [Charles] That's really awesome.
- 1900s typewriter.
$89 that seems good.
Oh hey, this matches my outfit.
Military hat, $35 bucks.
It's U.S. military.
Commander Stef.
- Just need the little skimpy outfit now.
- [Stef] Dude, no!
(laughing)
Oh my God.
Charles.
- [Charles] What?
- Look at this!
Its a freaking shrunken head!
- Is it?
- No don't! No!
Seriously, they're really fragile.
Steven has been looking
for one of these forever.
- [Charles] Mm-hmm.
- Like, he honestly talks
about it all the time,
about how he wants a real shrunken head.
- Ah, I don't think its real, Stef.
A shrunken head in an
antique shop for $150 bucks?
Well...
- Steven has found things
weird antique shops too,
'cause the people don't know
that its worth that much.
He's wanted a shrunken head forever,
so I can buy it for
him for his collection,
not actually as the birthday gift.
Steve is going to love it!
(metal music)
- Today I am going to meet
museum curator, Kevin Windsor.
He has a huge collection
of stone artifacts.
Hopefully, he can help
me date this axehead.
Bought this from an online seller.
And it is a stone axehead.
- [Kevin] Oh, hey!
Wicked!
- Can you tell anything from it about
maybe what it's purpose was?
- [Kevin] Not an axehead, though.
At least, I don't think it's--
- [Steve] Not an axehead?
- [Kevin] No, no.
- Then, why is it? Okay.
I had the idea it was like this.
I mean, it's halved,
onto a sharp like this.
And, now I got a war
axehead or a tomahawk head
or whatever it would be.
If it's held in your hand,
why do we have this end
worked, as well as this, like flite?
- Yeah.
I don't know.
I mean, it's, it's not like
anything I've ever seen before.
My best guess would be this
would be a skinning stone.
Something to work animal hide.
- [Steve] Right.
- [Kevin] But you would
rub it through this way.
- Well, this is attributed to the Mohawks.
- [Kevin] Okay.
- [Steve] Which are what? 1300 A.D.?
- [Kevin] Yeah, around there.
This is gonna predate that.
- Predate that?
- Yup.
This is about 8,000 B.C.
- No way!
- [Kevin] It's possible.
- Don't points that are
paleo, buried in the ground
for long periods of time, don't they like,
somewhat lose the facets to the knap?
- No, not at all.
This one, I mean, this one
here is 8,000 years old,
and you could, you
could probably still cut
your dinner with it.
- I paid $800 for this thing,
believing it was a warrior's axehead.
Now I find out it's
some sort of stone tool.
What is that, by the way?
That stain?
Could it be dry blood?
- It could be.
I mean, it could be dried blood.
Could be animal grease.
You'd probably have to, have to take it to
some sort of medical expert.
- So it could be tested?
- Yeah, yeah definitely.
- [Steve] What do you think the hook is?
This, this is an odd thing here.
- [Kevin] Yeah, I've never
seen anything like that before
on any of the pieces.
- See, my opinion of the hook is that it
was used to gut a human body.
- So you believe this is a war Axe?
- I don't need radioactive,
whatever the hell
it is, to tell me exactly what it is.
I know what it is.
- Biker Rob thinks this
thing is a war Axe.
The seller sold it to me as a war Axe.
Kevin believes it's 8,000
B.C., and it's a hide scraper.
I really don't know what to believe.
(metal music)
Hey Stef!
What's in the box?
- I found something that
you have been looking
for, for your collection, for years.
- [Steve] Awesome!
Let's see!
- Just, be careful with
it cause it's really rare.
- Really rare.
(laughing)
- [Stef] Shrunken head.
- Oh.
- [Stef] Isn't that amazing?
- Can I see it for a sec?
- It's a shrunken head!
- Yeah, no no no.
This is not a real shrunken head.
- You're kidding me.
- [Steve] No!
No no.
- No nostrils, no ear canals.
- It's a real shaved, right?
- Yeah, like,
what this thing is made of is goat skin.
The real shrunken heads,
they cut them down the back.
They fill it up with
rocks and sand and herbs.
The skin shrinks, but you
still got all the features
like Rob said.
The nostrils, the ears.
Oh crap.
You didn't.
- What?
- Did you buy this,
thinking it's authentic?
- Yeah, I thought it was real.
- What'd you pay for this?
- It was only $100 bucks,
don't worry about it.
- It's the thought that counts.
Tell you what.
Put it up here.
- [Rob] You meant well, they
know where your heart is.
- [Stef] Sucks.
Yeah.
(upbeat music)
- [Steve] There.
Tada!
(metal music)
It's quite the place.
I mean everywhere you look, there's stuff.
It's fantastic.
Wow.
See that German fighter plane?
The Focke-Wulf.
That is fantastic.
You collect funerary stuff, right?
- Yeah.
- You know what these are?
I think--
- Look like--
- Yeah, I think they're
embalming fluid bottles.
- The heck's this thing?
- Ah, cool!
Let's see.
You know what this looks like?
It looks like a medieval mace.
Knights used to use these on horseback
to bash in heads.
Yeah.
- That's awesome.
- Well, let's find out if
the owner knows what it is,
and maybe we can haggle.
I don't see a price.
- Yeah, hopefully it's cheap.
- Meh, my luck.
You know, there's real no
diehard tricks to haggling.
I mean, everybody you're gonna meet,
and do a deal with is different.
You live in the moment,
and hope for the best.
I was in the front of your shop here,
and Stef found this.
What is this thing?
- That's for head knocking.
You want yours knocked?
- No.
No, not really.
- If you go to sleep, this is
what they wake you up with.
- What are you asking for this?
- $325 dollars.
- Whoa.
I, you know what, I
don't mean to offend you,
but if this thing were medieval,
I would think the carvings
would've been somewhat worn.
And we'd have more of
a patina to the wood.
I mean, think of it this way.
I'm educating kids with this,
about, you know, medieval times and stuff.
So, it's not for profit.
I'm not gonna resell it.
It's for history lessons.
- Don't forget, I hear that every day.
It's either he's got it
for some class at school,
or something, or he's putting on a show.
- [Steve] Right.
- And they need that
just for a stage prop.
You know, the list goes on and on and on.
What are you offering?
- I was thinking, you know, $50 bucks.
How 'bout that?
As a replica.
- Well, I'll tell ya,
you're never gonna get that for $50 bucks.
Not from me anyway.
Try again.
- Well, I can go to $75.
- Oh, aren't you the happy one?
- Well...
- I don't think he'll,
went from three and a
quarter to $75 dollars?
I don't think so.
I'll give it to ya for
a hundred and a quarter.
And that's it.
(Steve exhaling)
No more complaining.
Dig out your damn money and pay me.
(Steve exhaling)
- It's hard to haggle with a man
that's holding a mace in his hand.
Okay, $125.
Thank you sir.
- Okay.
- I feel like I've just been
beaten over with this thing.
It could, yeah.
That would be more merciful.
(deep bass music)
We have a very unusual artifact here.
It's an ancient axehead or stone tool.
And we're not quite sure
how this thing was used.
- Okay.
- But one thing that seems
pretty persistent on the working
edge, I think, or the leading
edge, is a dark discoloration.
That's the biggest topic of speculation
among my people and other experts.
- [Jillian] Okay.
- There's no speculation,
it's human blood.
- Yeah but, I mean--
- Well, I know it is.
- We need science to back that up.
You just have a feeling and I mean--
- Well, I know it is.
Positive.
- [Steve] What exactly do you
end up doing with this here?
- Okay.
So, the first one that I'm
going to do is called Hemident.
And what Hemident is, is just
a color indicator for blood.
- [Steve] Okay.
- [Jillian] So, all this is
gonna tell me is if that,
in fact, is blood.
We're looking for a blue green color.
(suspenseful music)
- The anticipation is killing me.
(Jillian laughing)
- This test is telling me
that it's negative for blood.
So, the blood could just be denatured.
- Is there any other test you can do
that's maybe more sensitive?
That's more specific?
That, you know, as kind of a last resort?
- Yeah, I actually have one more test.
This one's called BLUESTAR.
It is used to detect latent blood.
And that's blood that we can't really see.
So, it is highly sensitive.
I do need the lights off for
this, because it will glow.
- Unbelievable!
- [;Jillian] Definitely got some blue here.
And lets spray the other side.
- Oh, man!
- I knew it!
See, I knew it!
- It's glowing.
- I knew it!
- It's right in that one spot.
That's amazing.
- We can do the Hexagon OBTI to determine
if it is human.
'Cause that's a positive result for blood.
- And you know what I'm
wondering about this?
I'm seeing in that area where the hook is?
- [Jillian] Uh-huh.
- [Steve] Is a lot of cracks.
Like little areas, fishers
where it could have gotten into.
Instead of the smooth
surface in the flint?
- Right.
- So, we know it's blood.
And this is definitely
for human blood, right?
To indicate for?
- [Jillian] Even a
faint line is a positive
result for human blood.
Take a close look at that.
- [Steve] Oh my god!
- [Jillian] Right where
the T is, you can see--
- There's two lines!
- [Jillian] Yeah, the T is the control.
- Human blood.
- Human blood.
- I knew it!
I knew it brother.
- Wow!
- This is fantastic!
(ominous music)
- [Stef] Human blood?
- Yeah!
- That's crazy!
- This thing right here
in this little nook here,
they found human blood.
- [Stef] Wow.
- I mean, it just glowed when
they put the chemicals to it.
- That's amazing.
- I'm confused with this thing.
Somebody says it's a war Axe.
Another person says it's a tomahawk.
One guy says it's a, you
know, a skinning knife,
or something.
Personally, now that I see the
blood there, I'm starting to
think maybe this thing
was for taking scalps.
- Oh, really?
- Well, it was a practice that was done
sometimes in war as trophies.
I mean, with this hook here,
you can imagine holding this
in the hand, right?
And pulling it across
the top of the scalp.
- Ugh.
- Now, you take this edge,
no, no it gets worse.
Look, you take the edge and
you're scraping backwards,
as you're yanking off the scalp.
What a mess.
- Nah, I disagree with ya.
You know what, its a war Axe for gutting.
This area, straight up.
- I did some research, right?
On the seller's original story?
- Okay.
- He said there was a
Gananoque dig around 1887?
- Right.
- I just keep getting the
same thing popping up.
And it's a dig that took
place on a burial ground.
(Steve sighing)
- [Rob] Oh.
That's not good.
- It's Mohawk.
- Is there an issue with burial ground?
What happens with that?
- Well, I mean, on this
dig, they found weapons.
They found stone tools.
They found, yeah, bones.
Clay vessels that would
be buried with the dead.
- Well, I know one thing guys.
If this is from a burial ground?
It's gotta go back.
- I got money invested
in this thing, you know?
But I need more information.
How can we take something back,
we don't even know what this is.
I've gotta, I gotta meet this seller.
- All right, let me see what I can do.
- Okay, thanks.
(deep bass music)
Stef finally go ahold of the
guy that sold me the axehead.
It was tough enough getting
him to agree to meet with me.
But at least, I might get
to the bottom of this story.
- [Seller] Steve?
- Yeah, hey.
I need to know more about this piece.
You said it came from a
dig near Gananoque in 1887.
That's not enough, man.
I need more info on this.
It just doesn't feel right.
- [Seller] My great-grandmother,
she knew someone
who lived on Tids Island.
And she was little girl.
After the dig it was given to her.
- Tids Island?
- [Seller] Yes, and it's been
in the family ever since.
(Steve exhaling)
- Look man.
I've been doing my own research.
Tids Island was a Mohawk burial site.
This thing would have come
out of a burial mount.
That's, that is so wrong.
- [Seller] I really needed the money.
And to guarantee the sale, I
left it out of the information.
I'm sorry.
- The guy came clean and
I know the true story.
But, you know what, it
doesn't really matter.
You just don't buy and sell
things from burial grounds.
It's not done.
And now it falls on me to make it right.
(soft music)
(metal music)
I picked up an old pair of thumb screws
at an antique shop, on a hunch.
These things can be worth a lot of money.
I'm gonna have my friend,
Robb the blacksmith,
take a look at them, and
tell me what he thinks.
To me, that looks like a torture
or finger or thumb screw.
- No, this is a casting.
This is a casting.
- A casting?
- Yeah.
- It's not forged?
- Is it forged?
- This certainly seems
to be a casting to me.
When I first examined the thumb screw,
it became apparent to
me, almost immediately,
that it was a casting.
It was not hand forged out of rod iron.
This piece had been cast
out of several components.
In the thread you can see why it broke.
It's 'cause its cast, it's very brittle.
So, it wouldn't have had a
whole lotta toughness to it.
- When did people start
casting material like that?
- Wasn't really until the 1800s
and the Industrial Revolution
that cast iron really took off.
And a piece like this would
have been stronger made
out of forged rod iron.
- Right.
Okay, what about the threads?
I mean, they seem very fine.
- [Robb] It looks to
me like a 3/8's course.
- And when was that thread pitch created?
I mean, this is something--
- I believe, again, that
was during the Industrial
Revolution where they
actually standardized threads.
- What about the chain, Robb, could you
tell me anything from that?
- [Robb] This is hand forged chain.
- So, the chain is forged.
The piece is cast.
- This chain could have
been added at any point.
So this, you can't use it as any
indication of nature.
Have some serious doubts
about authenticity
on this particular piece.
It's still a pretty cool
piece for what it is.
- It's a wall hanger to
threaten people with.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
And stuff.
- Good find.
- Now I got a $100 medieval
thumb screw replica.
Well it's not all lost.
I can take it to medieval
fairs and show it to kids.
It's still an educational piece.
(metal music)
We called up the chief
of the Mohawk tribe,
and told them what we have.
They take this issue very seriously,
and were happy to set
up a burial ceremony.
(tribal yelling)
(speaking foreign language)
- The ceremony began with the Mohawk
thanksgiving address, which is
the tradition of our people.
To give thanks for all
the elements of creation,
whether they're on the land,
in the water, or in the air.
We are dependent on those
elements for our survival,
and those elements are not dependent
on us for their survival.
(tribal chanting)
- To have Stef and Rob
here to share in this
experience with me was,
was really important.
I mean, Rob's always been
connected with the native culture.
But to introduce Stef
to that, something she's
never been apart of, it meant a lot to me.
(tribal chanting)
(speaking foreign language)
- Meeting the chief for
me was a real honor,
because the mere fact he
agreed to be apart of this,
and he accepted the
return of this artifact,
it was enormous for me.
I have something ancient
and special to return.
- Oh!
(speaking foreign language)
- It's my pleasure and
it rightfully belongs
back where it came from.
Coming here to the Reserve, for me,
was a spiritual experience.
Not just because of the ceremony,
but because in the air,
when I touch the earth,
when I looked out at the
water, I could see the way
things were hundreds of years ago.
I mean, it was moving.
(spiritual music)
(metal music)
- [Crowd] Surprise!
(cheering)
- [Rob] Happy birthday bud.
- [Steve] What is this?
- [Stef] You're the
hardest person to buy for.
Happy birthday.
- What the heck?
This is pretty twisted.
What's this, a male
chastity belt or something?
(laughing)
- It's a Victorian, arm at the sides,
leather straight jacket.
- Beauty, isn't it?
- It's custom made, for you.
By a leather smith.
- You got this custom made?
- Yeah.
- Yup.
I hope it fits.
- [Steve] I don't feel like
it's my birthday anymore.
- [Stef] There you go!
- [Rob] Oh, give it a good yank.
(laughing)
- Uh, hey!
There's no slack in this thing.
(metal music)
(film reel rolling)
(dramatic music)