Interesting looking flint

[Kenleyboy]

Found this today while out on the fields . It has that look about it that gained enough interest to warrant bringing it home .
It looks worked , has a slight curve with very sharp edges . 45 mm long x 15 mm at its widest point .
Possible scraper ? or a random piece of flint fragment .
Thanks

[Easylife]

I like it but it just looks natural to me.

[Oxgirl]

I’m rubbish at flints but it looks pretty convincing as a worked blade type thing. It looks sharp, is it?

[Easylife]

It does look sharp but the blade doesn't look worked at all.

[Steve_JT]

Does look the business, but no expert I'm afraid

one for the FLO perhaps

Regards Steve

[DaveP]

This is a flake taken probably from a blade core. The dorsal side shows 3 or more flake scars on the left and 2 or more on the right dorsal.

Difficult to tell from the pictures but no obvious signs of retouch. However, that doesn't prevent it from being a tool. Retouch simply strengthens the edge, turns it in to a different application e.g. saw or scraper or gives more surface area for hafting in to wood.

I suspect this was either a flake taken to shape the core (core trimming) ready for the next flakes designed to be blades, or it was taken as a throwaway tool for a simple job. Think of a blade core like a Swiss army knife.

There looks to be plenty of post formation damage around the edges and the original flake would not have been grey - possibly a dark or honey flint colour. It could have been kept for more work or just discarded as one of many - you'll never know but there's a good chance there are more pieces to find in that area.

Probably Mesolithic although that spans a wide time period. Think hunter-gatherers before the Neolithics start to settle down and clear areas for farming.

[Kenleyboy]

This is a flake taken probably from a blade core. The dorsal side shows 3 or more flake scars on the left and 2 or more on the right dorsal.

Difficult to tell from the pictures but no obvious signs of retouch. However, that doesn't prevent it from being a tool. Retouch simply strengthens the edge, turns it in to a different application e.g. saw or scraper or gives more surface area for hafting in to wood.

I suspect this was either a flake taken to shape the core (core trimming) ready for the next flakes designed to be blades, or it was taken as a throwaway tool for a simple job. Think of a blade core like a Swiss army knife.

There looks to be plenty of post formation damage around the edges and the original flake would not have been grey - possibly a dark or honey flint colour. It could have been kept for more work or just discarded as one of many - you'll never know but there's a good chance there are more pieces to find in that area.

Probably Mesolithic although that spans a wide time period. Think hunter-gatherers before the Neolithics start to settle down and clear areas for farming.

Dave P , thankyou very much for a very detailed description and taking time out to give a further insight into a field of knowledge that I have absolutely no idea about , you learn something new everyday . It looked interesting enough to take home and seemed to stand out in amongst the thousands of flint and stones which litter this field . I shall be back again tomorrow and scan the area . One for the farmer , he likes his fossils and things like this . Thanks again

[Kenleyboy]

I’m rubbish at flints but it looks pretty convincing as a worked blade type thing. It looks sharp, is it?

It is very sharp on both edges and slices through card fairly easily .

[DaveP]

One for the farmer , he likes his fossils and things like this .

A selection of what you might find. The blade core top left is not a common find but lovely if you do. Scrapers on the left. The other clue is parallel lines - nature and the plough tend not to do this. The flake, blades and bladelet on the right all have parallel flake scars and a central ridge for strength. I told the farmer where these were found to look for parallel lines as he had never found a worked flint or flake. Couple of weeks later he had his first blade. Granted its only a couple of inches long but it was success.

Cores are not only struck from one end and may be worked in more than one direction. If in doubt, put it in your pocket, give it a good wash and think about it over a glass of something.
The two items are (top one) multi-directional core and (bottom one) discarded core - there's a big hinge fracture in the middle and not enough meat left in the core to get rid of it.

And you'll need a Tupperware box to hold all the bits as they soon end up like a collection of toasted coins.

[Kenleyboy]

Once again , superb information