New member needs help identifying object

[centex]

I'll start by saying I am not a collector nor do I have any real knowledge of Indian artifacts. Hence the reason for my post. We just built a home in Austin, Texas (near Lake Austin, one of 6 bodies of water that make up the 'Highland Lakes'); all are part of the Colorado River system. While digging in the back to do some planting I came across the rock (flint piece) posted below. Initially I thought it was just a random piece, perhaps even a broken shard of pottery, because it didn't have the sharp point you might expect (or that I assumed might be expected) of an artifact. But I did ask someone who knows just a bit more than me who said points or edges can be dulled over time. And, sadly, I think I may have chipped the piece myself when I hit it with a shovel several times. One side is much thinner, and more delicate that the other. Honestly I don't even know what else flint might have been used for....perhaps this is just a rock after all. As a point of general reference, there is quite a bit of history of Native Americans in this area. In fact the Clovis culture was present here during the Pleistocene (Ice Age) 11,000 years ago, and when the first settlers arrived the Tonkawa Indians were living along the river and adjacent springs and streams. When the Spanish arrived there were also Kiowa and Lipan Apaches frequenting the area. None of that means this is an artifact, but as a novice I thought I should post it and get other's opinions. It is interesting how the outer shell has been chipped away to expose the flint, though whether or not this happened naturally I have no idea.

 

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[monsterrack]

What this looks like to me is a piece of Edwards flint, but it is real hard to say for sure that a NA worked the piece, are it was broken by another way. Your 1st photo shows what looks like where some flakes may have been taken off of the stone, it could be what was left over from a larger stone after they got what they wanted. There is no way to tell the age or time period, keep poking around and you may find some more. Welcome to T-net

 

[newnan man]

Hello and welcome. Your find is interesting as it looks like material commonly used in Texas. A type of Edwards chert maybe. Many times covered in the "rind" material. It could be a natural piece broken during recent construction. It could have been broken by ancient man to get a few usable flakes. Here are a couple of pieces from the San Antonio area showing the root beer colored Flint so common in Texas. One is a knife most likely, the other looks like a nice point broken & rechipped into a tool of some sort.

 

[Beezly]

Very cool find!

 

[centex]

Thanks for the quick replies. It wouldn't have been broken during construction as this came from a part of the property that wasn't disturbed during the build. But I suppose it could still have been broken, or the flint exposed from some natural process. I will be on the lookout for more, though I think the digging in that area is complete. Every time you put the shovel in the ground you are hitting stone or rock!

 

[Jon Stewart]

Looks like it might be debatage from knapping. I just got back from Texas and brought back about 200 pounds of that rock from the Fredricksburg area. Some looks like that some looks more like a rootbeer color. That outer shell is called the cortex of the rock. One of the hiking trails in Landa Park in New Braunfels has a lot of that material laying around that looks just like that but don't ask me how I know that, lol

If you are on water, keep you eyes out for artifacts.

 

[arrow86]

Looks like the others said what I was thinking but sounds like you have a good spot .... Welcome to the forum if you come across anything definitely post it.

 

[BearCreek]

I'm not sure what it might be, but it's a beautiful piece of flint for sure! Welcome to the forum!

 

[RGINN]

That's just a rock. However, let's look at some other things. It's good tool material, but that is not really a good piece to make much out of, but it could be a piece of man-made shatter from a cobble or vein, whatever way that material occurs in your part of the country. That freeze-thaw cycle does a lot to quartzite or flint rocks, but doesn't appear to be the case in this one. Some other natural force might do that. I think it's a good indicator for activity there and you need to check the area closer. Probably not a quarry, but you could have a workshop site. Look around for small flakes. Might not be anything either, just a random rock that wound up there, but that type of rock would catch my attention out in the field, and I would give the spot a second look. Hope you come up with something.