I'm pretty sure this isn't a native American Indian artifact

[StoneHunter]

Hello,

Recently, while looking through the buckets of English flint I've collected from the shores of the Potomac river, I came across this piece. As a novice flint knapper, I recognized the pattern of flake removal to form a cutting or chopping edge. The patina of the worked area indicates this is not a recently worked piece of stone. Considering the time frame in which English merchant sailing ships were engaged in commerce with the colonies, I don't think it plausible that this artifact was the work of an American Indian? If I'm correct, then this neolithic artifact was collected in England to be used as ballast in a ship and eventually dropped in a river in the new world.

Ralph

 

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[Quartzite Keith]

Also looking at as a knapper, it looks like a tested piece that was not worked any further. You know, pop a few flakes off to see what's under the cortex and see how the flakes run. Maybe incidental flaking just from being used as ballast, maybe intentional. Looks like possibly Grand-Pressigny Flint from France.

 

[Fred250]

From what I read they left the core on there for a better grip. Cool piece, either way.

 

[Fred250]

Hello,

Recently, while looking through the buckets of English flint I've collected from the shores of the Potomac river, I came across this piece. As a novice flint knapper, I recognized the pattern of flake removal to form a cutting or chopping edge. The patina of the worked area indicates this is not a recently worked piece of stone. Considering the time frame in which English merchant sailing ships were engaged in commerce with the colonies, I don't think it plausible that this artifact was the work of an American Indian? If I'm correct, then this neolithic artifact was collected in England to be used as ballast in a ship and eventually dropped in a river in the new world.

Ralph

View attachment 1673216 View attachment 1673217 View attachment 1673218

Also I remember a post on one of the forums where a guy found an English flint handaxe way inland , like Great Lakes area or upstate New York, and he felt the same way. The style was just out of place and time.

 

[Tony in SC]

Like Keith said, may have been popped just to test, or may have been popped to get some smaller flakes?

 

[arrow86]

I would lean more towards N.A. Artifact I live on eastern shore of Maryland and find many similar pieces as well as finished points made from same material

 

[pghDFXer]

Nice one, Looks like it could be a nodule, used as hand ax ect,ect chopper , appears to have ... Dà Śhēēñ , could you post pics of the other cherts you find on banks if possible,

 

[joshuaream]

An artifact. If you are finding ballast stones with it, then I'd assume it came over in a load of ballast.

 

[StoneHunter]

Hello! I'm pretty sure the flakes weren't removed by use as ballast as they follow a logical sequence of removal and only appear on the one side.

 

[StoneHunter]

Nice one, Looks like it could be a nodule, used as hand ax ect,ect chopper , appears to have ... Dà Śhēēñ , could you post pics of the other cherts you find on banks if possible,

Hello, I would be happy to post some more pics of the flint. I'll take some pics tomorrow and/or Thursday.

 

[StoneHunter]

I would lean more towards N.A. Artifact I live on eastern shore of Maryland and find many similar pieces as well as finished points made from same material

Hello arrow86. I want so badly to believe that it is N.A. but I just don't see any evidence. Of the dozens of artifacts I've collected from this location, none have been made from flint. Well, except for this one example. I can't say for certain but I believe the Indians were all removed from this region by the time the shipping trade with England was well underway.

I'll look through your posts, would absolutely love to see what you've found on the eastern shore! I found a point made of dover chert on slaughter beach in Delaware.

 

[Jon Stewart]

Also a flintknapper. That is a worked piece.

 

[Shorewalker]

Intriguing find.

 

[StoneHunter]

Nice one, Looks like it could be a nodule, used as hand ax ect,ect chopper , appears to have ... Dà Śhēēñ , could you post pics of the other cherts you find on banks if possible,

Hello pghDFXer, I've posted some pics of the flint in the rock and gem forum. I have a piece which when I struck off a flake reveled a beautiful black flint like what is found at Grimes Graves in England. Unfortunately I am unable to get to much of my stone as it is currently blocked by my mustang and parts.

 

[MAMucker]

Late on this, but thought about it for a while.
A possibility is, it was ballast Flint used as a source for Gun Flint. There seems to be a general consensus that Flint Knapping was a lost primitive technology.
Truth is that the colonists used flint. They just didn’t make projectile points.

 

[dirstscratcher]

I seriously doubt it was included in ballast. I think they would be using much larger rocks for that.

 

[Fossils]

Your find is most likely a contact period artifact. A Native American obtained a piece of ballast flint through trade and decided to make a scraper out of it.

Looking at patina has its limitations. Sure, the tool was not worked in the modern day. But there’s no real way to tell whether it’s 5,000 years old or 300 years old.

For example, here is a core made of ballast flint. It was found on land that has yielded many Native American artifacts over the generations.

 

[uniface]

Sure it's not eastern US jasper ?

 

[MAMucker]

Your find is most likely a contact period artifact. A Native American obtained a piece of ballast flint through trade and decided to make a scraper out of it.

Looking at patina has its limitations. Sure, the tool was not worked in the modern day. But there’s no real way to tell whether it’s 5,000 years old or 300 years old.

For example, here is a core made of ballast flint. It was found on land that has yielded many Native American artifacts over the generations.

View attachment 1887224
View attachment 1887225

I’m going to add photos of personal finds and further thought/logic to this post shortly.

To be clear, I don’t recognize the flint type as compared to the English flint or ballast examples that I find, or the one that Fossil added here to this post.
Second, (as Uniface suggested) the material in the original post looks more like a type of Jasper (at least to me). Lastly, though there is English flint found on the Eastern Seaboard in ports and upland areas, there are few claims that I have heard of -of NA Artifacts being made of this material.

Again, I’ll add photos shortly.

 

[SoIll]

If it's European it looks French.