Here’s a unique flake that I almost walked away from

[MAMucker]

I thought it was a black piece of plastic -trash sitting in the shoreline gravels. So, I did not get a picture of it on the walk. I just picked it up and dropped it in my pocket for a later look. I was surprised to see the edges under magnification.


I wiped off the salt residue


The reworked edge is only done on one side




Not sure about the black lithic

[uniface]

Nice ! What's the white stuff on the reverse side edges ?

[MAMucker]

Nice ! What's the white stuff on the reverse side edges ?

Sea salt. It wiped right off.

[The Grim Reaper]

Nice Flake Tool. I have a site I hunt where I have to check every flake I see because 7 out of 10 will have a worked edge.

[antmike915]

Nice edgework on it, love the black material. Not much of it my way.

[H.P.]

Sweet li’ll blade, nice flint.

[MAMucker]

Nice edgework on it, love the black material. Not much of it my way.

Not much of it up here either.
As for the edge-work, My eyes aren’t what they used to be. The flake is already razor thin. Without the magnification, the edge-work is way too small for my eye to clearly see.

It makes me wonder why someone wanted to hold on to it, and what did he use to resharpen those edges?

Could be that the material was an important remnant of a place and time far away.

[Tesorodeoro]

Not much of it up here either.
As for the edge-work, My eyes aren’t what they used to be. The flake is already razor thin. Without the magnification, the edge-work is way too small for my eye to clearly see.

It makes me wonder why someone wanted to hold on to it, and what did he use to resharpen those edges?

Could be that the material was an important remnant of a place and time far away.

That’s an interesting thought.

[uniface]

Not much of it up here either.
As for the edge-work, My eyes aren’t what they used to be. The flake is already razor thin. Without the magnification, the edge-work is way too small for my eye to clearly see.

It makes me wonder why someone wanted to hold on to it, and what did he use to resharpen those edges?

Could be that the material was an important remnant of a place and time far away.

Good chert, in New England, was a highly valued exotic -- greatly preferred to the locally-available metavolcanics, quart(-zite), et al.

Edge nibbles are most likely use wear (thin edge used for scraping ends up like that when pressure is used and edge orientation is at a right angle to workpiece).

FWIW.

[MAMucker]

If it’s use wear, why is it all on one side of the edge?

[uniface]

If it’s use wear, why is it all on one side of the edge?

Because they were pulling it in one direction, detaching a tiny flake each time they did.

Have somebody where chedt's common send yousome similar debitage to play around with. Bite the edge in hard & pull. It's pressure flaking by moving the tool instead of an antler tine.

[MAMucker]

So, is it pressure flaking (intentional sharpening) or use-wear (consequential damage)?
Any flint knappers out there care to share experience with this?

[Tesorodeoro]

I think uniface is saying it could be unintentional “pressure flaking” due to use.

That the removals are on the backside of the stroke when it was used as a scraper.