Agate Thumbnail Scraper

[scepter1]

From a Puget Sound, Washington Beach

(disc is 1 3/8th inches diameter)

 

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[willjo]

Nice material, nice piece

 

[sandchip]

Beautiful material!

 

[Yak1366]

Yes, beautiful piece.

I'm also curious about your avatar. Did you post it on Tnet? What material is it?

 

[scepter1]

Yes, beautiful piece.

I'm also curious about your avatar. Did you post it on Tnet? What material is it?

My avatar is an agate/chalcedony arrowhead that I found very close to where I just found the above agate scraper.

avatar

 

[unclemac]

awesome...i just found a nice jasper scraper too on the coast, nice to see PNW material.

 

[dognose]

wow, very nice relic and material.
Similar shape as a gun flint.

 

[rock]

Glad to see you finding some again and posting

 

[Trezurehunter]

Nice looking piece with great color.

 

[scepter1]

Additional thoughts:

All the gunflints I've ever seen have been brand new, and the only ones I could find on the Internet were also brand new. *What do they look like when they are worn/used? *

There is no flint here, and the little chert there is has all been brought in. *So if you ran out of gunflints, agate/jasper would be the only alternatives... would they knap their own?

 

[unclemac]

true...no flint but no shortage of HBC forts and other trade forts too. You have probably been over to Ft. Nisqually, boy howdy even without a lot of settlers out here there sure was a lot of economic activity up and down the PNW. Even so i'm with you, you would think we would find few gun flints on the beach now and then.

 

[arrow86]

Additional thoughts:

All the gunflints I've ever seen have been brand new, and the only ones I could find on the Internet were also brand new. *What do they look like when they are worn/used? *

There is no flint here, and the little chert there is has all been brought in. *So if you ran out of gunflints, agate/jasper would be the only alternatives... would they knap their own?

I thought gun flint as well when I first saw yours but wasn’t sure if the material was correct. The pic below is a French gun flint I found while looking for points on a beach. I’m guessing it’s from late 1600s

 

[scepter1]

true...no flint but no shortage of HBC forts and other trade forts too. You have probably been over to Ft. Nisqually, boy howdy even without a lot of settlers out here there sure was a lot of economic activity up and down the PNW. Even so i'm with you, you would think we would find few gun flints on the beach now and then.

Uncle, you bring up a great point (no pun intended). There is only 1/2 mile of beach that I have found artifacts on, and of that, most come from a 500 foot stretch centered around a large above-water gravel bar. I have found point types from Northern California, Oregon, Eastern Washington, Western Washington, and British Columbia. Lodges in Puget Sound were all on the main land with beach areas being focal areas in the summer. I believe this was a potlatch beach, and the variety of material also favors it being a trade route as well. Hudson Bay traders would certainly would make sense...

 

[scepter1]

I thought gun flint as well when I first saw yours but wasn’t sure if the material was correct. The pic below is a French gun flint I found while looking for points on a beach. I’m guessing it’s from late 1600s
View attachment 1530102 View attachment 1530104

Thanks arrow86! Great find and photos! I'm guessing it to be a drop /unused? If mine is a gunflint, then I'm thinking it was made here from local agate.

 

[NCPeaches]

It's beautiful!

 

[unclemac]

Uncle, you bring up a great point (no pun intended). There is only 1/2 mile of beach that I have found artifacts on, and of that, most come from a 500 foot stretch centered around a large above-water gravel bar. I have found point types from Northern California, Oregon, Eastern Washington, and British Columbia. Lodges in Puget Sound were all on the main land with beach areas being focal areas in the summer. I believe this was a potlatch beach, and the variety of material also favors it being a trade route as well. Hudson Bay traders would certainly would make sense...

i know a spot exactly like you discribe in historic Chinkook area...a place with fresh water and equal distance between several habitation sites. And when you consider that the highways were all by canoe... a lot of times travel was quicker than todays roads.