Chert ?

[scepter1]

(Puget Sound Beach)

There isn't any flint here, and the only "chert" I've seen are maybe these 3 pieces of projectiles / artifact. They are all of different colors (dark grey, white, and green) and texture of material. All appear to be 'out of place' and were probably brought here. The white one looks somewhat like quartz, but is not. Are these forms of Chert?

Rich.

 

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[natchitoches]

well some books say there no such thing as flint.
but what we call flint is many different things.
flint is flint
flint is chert
flint is quartz
flint is chalcedony a form of silica
flint is agate
flint is carnelian
flint is anything with very small crystals.so small that you can't see them with your eyes
Note: Some examples of Flint Ridge Flint are known to be 98.93 % pure silicon dioxide
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-flint.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint
http://www.theaaca.com/Learning_Center/flintvs.htm

 

[scepter1]

Yes, I'm well aware of the GENERIC definition of flint as to lithic artifacts.

A geologist or mineralogist, however, would never call my basalt arrowheads "flint"... and I call my petrified wood points - petrified wood !

Other than these 3 artifacts (photos above) all the projectile points found here had volcanic origins - basalt points, petrified wood points, obsidion, jasper, quartz crystal - not sedimentary rock. I just tried to look up 'flint' in my "Minerals of Washington" book by the locally famous Bart Cannon, and he doesn't even list flint !

Rich.

 

[natchitoches]

petrified wood is usually wood that has been replaced by agate.

 

[scepter1]

petrified wood is usually wood that has been replaced by agate.

Correct. Most of our petrified wood here in Washington comes from downed timber logs/branches floating in lakes, swamps, etc. about 15 million years ago that was quickly covered by volcanic basalt. We also have a lot of (common) opal petrified wood replacement here in Washington. 'Lower grades' of petrified woods usually have replacements of non-gem minerals.

Petrified wood is part of the lithic 'flint' artifact group, but when someone asks the reoccuring question here of "what's that material", they are never given 'flint' as an answer...

Rich.

 

[natchitoches]

i would loved to have some of that opal petrified wood

 

[scepter1]

i would loved to have some of that opal petrified wood

Where are you located?

Rich.

 

[oldgoat]

I would trade some Texas petrified wood for some of your Washington opalized wood...have a bunch of that.....goat

 

[scepter1]

Here's a knife I found that was made from opalized petrified wood:

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,438992.msg3142591.html#msg3142591

Rich.

 

[Twitch]

Rich,
This is a non-technical answer and I'm sure is technically wrong. Living in Kentucky it was explained to me by several collectors that flint and chert describe the same range of materials, with flint applying to the higher grade material and chert applying to the lower grades. Again, I'm sure this isn't technically accurate but I've heard it described that way enough times that I believe it is a common application of the two terms.

Joe

 

[scepter1]

Thanks Joe.

All three of these lithics are quite different from each other, and they certainly are out of place with the surrounding beach materials (that's how I spotted them), and which is why I think they were brought here.

I've been reading all the old forum topics on this site, and I've probably looked at thousands of photographs of 'flint' and 'chert' projectiles - but it's not the same as actually being able to hold them, see and feel the textures, weight, etc.

Would you care to guess what kind of materials these are?

Rich.

 

[Twitch]

Rich - I have no idea what materials those are. However, I would definately have called piece #3 flint. Piece #2 would be flint in my mind, unless the gloss is from being sand polished. Piece #1 also looks to be flint to me, though I'd guess from the pictures that it's the lowest grade material of the 3.

Finding flint or chert (or any knappable material for that matter) in western Washington is tough to do. In KY and IL you can't walk 5 feet with out tripping over a large piece of flint. In southern NM there's flint everywhere but it's harder to find a piece large enough to make a tool out of. PA has material everywhere but most of it is lower quality (cherts).

You're still my hero for finding anything on the beach out there.