French gun flint

[arrow86]

Was just browsing thru the forums and figured I would post this. I hunt for Native American artifacts and came across this on a beach I was hunting. The property was home to the first court house in Cecil county , Maryland which was established in 1690 I have found prob about 40 nice Native American points / knives and an axe head. This was found in the same area I find the points . I believe from the color it is a French gun flint but that’s about all I know about it. If anybody has more info or a guess of the age of it please chime in. I have not metal detected the area yet hopefully this spring I’ll give it a go.

 

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[sawmill man]

I know nothing of your area or french ,but it most certainly has the shape, size , and look to a flintlock gunflint. sorry that i cant help you more.

 

[claymation]

I guess it is known as French amber gunflint and British gunflints as black english as a general category. I've seen black flint in Denmark in abundance which destroyed my knowledge. Here's a vid that does show black flint in France too.

 

[releventchair]

Tough to date your French amber flint.
Until around 1800 ,English blackflint was not known to be knapped in the French style.
British had French flints ( subject to supply logistics) and during embargo's against England, French flints filled a void in pre knapped flints during those times too.
Meaning dates were scattered among surges in supply/ use.
If forced to guess I would consider the context it was found in first. Then try to figure what layer of time it was from.

Not real common ,but some French amber flints can be bought today. Not all from material from central France historically known for it ...but still.

 

[smokeythecat]

Yes as stated above it is a French gun flint. Dating it is near impossible, most like 18th century into early 19th. Remember, the whole French army moved through Cecil County on the way to and back from Yorktown in 1781 and 1782.

 

[ToddsPoint]

Le Grand-Pressigny flint is beautiful and was used by the earliest human inhabitants to Central France. Gary

 

[arrow86]

Yes as stated above it is a French gun flint. Dating it is near impossible, most like 18th century into early 19th. Remember, the whole French army moved through Cecil County on the way to and back from Yorktown in 1781 and 1782.

I am pretty sure it’s in the 1700s range , the area had a lot of activity around 1690-1730 . I have never metal detected the area and as far as I know nobody else really has either maybe the occasional person trespassing onto the property by boat. I have been following a lot of your posts lately and that’s really giving me the itch to buy a detector and try it out. It’s funny how lost I feel even thinking about detecting as far as what’s a junk find , good find and great find. All I know is Native American artifacts. do you recommend a detector that’s in the $300-$500 range or should I not waste the money and save for something better ?

 

[VERMONTIS]

Great finds! I've found some crazy things from this period , save up go big