Graver or scraper? Or just a chipped rock?

[jude061]

I found this in a cobbly area at low tide at Gloucester Harbor, Massachusetts. It's really worn -- there looks to be flaking. I think the rock is flint -- I find a lot of flint from dumped ballast in the area. I initially thought it was a gun flint but it's too thick at the non-pointy end. What do you think?



In situ


The cobble area

 

[jude061]

Upon closer inspection, the dark purplish stuff appears to be marine growth. The greenish color is also marine growth. The material itself is kind of smoky.

Flint and chert don't occur naturally here -- I only find it in a section of this beach. Several vessels have wrecked here over the years, so my guess it that it is ballast. However, it's not unlikely that it may have been traded in. The only artifacts I have found here have been made of quartzite or a similar stone.

 

[TheOculus]

It could very well be a reduction flake or part of something else originally. Good eye.

 

[crj1968]

I also think possibly a reduction flake...usually where there's one flake there are more...find anything else in the area?

 

[jude061]

Besides the two quartzite artifacts (posted elsewhere), all I've found in the area is about 2 1/2 pounds of flint or chert "chunks" - the largest being the size of a silver dollar, and the smallest being pinky-nail size. With maybe two exceptions, they've all been found along that same stretch of rocky outcrop into the harbor. Color varies from light coffee color to smoky black and everything in between. Most are broken, and some are pebble-like. Despite the fact that where I'm searching is cobble and gravel, glassy rocks stand out, even the very worn pieces, and aren't hard to gather once you know what to look for. None look worked, and most are broken up. My assumption, since that type of stone doesn't occur within miles of here, and it's concentrated in an area of only a few hundred square feet, was that it was in ships' ballast that was either dumped or resulted from a shipwreck somewhere off the shore. Scientists have estimated an 8" to 1' per century sea level rise in this area, so it's entirely plausible that maybe there is some submerged NA camp offshore of that area. I'll try to post a picture of the pile of flint and such that I have.

 

[jude061]

This is about a third of the pile of rocks. Most are worn and broken. I can usually gather three or four good pieces in the same area at a low tide, so it's washing in from somewhere off that area in the photo in the first post.



I broke the pebble in the top right to see the inside.

 

[1320]

The other side of the rock would likely answer the question.

 

[jude061]

The 5th picture in the OP is the other side of the rock.

 

[1320]

The 5th picture in the OP is the other side of the rock.

Roger that, I'll have to agree with the others...debitage

 

[P.ALLEN]

Tide/Storm created chipping, highly unlikely it is man-made. But you know, I could be wrong. People used to think the earth was flat so anything is possible

 

[jude061]

P. Allen - that's what I was thinking. But just to be sure I thought i'd post it for folks who are better versed than I.

Given the lack of other artifacts made from this material and a few artifacts made from other, local material, and that many of the flints I find are broken and worn, I'm pretty confident that this is just formed from the natural action of the sea.

Thanks all for your input.