What would you call this?

[wildcatman71]

I wander if this is or was anything? It is 3 sided with a relatively sharp blade. 2 inches long and 3/4" thick. Definately appears flaked and flint.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

IMO I would call it just a rock, a natural piece of flint broke off a larger piece.

Flint is a glassy looking stone, it is an impure form of quartz with an very fine grain. There are several different types of flint, called chert, chalcedony and agate. Another similar rock is obsidian, it is formed from lava that cooled quickly and is the best stone for knapping of them all, it like glass and forms edges as sharp as glass and as sharp as a scapel....One of the mainfeatures of flint is it's ability to fracture at sharp, smooth, angles..........

The good thing is finding that piece means the material to knap points was found in that area, keep looking....

 

[Keokukjeff]

I agree with Treasure Hunter.............
Chert artifacts should only have 2 sides<a front and back side>....................the three side pieces your finding are just big chert pieces

 

[joshuaream]

It could be a lot of things, but quite often pieces like that are from the initial spalls the knapper took off a block or tab of flint. The one edge does look to have some minor flaking on both sides which could be from creek tumble or from use if he used the sharp edge on something hard (bone, stone, etc.)

At best it was an expedient tool at worst it is just a rock.

 

[artorius]

Are any of the edges dull, as if they had been rounded down through use?

I often find pieces of flint and quartz that clearly have a utilized edge. Sometimes the edge is enhanceded with minute pressure flaking. If one edge seems noticably more dull than the others, then it may be a piece of flint that was used as a scraper, or as some other tool.

artorius

 

[uniface]

(Probable) exhausted microblade core with a retouched edge for cutting.