Flint Ballast

[hvs]

Found this while metal detecting few years ago, most people i talk to about it say it was probably used as ship ballast brought here by the europeans ..Is it possible it could it be local lithic material from the states?

[painshill]

It does look like a pretty typical European flint nodule and that looks like a chalky cortex underneath the dirt. Those odd shapes are generally the result of a marine critter's burrow being infilled. If it is dumped ballast then I would suspect that there must be more of it in the area.

[sneakygroundbuzzard]

it looks like and english flint amoeba
good knapping material but it needs heat to make it work well

[hvs]

Someone must have brought it to the place i found it, searched for more many times.. thanks guys..

[Ron Kelley]

Hey Ron, Very interesting find. Please tell us more: How far from the ocean? On a camp site? If you could find an artifact made from that material... Well that would be a real big WOW moment.

[hvs]

6O+ miles from the ocean, about 15 from the Hudson river.. Its not a Indian site i found it on it was on the bank of a small stream right in the middle of town. Lots of old bottles lying around and a couple old dumps sites near the area.... Thinking maybe to find a knapper who would be interested in making me a nice point or 2 from it...

[Hoss]

Cool find does the small stream connect with the Hudson? Henry Hudson sailed up the Hudson River and mapped it to around  present day Albany Since that time many ships must have cast off ballast stone all along the length of the Hudson Thanks for sharing the picture

[OnewiththewilD]

heres some points (probably seen before) that i made outta some english flint Hoss sent me,ya,its tough stuff to knapp but points made outta it are sharp as hell and not as brittle as obsidian.

[sneakygroundbuzzard]

i would be happy to make you a couple of points from it
onewiththewilD: your absolutely right about the edge on points made from english flint,even after heating they hold an amazing edge
the one in your pic,second from the right,are you sure thats english flint
looks more like french flint
ive worked them both,never seen english flint that brown,but french flint is that color

[Hoss]

sneakygroundbuzzard wrote:

i would be happy to make you a couple of points from it
onewiththewilD: your absolutely right about the edge on points made from english flint,even after heating they hold an amazing edge
the one in your pic,second from the right,are you sure thats english flint
looks more like french flint
ive worked them both,never seen english flint that brown,but french flint is that color

  The flint I sent Jay  came from a beach in Stamford CT many years ago. I did not send him much so the chances of there being French and English chunks in there are slim.

[sneakygroundbuzzard]

The flint I sent Jay  came from a beach in Stamford CT many years ago. I did not send him much so the chances of there being French and English chunks in there are slim.
  just saying ive never seen english flint brown like that
way back in the day of of wood and cloth ships they did use both types of rock as balast

[painshill]

This myth about French flint being brown and British flint being black is nothing more than that... a myth. I think it has arisen from a misunderstanding that relates to gunflints. The material typically chosen by the centre for the French gunflint industry was usually a honey-brown colour and that chosen by the English was black-dark grey. But that's only a typical generalisation and gunflints were produced in several locations in each country using flints of other colours. Both countries have flints in a wide range of colours and you also have to bear I mind that geology has little respect for the boundaries between countries. France and England were once joined together (they still are beneath the ocean) and the Channel which separates us now is only 20 miles across at the narrowest point. You can find exactly the same flints on both sides of the Channel since it's effectively the same geology.
Here's a Neolithic nucleus from France that's as black as anything you'll find in England:

  Here's a Neolithic leaf arrowhead from my neck of the woods that's as brown as anything you'll find in France:

  Nodular ballast flint may be difficult to knap but that's because it effectively represents inferior and reject material. We kept the best stuff. Although heat treatment was certainly used in ancient times over here, good quality flint is abundant in most settlement areas and much of the material doesn't need or benefit from heat treatment.

[rmartin]

That French piece is outstanding Roger

[hvs]

sneakygroundbuzzard wrote:

i would be happy to make you a couple of points from it
onewiththewilD: your absolutely right about the edge on points made from english flint,even after heating they hold an amazing edge
the one in your pic,second from the right,are you sure thats english flint
looks more like french flint
ive worked them both,never seen english flint that brown,but french flint is that color

  Thanks bro, i just might take u up on that.. Nice looking points..
The stream i found this flint does eventually flow into the hudson but so does just about all moving water around here..

[hvs]

Found this piece on a ulster county militia camp site while metal detecting, thinking its french flint maybe in the workings of a flint lock..