Hornfels Flake Blade

[CMD]

Hornfels. Not the prettiest material. Not bad for knapping, though, judging by comparison with other lithics from this region, such as felsite, argillite, quartz. It's a metamorphic rock, the result of contact with a heat source. Some info here on hornfels:

http://flexiblelearning.auckland.ac.nz/rocks_minerals/rocks/hornfels.html

The Braintree Slate-Hornfels Quarry is located in the Blue Hills, south of Boston, Ma. It's on the National Register of a Historic Sites. The quarry itself was only discovered about 40 years ago. Braintree hornfels was quarried from about 7000 years ago into Contact times. Artifacts made from it are found throughout eastern Ma. and into RI.
This talk describes the prehistoric slate and hornfels quarries of the Blue Hills:

http://friendsofthebluehills.org/keynote/

This flake blade is a nice example of Braintree Hornfels, found on the coast of RI. Banding is typical. Someone put a nice blade on this flake. One of my favorite flake tools.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Hornfels-Braintree_Slate_Quarry

http://library.bridgew.edu/exhibits/BMAS/pdf/MAS-v38n03.pdf

[OnewiththewilD]

thats a really cool artifact! and those are great links! thanks, i really enjoyed them.in the second link the guy had a really good quote about flakes, " ...each representing a moment in time- seconds in a persons life who lived here thousands of years ago..." B) 

[CMD]

Thanks, Jay. I changed the first photo. It was a flake when I retired last night, and a triangle point when I arose this morn :huh:
Anyway, one of my favorite regional materials. Would be great to visit those quarry sites someday.....
These pieces are from the quarry location, collected decades ago by our friend from MV....


I need to know what Braintree Slate looks like as well. Here's a Ma. piece with many modern dings showing fresh interior. I guess this is Braintree Hornfels, but, again, waiting to see what the slate looks like.....
Well, just got confirmation that this knife is made of Braintree Hornfels, not slate.



Edit note: a photo of an argillite triangle keeps appearing in this thread, replacing one of the hornfels photos when I log off. So, if you see a non hornfels triangle in this thread, I am clueless on how to correct it. I've corrected it twice to no avail apparently....
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[Oxbowbarefoot]

Very interesting material.

[Ron Kelley]

Hey Charlie, Thanks for the hornfels pictures and info. That flake blade is great.

[clambellies]

Nice blades Charlie. I'm pretty sure I have a couple that look very similar to your first one with my odds and ends.

[clovisoid]

That's a cool piece, I can see why you like it. That's got a very interesting "lipped" platform on it, very old school knapping technique. You see that in some Clovis flaking and then again in the archaic where they were probably using hard wood billets.

[gregszybala]

Thanks Charlie, great post for this section on Hornfels

[CMD]

Thank you for the information, clovisoid. That's very interesting!

[Guest]

I'd been told this is a hornfels blade....any opinions, please?

[CMD]

I doubt I'm familiar enough to say with certainty, but some hornfels does look like that. Colors, texture match. It does look the part. That's a beautiful Broadpoint!

[-=METACOM=-]

Must have been a good day when you found that one, that piece is amazing. Really nice looking material if you ask me. Interesting post, thanks for sharing.

[waterglass]

How did I miss this? Great pictures and information. Thank you.

[SDhunter]

Unusual material