California find??

[Arrow1674]

Hi all Forgive my ignorance, but I'm not too familiar with California chert. This was found along the beach near a friends property. The tip looks like it may be worked on both sides. For those who are familiar with California stone, does this look to be a possible flake tool?

[chase]

Sorry I do not see any modification from man. but it does appear to be chert.

[Arrow1674]

Chase, thanks but let me ask you to look at additional pics of the same piece. The other end looks utilized and pics don't show it well. Does this end look utilized? If not, what are the key signs that show that it is not worked? It was found high along the shore, not In a creek so creek roll damage is likely limited..... Just trying to learn from the full time pros...thanks

[chase]

It may have a little work on it but its hard to say if it was natural or man intent. Here is what I look for when determining if a piece has been altered by man. Sorry give me a minute to insert pic's.

[chase]

Notice the fine flaking on the edge.

[Scorpion68]

Arrow - not to take away from Chase's lesson but I got another one for ya to look at. Note the pressure flaking along the leading edge of this scraper. It's a real fine flaking that sharpens the edge in the sawtooth pattern. You don't have to find a piece in a creek bed to have it show natural chips that show as flaking. But as Chase says - your piece doesn't really show a pattern of flaking that would certify it as man made. However, that said, it doesn't mean that your piece didn't come from a larger piece that was worked or functioned as a scraper and you have apart of it. Hope that makes sense?? ....Chuck

[Arrow1674]

Thanks Chase. For the piece you show, this is clearly modified into a workable tool. What I showed is no where a defined as that.
For the pieces I look at, I use a 10x loop and several types of lighting. It's amazing what you can see with a loop. I do see that in many replies, a very lightly modified tool is determined to be debitage when in all reality it may be more than that. In the area I am from, the flakes and slightly modified tools are much more common than points so there is a chance to see what else was made other that the typical points, scrapers, gravers, etc......

In the Midwest, Burlington is common and the points are smaller. The tools usually outnumber the points 100 x 1.

[Scorpion68]

Arrow - I understand what you're saying but when one of us are looking at what you've posted, we can only see what the picture presents and more often than not, we can't see the finer detail that you're trying to get us to see. When I'm trying to present minute detail like that on this forum, I use my Nikon camera with a 10X lens adaptor and a tripod. I always magnify your pics to the max to observe any detail that I might otherwise overlook but that magnification from this site may not be enough. Lighting is another issue entirely. ...Chuck

[Arrow1674]

Aaaaah, now I see how you post your pics. Much better quality that mine. I like it

[Hoss]

Looks more like agate to me. Nice piece of stone but I feel Chase is correct. That type of stone on a beach can get random chipped edges just from wave activity smashing it against other stones. I always brought home agates when I found them. At some point my Man cave will be finished and I can start unpacking some of my treasures and making new pictures.