A knife and a tool to smooth shafts? Or has Nature fooled me?

[LeeRendan]

Two finds today. These were located within a creek in Denton County, Texas. Same creek I have been going to often with some other small tool finds.

I am going to test my skill at identification: The large one on the left appears to be a knife that was not completed for whatever reason. It looks like they started one face of it, even making the base usable for hafting, but discarded or lost it before it was completed. I have included the picture I took of it when I spotting it before picking it up. That is water, and is surprisingly crystal clear.

The one to the right appears to have minor work done to create a tool for smoothing out a shaft.

So how did I do? Close, or way off base with rocks that just happen to spark my imagination?

Thank you in advance.

[Hoss]

Nice spoke shave like this little tool.
Nice finds the bigger one could be a utilized flake or a knife made in an expedient way for a single use. Both are nice looking chert material. You did well.

[LeeRendan]

Thank you, Hoss.
This site is both intriguing and frustrating (but in a good way if that makes sense). I am finding a good number of artifacts, but they are all small tools that were either hastily made, or made for single use. No piece has been fully worked except the bottom half of a point that I found early on. However, that broken piece is the only sign of a point I have found.

Arrowheads will catch attention, so I am wondering if the rancher and their family the land belonged to years ago hunted for arrowheads in the area and have found most of them, or more recently, the kids that are living in the neighborhood are finding them soon after they are revealed as they explore the woods. It would be awesome if that were the case. Unfortunately, I have not see anyone in there in all the times I have been there.

In any case, the creek does some significant meandering through a relatively small area so there are many more locations along it that I have not yet searched. Time will tell and I am enjoying the exploration.

[Quicksilver]

When in doubt with these abraders or shavers I look at the working edge for wear. Under 10x power the flaked edge will look glossy then fade to a hazy look. Glossy edges usually means not used or natures work. A worked edge may also exhibit a rounded look to it, usually meaning hard use. Sometimes aging will render a patina that covers any textural difference. Obsidian may exhibit micro flaking with use of the working edge.

[Josie]

I understand what you mean when you say a site is both intriguing and frustrating. I find enough points that I should trust my instincts but I don’t. Spoke shaves and utilized flakes give me trouble too. Keep looking. Texas is so loaded you’ll find a killer soon!