Flakes of neolithic or neolithic or suspected love dating from a similar item. Which of neolithic or neolithic or bronze age flint scrapers. Dating flint.
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- Scraper (archaeology)
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- two flint scrapers and some Fengate Ware pottery fragments – The Colchester Archaeologist
I believe that this may well have been mounted in a row with similarly notched flints along a straight stick to form a kind of primitive saw. Alternatively, it may have formed part of a toothed sickle similar in fashion to the blade shown above. Excavated sites in the middle-east have revealed intact sickles with similar blades in situ, preserved in the dry conditions.
The final tool is, I suggest, a microburin which has had an additional notch added to make it into a hole-boring tool.
Scraper (archaeology)
This tool may have been held between finger and thumb or, more efficiently, in the end of a round stick which could have been rotated rapidly between the palms. Thanks and regards Rod PS, picture 6 2nd from left - what a corker! August 26, 4: Cooking pots were adequate in design but due to low firing temperatures they were not tough enough to withstand the rigours of being placed on an open fire.
When flint nodules were calcined for pot-boiler use, then plunged into the cooking pot they not only turned white but the extreme temperature jump caused the surface to craze, a bit like some old china.
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All of the examples in picture 7 were found on fields along the top of the Wolds in the area south of Nettleton. This is a classic specimen from what is probably the most famous neolithic axe production site in England, known as the Langdale Axe Factory which is situated in the Langdale Pikes near Pike of Stickle in the Langdale Valley, Cumbria, see Picture 8, right.
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The greenstone axes produced here were highly prized and traded all over northern England and even as far away as Ireland but for some reason they were most popular in Lincolnshire as that is where the majority of finds have occurred! A couple of years later I went on a camping holiday in the Lake District and as you may well have guessed, I made certain that I visited the Langdale site. A walk up the Langdale Valley followed by a climb to ft.
It had seemingly been rejected due to the fractured end. It is reckoned that, some of the roughly shaped axes such as this were dispatched to the area of their eventual use where they were then polished. Someone had last handled this axe three millennia earlier. August 28, 6: Our ancestors no doubt utilised their resources to the full; nothing would be wasted if it had a purpose; a premise for both survival and progression. The hunter hunted his prey and if successful, butchered it for the meat after skinning it.
It is likely that nothing would be cast aside except the digestive entrails. If the skin was usable it would have to be prepared by removal of every skerrick of flesh and fat before further processing. This would be done using special flint tools which we call scrapers. Picture 10 shows two Lincolnshire flint scrapers to the right and the one on the left was made from fossilised wood by the Yakima tribes of north-western USA, mentioned above.
It is difficult to contemplate exactly how a particular group might have employed the scraper. It may have been used with the flat side, hidden in the picture , vertical to the skin and drawn towards the user with a scraping action. I will let his text explain the mode of use. Additional skills were then needed to make the skins serviceable and would have varied according to the purpose to which they were to be put. If it was required that the pelt should have its hair removed, this would have been achieved after the initial scraping, by covering the hide with woodash and keeping it wet for several days.
The skin would then need to be effectively stabilised and the probable material use would be the brain or liver of the animal. This would be rubbed well in to the flesh side of the skin and then a second scraping would remove it, followed by a wash and then the hide would be stretched out to dry thoroughly. Once the skin was stable further work would ensue to make it supple. I thought I would finish today with an illustration of a possible method of sewing using a bone needle.
I hasten to point out that the needle in the Picture 12 is not at all ancient but is a copy I made in of an authentic one. I used an old animal bone that I found on the Roxton site some years before; of course it is nowhere near bronze age but it was hard and stable. I used flint flakes which I made myself to fashion it and bore the hole from both sides and a piece of sandstone to to the smoothing.
A final polish on a piece of leather and there you have it! I then using flint I slit two pieces of scrap leather with regular spacing and used a thin bit of leather to stitch the two together. August 29, September 1, 7: The majority of the examples have been from the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods as these are more readily identified due to their relative sophistication. I sometimes wonder how fate leads us to places of significance without us immediately realising it! One of the most renowned British anthropologists was the late Mrs.
Mary Leakey, just Wiki her to see her massive contributions to the subject along with her husband Louis. The very first fullscale excavation she undertook was about half a mile from my current abode! Indeed, the humans under investigation were of the Clactonian culture , years ago. I was fortunate to obtain a copy of her excavation report and intriguing it is too. I prevaricate, but mainly to refer to a culture that produced a much less recognisable series of tools, at least to amateur eyes.
Picture 13 shows on the left, half of an ordinary door-hinge end on. When striking flakes from a core the shape of the intended flake may not always come to fruition due to inconsistencies within the material.
Some misshapen flakes can be adapted to other purposes. In addition, when a large, successful flake is knapped and pressure flaked some of the waste material can be adapted to purposes requiring a fineness of tool. Microliths, such as those shown in Picture 14, are of such adaptation or design.
The average length of these examples is 25mm and some have secondary dressing by pressure flaking as in the second, fourth and fifth, on their ends. While writing this piece it occurred to me that there is another type of tool that I aught to have included but for now, enough is enough. Perhaps I will add it at a later date. In other parts of the world, different materials, due to their abundance, have been used, but it is essential that whatever is used it has to contain silicon in order for it to behave in the ways discussed.
In the Americas, native people of both North and South, often used obsidian which is almost like black glass, others used fossilised wood and yet others, fossil coral. I apologise for the fact that he is a Texan and all that that entails but this guy is a natural and I am just in awe of his deftness of touch! He incidentally is using fossil coral. September 10, Stumbled across this site when looking for information on the Pike of Stickle - enjoyed the information and very informative. I shall be paying a visit to Nettleton - used to drill out there in the early eighties. Hi Pete, thanks for commenting and welcome to the site, pleased you found something of interest.
Let us know how you get on at Nettleton. April 6, 7: April 7, 8: I myself have found lots of things I thought might have been scrapers etc but looking at the guide above has been really useful for me. April 7, April 7, 1: April 7, 5: May 4, A really informative conversation going on there gentlemen!.
I think I may have found something that looks like a flint arrow head in my garden here in East Sussex, Hastings. My brother gave me some guidance as to what to look out for during a trip to the Cevenne in the south of France. Heres a very serious amateur and lives in Bon Paris.
two flint scrapers and some Fengate Ware pottery fragments – The Colchester Archaeologist
I dont know all the terms, or any of them! Likewise the tip of the arrowhead is missing. Let me know what you think if you have a minute. Regards for a really interesting blog- bernard jim. May 5, 1: I would be interested to see your photo Bernard, your discription sounds pretty much right, if you click on rods photo flashing top right it will lead you to his email address i am sure if you send the Picture Rod will post it up for all to see and coment..
May 14, 6: Hi, I came across your site while searching for information on how to identify flint tools, I found the posts here really interesting and I was hoping someone on here might be able to tell me if the pieces I have found look like they have been worked or are just natural. One of the fragments also includes a fingertip impression. Fengate is an area in Peterborough and it is where this type of pottery was first discovered. There is an item on Peterborough Ware in this blog.