Has this been worked?

I found this piece of flint and was wondering if it was a work piece?

Yes indeed. There's a lot more educated people on here than me when it comes to artifacts. Looks like a scraper to me. Where'd you find it?

Looks like "Edward's chert". Did it come from the hill country? Nice find. I have a few from Comal and Real counties. Just holding them is pretty cool. Think if it could talk. Sorry. I've had a couple of libations. I'm getting chatty

With out a doubt, that is a preform. Pieces would be worked down into a usable or trade able form.

Exactly right. That is 'preform'. The flake scars are quite evident. The smooth side is from the spall that was removed from a larger piece most likely. The other side (with flake scars) was done by percussion (struck from the smooth side downward). Looks like a couple of quick passes around it to reduce its size. Nice ridges left to follow for further thinning and reduction later. They didn't cart big chunks of material back to camp to fashion projectiles from. Instead they made 'preforms' or spalls to work from later.

Curious where you found that. It looks like fresh work is the reason I ask, no patina or crazing...sharp flake scars.

Our place is just north of Coleman. This one was found up on top the plateau but I have found another similar in the valley beneath that was formed like a hatchet head. This one was not as well formed so i was wondering if it was worked.

What's interesting about that piece is it was done with hammer stones. I use hammer stones, bone and antler and it's exactly what I would end up with with using hammer stones for reduction. Flake scars tell the story. Hammer stones don't hold or transfer allot of energy which ends up with short abrupt flakes.

That stuff is fascinating to me.

Definitely been worked, it’s a hide scraper. I have one that was made to custom fit the hand. It even has a thumb divot. Found it in the Hill Country in Real county.

Nice find.

Most of the points we find are crude, half formed or broke. I figure this place has been went over through out the years. My brother found a couple drills that were in near perfect shape. I have only found two perfect points myself. Everything else is broken or what I would call unfinished.

That is a good find.

Neat find

Whatever HWY_MAN says.....
Adios,
Gary

What would a hammer stone look like? We might have some of those laying around?

I guess I don't know what to look for. To me it looks just like the other 10 trillion pieces of busted chert where I hunt.

& interesting thread...

Nice. I would say yes it was worked.

Most of the time they're a dense rounded stone, some large like what was used to knock that spall off and smaller ones for finishing.

Here"s the ones I use in the shop, I've got others in the truck. The big one is a hard sandstone, it has allot of weight but soft enough to take a good bite.

Yes, definitely 'worked'. Examine that one closely and keep it in your head. Any time you see obvious flake scars (in succession) it was done by human hands.

IF you find the right spot (not previously gone over) you can sometimes find quite a few artifacts. I found all of these (and dozens of broken pieces) in a single afternoon (digging) on my Aunt's property at the head waters of Bull Creek in Austin (late '70s).

Nothing too spectacular but a good 'mix' of points and small blades. Good return on an afternoons digging.

I'm a little hesitant to take a shovel to my landowners pasture. lol But I must ask, what kind of terrain would you look for if you were going to?

We found these on our property years ago. Found more, but I don't have pics of them on my laptop and I am not home.

I search along the sides of water paths (creeks, rivers etc..). Look for flint that has been worked, along the water paths. Sometimes you can find a noticeable place on the terrain that is raised higher than the rest of area (mounds). Mounds were the common area for the tribes (used over and over for thousands of years). Think from this day into the future a thousand years and what people will be digging up at our deer camps, beer bottles, spent cartridges, knives anything they may have fallen out of your pockets (It is indicative today as it was thousands of years ago). You might also see midden rocks (stones that were used in their fire pits/mounds). Another thing to look for is snails by the thousands if you are digging (great indication of a gathering place of ancient tribes), they were a staple in their diets. As far as soil it can be the Blacklands of Central Texas, rocks of the Hill country or sandy soil of east Texas. The first thing to do (and this being a hunters forum) is try to visualize were you would have set up to survive before modern times. You would first and most importantly need a water source and then a source of food. So many artifacts have been covered by the giant cities but there is still plenty to be found if you put the effort into searching.

A few I found in Vanderpool Texas a couple of weekend ago.

A good one found just outside of Elgin Texas this summer.




982

That is an unusual Pedernales? in the center. Almost looks like a reworked Montell.

^^^^^ Agreed. We always looked for spots where there is a convenient water source (but not in the flood plane). Consider how far a group of people (with their belongings) could travel in a day when searching for encampments along water routes. Look for Middens (not just cooking middens but 'trash' middens too. SNAILS...if you find TONS of small white snail shells you are in the right spot. You can find points literally anyplace there was game to hunt but to find a LOT of artifacts you need to find an encampment and you need to be able to dig.

I always start at what I imagine to be the perimeter of a site and 'pot hole' inward to see what turns up. Fascinating to find different types of points at different levels/depths. If relegated to surface finds...you will eventually develop a 'trained eye' that will let you pick out certain tell-tale characteristics as you walk and scan. But be forewarned, it is addictive and you will develop a bad habit of looking on the ground for points instead of looking UP for game when hunting.

If you are in Pflugerville...then you might already know..the North and South San Gabriel are rich with artifacts (or used to be if not picked over). Back the mid 70's we contacted Land Owners along both rivers and secured permission to look for surface finds. But as more and more people started doing that ( some people trespassing) it wasn't any longer possible by the 80's.

Here it is

A lot of patina to this perd.

I'd say yes. Sometimes they would chip out a chunk to carry with them and form it into tools later on.

Nice find for an afternoon. I used to be able to hunt on private property on the Guadalupe, with in throwing distance of Gruene hall. My private Idaho sold a couple of years ago to build million dollar homes. They scraped all the topsoil and hauled it off. Pretty bummed about it.

Water is key. Also look for an area above flood plain. Early inhabitants also set their camps up to face the eastern rising sun. Quicker to warm up in the morning.

Danced there many times in my youth.