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Who are the flint experts, found this today it looks like its been worked or is it just a bit of natural flint

It certainly looks reworked to me ;)

Nice find. It has the appearance of semi-abrupt flaking retouch along both edge but more so on the right-hand edge in the bottom image. It also looks like a Side Scraper of the late Neolithic period. It is always good to show an image of a side view with the measurement ie: Thickness, as it will give more information for assessing what type of tool it is. Good find and should be reported to your FLO as it is an important find. ATB AJ

While it's more experience of handling flint than reading up that will give you the best idea of flint use or not and even then I'm sure there are a few examples languishing in museum exhibits that are either natural or accidental rather than man made this PDF is worth downloading to give you an idea of what to look for ;)

http://www.leics.gov.uk/flint_id_guide.pdf (http://www.leics.gov.uk/flint_id_guide.pdf)

That is a worthwhile document Geoff but the first thing that should be looked for is a Bulb of Percussion, (BoP), this the recommendation of the PAS in their new guide to identifying man made lithic tool. Books are a good way of learning, ( Prehistoric Flintwork. by Chris Butler for example). Many people fail to see most flint tools other than Arrowheads and the larger Scrapers whilst detecting because their focus is intent on their primary aim. I do have experience at identifying flints as I have spent many days IDing for Kurt Adams at Bristol museum. ATB Tony

Thank you for the info, It was found after ground clearance of about 18" of earth around an old manor house that has been refubished

Very well spotted ;)
Your hands on experience does put you head and shoulders above most of us and I would love to have that knowledge Tony. One thing I would highlight though regarding the PAS guidelines is that "yes" if it has a bulb of percussion it is 99.9% man made but the lack of one doesn't mean it isn't, a good bit of advice is check your county's geology to see if there is any flint beds it's nice and easy in Somerset as we don't have any so all flint is suspicious ;)

Thanks Geoff, you are right about checking the geology files etc for the county, but, in this area it is known that a lot of flint has been 'imported' from counties such as Wiltshire and further south. I have a piece of Portland Chert that I recovered many years ago in Somerset. River beds are a good source of flint or stone artefacts that will have been washed down during the end of the last Ice age. It is an interesting subject but as you say should be thoroughly investigated before making a definite opinion. I have got it wrong many times but once it was pointed out, never forgotten. ATB Tony

I had one of those turned out to be a bronze age knife well found,  lovely bit of  flint.

Congratulations DB4 on a great "eyes only" find.
I too have a piece of flint that looks like its been worked,but never sure ? ???
I would like to show you pictures of a large piece of flint which came to light  about a year ago,again an eyes only find.
It was found in West Wales,not far from Pembroke Castle,where Neolithic implements  were discovered on an archeological dig done many,many years ago,don't know if it was ever used as a base material,but certainly not generic to the area of West Wales.

I agree with Anthonyjay.   Side view makes a lot of difference especially the angles of the retouch. I looks to me that one side is steep and the other shallow this could then put it as a combination tool with both scraping and cutting edges.
With out "seeing it in the flesh" I'd hazard a date round middle to late neolithic .
Great find anyway . Still always get a buzz knowing your the first person to handle it in 4 or 5 millenia!

Hi dingdong. I have looked at your flint artefact and it has the appearance of being used as a 'hammer'. In picture A the red arrows indicate where there may have been damage from use as a hammer. The blue arrow shows where a flake has been removed to possibly make a tool of some kind. It is still an important find as finding artefacts that may have been used as hammers are fairly rare. Sorry I cannot give any more info. ATB Tony AJ

Another type of tool that gets overlooked is a burin or piercing tool.  For making holes in hide etc
One I found earlier

Hi  Anthony J
Thank you very much for your observations and comments regarding the picturs I submitted.
Wow,now that you have pointed out the areas of significance I shall treat the flint with a lot more respect,what intrigued me  most was the possible "percussion" area,it would have never occurred to me had you not pointed it out,a very big thanks for that.
Should I get it recorded? or is it a bit late,after all it was over twelve months ago!
Up until now it has been sitting on a rockery in the garden,but I think I will give it a clean and put it on the hearth.
By the way Tony,at a guess,what sort of age could be put on it,any ideas?
Once again,many ,many thanks for taking the time and effort for the information given.👍👏👏👏👏👏

Thanks dingdong. I would say about 2700 BC -2350 BC, middle to late Neolithic really. Because of the flaking etc it may be recorded as a rejuvenation core. ATB Tony

Cheers Tony,but what in the heck is a rejuvenation CoRe,in laymen's termanalogy please,.....pretty old then...LOL!!!!!!!!!👍

A rejuvenation core is usually a flint or stone that has been used several times to knap off pieces to make tools etc. The more it is used the smaller it will become but will show where and how the flaking has been achieved . Hope that helps. Tony

Hi Ian, have a look at this Burin. I recorded it at Bristol Museum last year, not found by me, just recorded etc.

Ooh that's a beauty.  Late mesolithic reworked blade?

Dingdong after been hidden away for four and a half thousand years ,  one more wont make much difference . No harm in a late recording as long as it is. I usually do all mine in the winter when it's too horrible to go tecting.

Great find Ian,well found....what else lays beneath our feet,its quite astounding isn't it??👍👏👏

As we seem to be in a "eyes only find" theme I thought it may be time to exhibit this little beauty,it was found by chance while metal detecting at Tenby.
I was wondering if our resident stone age flint guys can give any ideas on what it may have been used for,and an approximation of age.
Thanks for looking.

Hi dingdong. You appear to have what is termed as PEBBLE MACE HEAD according to the 2014 information I have from the PAS. Usually found in the Mesolithic context but were also made later. Their function is unknown. Yours looks to be made of quartzite but can be of flint. Very good find which you should hang on to as part of a good collection you seem to be forming. Probably 4000 BC late Mesolithic into Early Neolithic.  ATB Tony.

"2700 BC earliest" that's late Neolithic ???

Sorry about that Geoff, I have corrected it now. Well spotted mate.

Hi again Tony,many thanks for the fascinating and educational information that you have given,could it possibly be a forerunner to the "loom weight?"
(Whorle ?)
Many thanks once again,superb!!👍

Nice find Chris.   What would be more interesting to know is how the hole was drilled. 

Hi Val,at a guess,it could have been made  using a much harder cutting stone, or,perhaps a hole was already present in a larger piece of rock and the hole was enlarged by hand to a desired diameter.Anthony may be able to answer your question if you ask him.👍

Hi again Val,I googled up "how did stone age man make holes into rocks and stone,very,very informative.
Also Google up stone age level Mace heads,there's a picture on there that's identical to the one I have,incredible !!

I've just had to eat humble pie. Thanks Chris  ::).  I showed John your pic. and said it'd be interesting to know how it was made. Strait away he said  'Oh that's easy, a stick and some sand'  Don't you just love a know it all.  ::)

Don't think yours was a Mace though, it's very tiny.  Even more skilful I should think.  Great find.

Hi Val,I now have in my possession a copy of the PAS(www.finds.org (http://www.finds.org))
Recording flint and stone,a guide and protocol.
And on page32 there is a picture of the identical Mace,identical !
Take a look Val!!

I'd love to take a look Chris but the link you provide takes me to the Chief Fire Officers Association  :o

I looked on PAS for Guides and came up blank.    If you go to the page with the example and right click on the web address in the top bar you can copy and then paste into your answer. 

Example..................https://finds.org.uk/counties/list/

Interesting to note, they don't show any Welsh Counties  :o  Why ?

This is the page Val, I hope it loads Ok. Tony

Hi Val,Anthony has kindly helped me out on the PAS thing,(I have sent him a P.M thanking him)
If you go onto the suggested page,(bottom right) the picture depicts the exact copy of the "PEBBLE MACE STONE" that I found.

Hi Chris, you have stated you would be searching along the foreshore at Saundersfoot etc; It is not a bad idea but you should be aware that many stones and flints will have been water-rolled and would be difficult to Id unless it had a well pronounced BoP. You could also find recent artefacts that were well buried in deep bed hard core and may have no appearance of 'rolling'. Any you find would still be worth examining as they could add to the local history etc. When looking for flints, keep an eye out for very small pieces as they may have been intended as microliths, or just be debitage. Good luck with search. Looking forward to seeing whatever you recover. ATB Tony

Thank you for that Anthony.  There are at least 2 'flint' factories recorded in the area and, of course, there is the sunken forest.  Over the years many artefacts and flint tools have been washed out after a storm.
Wisemans beach is, I think, the most interesting one for beach combing.  I always manage to bring something interesting home from there.  Unfortunately it's a night-mare to detect.

p.s.  could you attach a link to the guide Anthony. I'd be interested in down-loading it.


P.P.S.   I think we owe db4 an apology for high-jacking his thread.  I duly apologise.

Hi Val, send me a PM with your email address and I will send it to you. ATB Tony

Should read as [url=http://www.detectingpebbles.con/Crete!!LOL 👍