My first flint arrow head and gun flint.

[jtalbot0001]

I went out detecting on Monday afternoon, and didn't find much at all apart from buttons (modern) and just before it was nearly pitch black outside, really, and no light at all, I just managed to see a piece of flint in my last hole (the black piece), and realised before picking it up that it could be something as, where I live, flint is very uncommon, and so when you see some, you don't hesitate to pick it up, as it has a very high chance of being worked or at least being flake waste. And this was true for this piece. After getting home and giving it a quick rinse I realised just how square it was, actually rectangular, and it has been worked on all the edges, and is dome shaped, but the dome is one one side rather than central. I then thought well this surely can't be neolithic etc as I have never seen such a rectangular piece before. So after looking at PAS etc I gather that this is more than likely a gun flint. But what I can't understand, when comparing mine to the examples I have seen, is the fact that mine has been worked so neatly all the way round, the examples I saw hardly even bother to go to that much trouble, and if you are only using one side really as the striking surface for the flintlock, why bother going to that much trouble to work all the other sides, and ideas? Am I right in saying this is a gun flint. And today I went for a cycle, stopped at a stubble field to see if it had potential, and in 5 minutes I came across my first neolithic or late bronze age arrow head, over the moon, always wanted to find one, its not in the best of shape as the tip is gone, and both sides are chipped, so unsure if this would have been a barbed type or just an ordinary type arrow, but an arrow nevertheless. You can see how I saw it just lying on the surface. So this week for me it's not been about the metal finds but about the eyes only finds.

[ysbytymike]

Cracking finds JT. Always wanted to find this type of thing.

[Radnor Bandit (Ian)]

Lovely bits of flint, I me worth getting the gun flint checked out as it may be a microlith,
Some examples of square flint blades

http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/291277

http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/291230

http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/281233

The arrow head is a beauty even it is a bit battered, I have yet to find a barbed arrow head and would be more than happy to find one like that.
 It would definatly be worth going back for another look, as there is a good chance of more flints on that field

I found this leaf arrowhead ,a blade, 2 scrapers and several flakes of debutage (waste flint from knaping process) on the same field.

[Chef Geoff]

Very well done Jon, good bit of observation. I think the gunflint looks typical and just because yours has been worked may just point to it being of a better quality and more attractive to buy.
The arrow head is a corker and looks as if it was a barbed rather than leaf type as the chances of it breaking accidentally and leaving the central tang (leaf type don't have a tang) is pretty remote. So that would put it in the late neolithic / early bronze age.
Now on the basis that there were only 250,000 people in the whole of Britain at that time, the chances are, that whoever lost that arrow was related not to distantly to the person that buried your founders hoard.

[jtalbot0001]

Thanks for everybody's comments, much appreciated. That is a lovely leaf arrowhead you got there Ian, wouldn't mind coming across one of those too! But I think Geoff is right, it is just a very good quality made flint, perhaps made for someone who appreciated his musket and wanted the best. Funny you say that Geoff, about the arrow being used by a distant cousin of the person who deposited the hoard, as the arrow was only found a mile or less away!! I didn't realise that there were only that many people back then in Britain, I mean when you spread everybody out, it just makes you realise that when you do find these things that you are indeed very lucky to find one!

[anthonyjay]

The Arrowhead is a Sutton type from the Late Neolithic to Bronze Age period. The other artefact is a 18th Century Gun flint referred to as 'prismatic' or 'platform' type. Before 1790 they were called 'wedge' type and were much thicker. Your's was based on a style produced by the French.