TIL a trick for spotting worked flint in plowed fields that actually worked for me.

I was walking a field in southern Indiana last fall, looking for artifacts. The ground was covered in a million similar looking stones. The problem was sorting the natural pieces from the ones people made. I tried focusing only on color for a while, but that got me nowhere. Then I remembered an old guy at a dig in Kentucky told me to look for the 'shine' on a fresh break. I started checking each piece for a specific, waxy looking surface where it had been chipped, not just a random crack. Found three decent scrapers in about an hour after that. It seems so simple, but it really cuts through the visual noise. Anyone have a different method for a quick field scan?

3 comments

3 Comments

nancyn695d ago

Tried that shine trick once and found a nice point.

emma_flores6d ago

Looking for shine just wastes time. You'll miss the good pieces that are weathered or stained.

avery_ross6d ago

Yeah, that's a good point from emma_flores about weathered pieces. I've walked right past some good ones too.