Help required to date recent lithics finds.

KnapperHandy

Hello,

I recently found a number of prehistoric lithics in the plough soil of a field close to my home.I'm hoping there may be a member of this forum,a lithics expert or enthusiast,who may be able to cast an eye upon them and give me an idea what possible time period they belong to.Five of the artifacts are flint and the other is a possible hammerstone.The flints consist of four worked flakes and a flint core.The four flint flakes have been numbered from 1 to 4.
No.1,the longest,measures approximately 55mm. long and may be a blade,but could also be a concave/hollow scraper(not sure).No.'s 2 to 4 would appear to be blade and blade fragments(No.'s 3 and 4 look like the distal end of bladelets).All four flint flakes would appear to have varying degrees of retouch along their lateral edges.Two of the flakes(No.1 and No.2 also look like they've been butt trimmed - could these be Late Mesolithic in date?
The flint core appears to have multi-platforms and measures 28mm. x 28mm.There is visible evidence of abrading along the edges of the platforms,ie.the overhangs have been removed prior to the removal of the next flake.
The round/oval cream-coloured sandstone is I believe a hammerstone(measuring approx. 76mm. x 65mm.).It fits comfortably in one's hand and has what looks like percussion damage or pecking on one area around its edge.
Unfortunately,I'm only able to submit 5 images in this post,far too few for anyone to analyse these finds properly.If anyone would like to conatct me via email,I can send far more photos for your perusal.

Many thanks,

David.

slowburner

Welcome to the forum.
Great finds.

jimmyarch

Hi David,

Some really nice lithics there. I've worked a lot with lithics both as an analyst and knapper so I hope I can contribute something useful here.

Firstly, none of these is a classic piece that is clearly diagnostic of period. They are all a little short of being defnitely Mesolithic in date but if I had to hazard a guess I should think at least pieces 1 and 2 are Late Mesolithic. In the volume on the Kieller-Knowles collection (Woodman et al 2006) it was noted that 'large flake blanks, especially ones with intermittent retouch, can pose a problem for artefact classification'. That is essentially what you have here, two large flakes and two fragments with intermittent retouch. This can be very tricky and it is often difficult to say with certainty that a particular lithic is this age or that, really to be sure we need to look at big assemblage samples and talk about the overall picture.

Overall, I would note that each piece is heavily patinated and on some the retouch/damage along the edges interrupts this patination, i.e. where you can see the real colour of the flint. This is likely a result of plough damage or other such activities. All the pieces are flint.

Piece 1 is a blade. There may be some cortex remaining on the right in the first picture, hard to tell. Most of the dorsal scars seem to be from the same direction suggesting this is from a single platform core. Single-platform, unifacial cores are the type we get in the Late Meso. The platform area and the proximal end of the face have been worked, possible as part of platform preparation, again something associated with Late Meso lithics. This preparation seems to have been enhanced after removal of the blade from the core, though it is difficult to tell from just a picture. I would suggest that this is a Late Mesolithic piece but we can't say with absolutel certainty.

The same can be said for piece 2. The overall shape and feel of this is Late Mesolithic to me. There again is evidence of some core platform preparation with the small trimming at the platform. The retouch is pretty informal though. The large chunk missing from the left side near the platform is not an intentional removal, it happened when the flake was removed from the core. It is impossible to see dorsal scars here but I think it is from a single platform core. I think this piece is the strongest candidate to be Late Mesolithic.

Pieces 3 and 4 are the distal ends of flakes/blades. The top, proximal, portion of them are missing. These both have extensive but again intermittent and informal retouch. The exception to this is the left side of piece 4 where the retouch is heavier and steeper. To me, neither of these are scrapers, but I would suggest that piece 4 has an area of retouch along a slightly concave edge. Suggesting an age for either of these is impossible. SO, I had all of this written and it struck me: I wonder if these could be fragment of very informal microliths? I think they're too broad but you never know!

In terms of the core it is a heavily used, patinated, multi-platform core. This is the technical way of saying it has had the bejesus knocked out of it!! A date is impossible to suggest but it is definitely not one of the classic Late Meso 'Larnian' cores.

I am not a coarse stone specialist but I'm pretty sure that one has seen some use, possibly as a hammer stone.

It may be the case that you have discovered a Mesolithic scatter near your house! I would encourage you to report your finds to the NMI and have a look on the archaeologyDOTie website to see if there are known prehistoric sites nearby!

Let us know of any more finds and maybe post some more pics of that core!

KnapperHandy

Hi Jimmy,

I don't think I could have hoped for a better reply to my post - thanks a million!Your observations are very interesting indeed;it's encouraging to hear that you think the two larger flakes may be of a late Mesolithic date.

I have indeed reported these finds to the NMI,but am still awaiting their response.Actually,I started this post out of a sense of frustration really;these finds are a small percentage of a much larger assemblage which I've collected from one site in particular over the past four or five years.An archaeologist from the NMI has visited the site(it was a previously unknown site).

An initial report from the NMI suggested that given the numbers of lithics found and the presence of microliths within the assemblage,that it was most likely the former site of a Mesolithic settlement.As one can imagine I was more than excited by their findings!However,there's more to this saga than one can go into on this post,but suffice it to say,doubt has now been cast upon the initial findings by a well respected scholar from one of our University's Schools of Archaeology.So,prior to sending this post I was still non the wiser as to whether there was indeed late Mesolithic activity on this site!

I've sent a couple of more photos of the flint core which you requested.This core is one of four or five already found to date.By the way,I also found a stone axe on the same site - it was most likely a roughout of a ground stone axe and may date to the late Mesolithic too.I was told the Irish Stone Axe Project team from U.C.D. would be looking at the axe in due course,but as yet have not been made aware of their findings.

Thanks again to you for your help and to Slowburner for welcoming me to this Forum.

Best wishes,

David.

Wibbs

Very nice finds KH. Any pics of other examples you found in the area?












*When I see a thread title like this there's a part of me me thinking "oh pretty please let them be paleolithic"...

KnapperHandy

Hi Wibbs,

Yeah,I've plenty more pics but as you know I can't upload more than 5 pics on any one post.

I've sent a couple more just to whet your appetite!These are some of the latest finds;all have been reported to the NMI.

I've found more than 150 flint and chert artefacts to date from just one site.
The findspots of each have been meticulously recorded and a report was submitted to the NMI(a fellow forum member can attest to this).

I've also sent a photo of the stone axe(more likely a roughout) which was also found on the same site.This too is now with the museum.

All the best,

David.

Wibbs

Wow. Nice finds. Most of all kudos for the meticulous location data.

KnapperHandy

Thanks Wibbs!

slowburner

Knapperhandy.
Would it be possible to get a close up of the chert/rhyolite ithics?

KnapperHandy

Hi Slowburner,

I've just attached images of some chert finds.To be honest,I've had my
doubts about some of these.What do you think?

I'll send some more pics in the post below.

KnapperHandy

More pics of a chert piece.

It looks like the proximal end of a broken blade/bladelet.Not sure about
this either!

Thanks.

jimmyarch

Cool! That stone axe is likely not Meso as it is manufacture on either a dolerite or a sandstone, I think it is dolerite. We only have evidence for shale and mudstone axes in the Irish Mesolithic. Also, the overall shape of the axe is very much one we would associate with the Neolithic!

Some of the chert pieces are fantastic. It looks like you have discovered a lithic scatter built up over many episodes in prehistory.

KnapperHandy

Hi Jimmyarch,

I'm glad you like the chert pieces.I was a little concerned that they were just natural,but that's great to hear!

Yeah,I think the general consenus by all who have looked at the assemblage is that it certainly does seem to span several time periods.

I was just wondering if you could look at a couple of cores(well I think they're
cores?).Both still have a significant amount of cortical material attached.

Thanks again.