Friday 8 October 2021

Treasured item

I pinched this subject from John at Going Gently. I liked his idea of showing one´s most treasured possession. This is mine.

I know it looks very nondescript but it is actually a Stone Age flint knife, several thousand years old.

I found it years ago when I was on holiday with my husband. We were walking along a hilly path near Robin Hoods Bay in Yorkshire when I saw it lying on the ground in front of me. Intrigued by its shape I picked it up for a better look. I thought it looked rather like a flint knife but I was sure I must be mistaken and that it was wishful thinking on my part. After all, it was just lying there on the surface, on a well-used public footpath. I put it in my pocket and after the holiday showed it to my tutor at Manchester University where I was taking an extra-mural course in archaeology. To my surprise and delight after showing it to a colleague he confirmed that it was indeed a flint knife.

How it came to be on the path was anyone´s guess. Maybe it washed out of a bank or worked itself to surface, or even was dropped by someone who had found it elsewhere. I will never know. As someone who is fascinated with prehistory, it is certainly my one of my most treasured possessions. I try to imagine who made it, the people who used it all that time ago and it leaves me awestruck.

6 comments:

  1. Well looking at that makes me think I must have kicked through 100s of flint knives in my time. It doesn't look like anything particularly special - we have lots of flint looking like this and even I have much outside in my back yard. I have often been puzzled by these "finds" and am quite sure I must have missed so many.

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    1. You may well have come across some. When you know what to look for you can tell if a flint has been worked or is a naturally occurring artifact. As an amateur I was unsure about mine until I had it confirmed.

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  2. To think that someone long, long ago handled that is fascinating. It's kind of beautiful
    Briony
    x

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    1. I agree Briony, that´s why I treasure it.

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  3. I think this is such an interesting item. I would like to actually hold it and feel the lovely smooth surface. Someone all those years ago would have seen its potential as a tool but I see it now as a beautifully coloured treasure.
    Wendy (Wales)

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    1. It has been carefully knapped by a craftsman and the surface is really lovely and smooth, I like to gently rub it with my thumb.

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