Arrow head?

How long this in box of jewelry But looks too specifically shaved to be jewelry looks more like some sort of arrowhead or Flint. Any ideas? This is my first time posting in this form so any help would appreciated

 

Chert?

 

What is the size of this? Don’t known about the possible age of this. But if you are thinking arrowhead or spearhead then I would think more cutting or skinning tool.. Hopefully someone will know the rock type..

 

Size would be important to determine use, does it fit comfortably into the hand for instance?

 

Agreed

 

Added penny for comparison

 

Since forum members are from around the world, they may not know what size a penny is. For this reason, it would be helpful to put the measurements in inches/centimeters.

 

Is it translucent? Perhaps obsidian?

 

Looks like flint, possibly a scraper, to me.

https://sites.pitt.edu/~cejones/GeoImages/1Minerals/2SedimentaryMineralz/Quartz.html

 

It's a general-purpose Indian scraping tool. It's a little hard to tell, just from a photo, if it's obsidian or flint. Both were used for scrapers, depending primarily on which material was readily available. Both obsidian and flint were trade items, with pieces found a long way from their source.

Obsidian comes in several colors and forms, but it can be identified by its glass-like sharpness, so it was good for cutting and piercing. But it was easily breakable, like glass. Flint is harder, less likely to break when hit (when struck by steel, it produces a spark, and used for starting fires). For some purposes, it would be more useful as a scraper than obsidian, since obsidian would tend to cut, if the intent was only to scrape.

It's just about impossible to assign a specific purpose to a tool like this (although some people will), since it was probably used for whatever it worked for. And they may have had tasks to perform that we have no idea of today.

 

Thank you

 

Interesting information. Thanks

 

This is pic in centimeters

 

Your first pics show grey/black, this new one shows tan/white - which is the correct color?

 

I think the first 3 pictures are indoors under electric light, and the picture with the measuring tape is outdoors in natural light.
I would bet the picture in natural light is the best true color.

 

Correct

 

Then I withdraw my guess of obsidian.

 

I would lean more toward chert than flint, then. Both are microcrystalline quartz, but formed in slightly different sediments. Per the link I posted earlier:
"The only difference between chert and flint is color: flint is black or nearly black and chert tends to be white, gray, or pink and can be either plain, banded, or preserve fossil traces."

 

It's a perfect example, though, of why identifying based solely on a photo can be so difficult! The first photo, taken on a light background, makes the scraper look grey, and likely to be obsidian. The photo with the tape measure, taken in different light, makes it look white/ivory, and definitely not obsidian. They look like entirely different objects!

 

As a little Public Service Announcement, if anyone finds a piece of obsidian with an edge on it, try to resist the urge to run your finger along it…on archeological digs when we’d find ‘em undamaged they could still easily slice flesh.