Any thoughts on this jasper piece?

EricTheCat

Sr. Member
Oct 4, 2011
494
546
Southern Minnesota
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
It seems like it could be a uniface scraper. I found it at a wash out near the top of a gravel pit in Northern MN last weekend (same pit I found the curious agate in a couple years ago that I asked about recently). I still haven't refined my eye for what flaking is intentional vs. incidental. It does seem curious that this one is flaked in so many ways on one side and virtually untouched on the other. That said, there are plenty of ways for rock to break at a gravel pit, the glaciers often fool me and I do know they crush rock lower down in the pit and rock can always spill from a truck or loader.

Thanks for looking.

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Very possible, hard to say for certain though, but it looks like a nice scraper.
 

Thanks quito, I appreciate you taking the time.

I was keeping my eyes out for anything similar but unfortunately did not find anything to corroborate it in the vicinity. Not even a flake. At least I know right where I picked it up in case I get another opportunity to look there.
 

I think you nailed it Eric. Colourful one too & there is likely more nice worked stone too if they flaked nearby. They didn't waste stone like that. I see it struck on the more oval side in the right spots to create that one edge. Some clean up chips on the other side for good measure. Congrats & happy hunting!
 

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Thanks Hot diggity! Most of what I see as good knapable material I find here happens to have really nice colors. I look forward to finding a place that can really produce.

OT: As I was typing this a hawk just nabbed a bird from my bird feeder. He is eating it up in my tree now.
 

Thanks Hot diggity! Most of what I see as good knapable material I find here happens to have really nice colors. I look forward to finding a place that can really produce.

OT: As I was typing this a hawk just nabbed a bird from my bird feeder. He is eating it up in my tree now.
Umm...ewww..! Thanks for sharing that. That hawk is going to get fat and lazy if you keep providing his meals for him. lol

It looks like your rock has been worked. But it might be just a chip off of what was actually being made.
 

Umm...ewww..! Thanks for sharing that. That hawk is going to get fat and lazy if you keep providing his meals for him. lol

lol, he usually eats the voles. Once in a while he comes in for a bird but this is the first time I have seen him get away with one. He's a Northern Harrier (Marsh Hawk) and a regular visitor. Here he is sitting right above the feeder about a month ago.
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It looks like your rock has been worked. But it might be just a chip off of what was actually being made.

Yeah, certainly a possibility. If only the stone could tell us its story. If that were the case though I would have expected the natural side to look more like one fresh break, but I'm no expert (and barely a novice ;) ). Thanks for your comments. :)
 

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