Help identifying a find

[ashamay85]

Can anyone help to identify this find. I am thinking maybe smokes quartz, someone else has suggested obsidian?

Thanks in advance

 

[Barra_Mad]

looks like chalcedony family to me

 

[gcause]

It's Chert you can tell by the dark colour, the way it fractures and it's waxy appearance it was a favourite among ancient tool makers because it was easy to fracture but extremely hard and could be sharpened to a razor sharp knifes edge.

 

[Lefty]

Have a good look around the area you found it ashamay - I find it regularly in the same spot as I pick up carnelian, sard, petrified wood and other stuff.

 

[Martin]

It's Chert you can tell by the dark colour, the way it fractures and it's waxy appearance it was a favourite among ancient tool makers because it was easy to fracture but extremely hard and could be sharpened to a razor sharp knifes edge.

Yep I agree it's Chert.

 

[silver]

How hard is the stuff, would that be like soapstone, or the stuff they use to mark lines on steel before you cut it ?

 

[ashamay85]

Thanks for the reply and bringing me up to speed, it's definitely chert. we also found quite a large number of petrified wood.

 

[ashamay85]

Might be my imagination, but it looks like a bird or eagle in the first picture

 

[outboard]

Might be my imagination, but it looks like a bird or eagle in the first picture

definitely looks Wal and Lizs chatter box parakeet