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Archaeology/native stone tools

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Expert: - 5/24/2010


Question

stone tool
Hello Mr. Shea. 27 yrs ago i inherited from my father many arrowheads and stone tools. with the help of the internet i have been able to find [?] similar tools/arrowheads except two. a letter which came with one purchase is also enclosed. i have researched as best i could and found similarities with the link but nothing positive. can you help me discover the authenticity of either item.
thank you
roy beyer

Answer
Dear Roy
I have never seen an arrowhead like this.  It is also far larger than any credible projectile point.
It might be some kind of a drill, but it is not as heavily retouched as drills usually are.
The "best guess" I can manage is that it is some kind of a flake tool.
It has a very superficial morphological similarity to a North African Aterian "tanged piece", but again, it is far larger than  such points.
Sorry, but that's the best I can do from a photo.
It might also be that this is just an odd-shaped rock that someone picked up because they thought it looked like a point or a knife.
Sincerely,
John Shea

John J. Shea

Expertise

Questions about Old World prehistoric archaeology (mainly Europe, Near East, and Africa during the Paleolithic period/Pleistocene Epoch). IMPORTANT: I do not give advice about colleges. I do not appraise the value of artifacts or fossils.

Experience

University professor of anthropology/archaeology since 1991. Dozens of publications in peer-review anthropology journals. Director of archaeological-paleontological expeditions and excavations in Israel, Jordan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Kenya. See my main profile under Allexperts` "Anthropology" section. Professional website: http://www.sunysb.edu/anthro/staff/jshea.shtml Personal website: http://www.sunysb.edu/anthro/Shea/Shea%20pers%20webpage.htm

Education/Credentials
>20 years as faculty at major research university

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