This year I was a senior in high school. To celebrate my graduation, my family took me on a trip through Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky to gather flint.
Our first location to hunt for flint was Missouri. We saw a construction site were the workers had gone home for the night. Here, we found chunks of Burlington chert eroding out of the limestone. Unfortunately, we did not take any photos. We kept heading south, and stopped in the Ozarks to look one more time before we reached Arkansas. We found a creek with small chunks of chert and quartzite, which was mostly fractured. Still, I was able to get half of a bucket's worth of material.
Our first stop in Arkansas was at the novaculite quarries near Hot Springs. I wanted to go to the quarry to gather my own stone, but flooding had caused the quarry to temporarily shut down. The quarry owner did have spalls for sale at his shop for seventy-five cents a pound. I had brought enough cash (designated for buying rock) to get three buckets worth. In addition, he threw in a bucket's worth of novaculite that cannot be heat treated. Here is a picture of the novaculite.
Next we went to Crater of Diamonds State Park.
We didn't find any diamonds, but I found some sort flint or agate. I took a bucket. I was a bit bored so I found a round rock and started knapping a small piece. A gentleman happened to see me flintknapping. He was an artifact collector and was very interested in knapping. I told him how to find some instruction further than what I could show him. He said he was going to find out how. Seeing his enthusiasm, I decided to gift him the point. Seeing his smile and gratitude was well worth the point.
This is a point made from the novaculite that cannot be improved in quality by heat-treating. This style is called a Dickson.
Next we went to Crater of Diamonds State Park. We didn't find any diamonds, but I found some sort flint or agate. I took a bucket. I was a bit bored so I found a round rock and started knapping a small piece. A gentleman happened to see me flintknapping. He was an artifact collector and was very interested in knapping. I told him how to find some instruction further than what I could show him. He said he was going to find out how. Seeing his enthusiasm, I decided to gift him the point. Seeing his smile and gratitude was well worth the point.
The point that I gave away.
The next location was kindly provided by a gentleman on Paleoplanet forums. Thanks Ben! The type of stone that we found was Crowley's Ridge chert. I was able to pick up a bucket in about fourty-five minutes. Here are several pictures of it.
One happy knapper!
Next up was Tennesee. The first flint that we looked for was Ft, Payne chert. One of the locations we looked at was provided by another gentleman on Paleoplanet. Thanks Rick!
The creek were we stopped.
A large portion of the gravel bars are flint. Also, the creek had lots of big fish in it. Next time I will have to bring my pole!
Ft. Payne Chert.
The haul from that creek. Many more buckets waiting to be picked up in that creek.
Getting hornstone in KY was next on the list. Found a huge source by taking a wrong turn!
The creek.
All of the rock minus the novaculite.
Thanks to all those who made this trip possible!
