GUNFLINT

A heavily burnt gun flint of post medieval - modern date (1650-1850 AD). The flint is sub-square in plan and trapezoidal in profile and section. The flint is a light white (plastic) colour with a crazed mid grey surface patina. The dorsal face has been knapped / worked on all four sides; this work consists of creating sloping edges to give it a trapezoidal side view. The ventral face retains the waves emanating outwards from the point of impact, but the bulb of percussion has been removed. At the mid point, visible on both the dorsal and ventral faces, a distinct notch is present. This is presumably from use and is an artefact of direct percussion to create an ignition spark. At a point after prolonged use - this flint was heavily burnt causing the structure of the flint to become plastic and the surface exhibit a crazed patina. The temperatures required for such a transformation are extraordinarily high, probably more than a controlled fire (c. 800 degrees). It may therefore have been baked in an industrial process (kiln) or an uncontrolled fire (such as a house fire).

The flint measures 28.5mm length, 22.7mm width, is 7.3mm thick and weighs 5.85 grams.

There is no documentary evidence for when or where sparks from flint were first used to fire gunpowder, but flintlock guns were being used in France from about 1600. There is a written record of an order received by London gunsmiths in 1661 to provide 15,000 'flintstones cutt' for the garrisons in Tangier and Ireland. This gunflint may have been associated with the local activity in during the Civil War, but they continued being used throughout the 18th century, especially during the Napoleonic Wars. It was not until the reign of William III that the flintlock became the main regulation firearm for the British Army. The knapped flint was used within the musket mechanism to produce a spark and would last between 20-25 shots before it had to be replaced, ' Clive Bond, PAS Guide to the Identification, Assessment and Recording of Lithics: PAS, pp163-164'. Bailey (2000) illustrates similar examples on pages 69 & 71, Figs.3,4 & 9, which likely date from the 17th century.