Rights Holder: Royal Institution of Cornwall
CC License: 
Image use policy
Our images can be used under a CC BY attribution licence (unless stated otherwise).
KNIFE
Unique ID: CORN-9915F5
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
A flint backed knife, sub-oval in plan and lenticular in profile and section. A primary flake with the dorsal side retaining a large patch of cortex. There is no remaining evidence of a striking platform or points of percussion. The ventral face of the flake is extensively damaged, partly as a result of shattering during the knapping process due to the poor quality of the flint and partly due to later frost damage which has caused a 'pot lid' fracture at the centre of the face. The dorsal side retains the scars of the removal of several shallow flakes. The distal edge of the dorsal face has been modified by the removal of about six small pressure flakes to produce a cutting or scraping edge. The surface of the flint is pale creamy-grey in colour and the colour and texture of the cortex suggest that the flake was derived from a local beach pebble. Such utilised pieces are characteristic of the Neolithic period and were probably expedient tools that were quickly made, used and then discarded (Butler, 2005, 134).
Bond (2004) illustrates a similar blade and knife backed with cortex on pages 141 & 145, figs.5.127 & 5.131, nos.15 & 25, which are dated from the later Neolithic and Beaker periods.
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: NEOLITHIC
Subperiod from: Late
Period from: NEOLITHIC
Subperiod to: Early
Period to: BRONZE AGE
Date from: Exactly 3300 BC
Date to: Circa 1600 BC
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 34 mm
Width: 26 mm
Thickness: 9 mm
Weight: 8 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Saturday 1st June 2013 - Wednesday 31st July 2013
Personal details
This information is restricted for your access level.
Other reference numbers
Other reference: 5
Materials and construction
Primary material: Flint
Manufacture method: Knapped/flaked
Completeness: Incomplete
Spatial metadata
Region: South West (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Cornwall (Unitary Authority)
District: Cornwall (Unitary Authority)
Parish or ward: Hayle (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: SW5837
Four figure Latitude: 50.18347634
Four figure longitude: -5.39124507
1:25K map: SW5837
1:10K map: SW57SE
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
References cited
| Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bond, C. | 2005 | PAS Guide to the Identification, Assessment and Recording of Lithics | London | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | 141 & 145, figs.5.127 & 5.131 | nos.15 & 25 | |
| Butler, C. | 2005 | Prehistoric Flintwork | Stroud | The History Press | 134 |
Similar objects
Find number: CORN-EFD1E4
Object type: LITHIC IMPLEMENT
Broadperiod: NEOLITHIC
Flint plano-convex knife, snapped in half, semi-circular in plan, plano-convex in profile and rhomboidal in section. The blade is unimarginall…
Workflow: Awaiting validation
Find number: CORN-007D24
Object type: LITHIC IMPLEMENT
Broadperiod: NEOLITHIC
Flint end and side scraper, sub-oval in plan, triangular in section, and rhomboidal in profile. The flake has been unimarginally retouched at …
Workflow: Awaiting validation
Find number: SOM-7881F4
Object type: CORE
Broadperiod: PALAEOLITHIC
Large flint nodule from which flakes have been removed. On one face there is a very worn natural fracture, probably frost shatter. Flakes hav…
Workflow: Awaiting validation
Timeline of associated dates
About Us
About our Site
Find us
The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG.
T: +44(0) 20 73238618