Rock find ( pic added)

[mcginnis6010]

ok i found some flint in a local river today. My question is how do i treat it since it was submerged underwater. I collected 40lbs in about 15 minutes and two pieces look like they have been worked before. The largest piece weighs 15lbs.

[mcginnis6010]

Few pieces i collected

[Mike_H]

I'm not as experienced as others on here but from what Bob Patten has said in his book, "Old Tools, New Eyes", water can actually help the flaking proccess. I'd try it right out of the river and see how it goes.  If not so well, dry it out and heat treat it.  According to Jackcrafty (he may correct me if I am wrong),  darker the color, the less heat it needs.  Worth a shot.

[mcginnis6010]

Well its very dark like a shade just lighter that black with a quartz streak running through a couple of pieces.

[Dalton Knapper]

Well.....the first thing is to give us some sort of clue where it came from. What state? What area? Only then might someone be able to help you ID the rock and what they know about it.

Also...see how it knaps. It might or might not need to be treated in any way.

Third, if it does need heat treatment, whether it was in water or not is irrelevant more or less. Standard heat treatment requires heating the rock just below the boiling temp of water for 24-48 hours to remove any water from the rock (that's about 200 degrees since water boils at 220). After that, the actual heat treating would begin and a conservative start would be to try 350-400.

Lots of time wet rock or rock that has been just dug up knaps better than dried out rock - weird, but many swear by soaking their rock before knapping. So, knap some of that stuff then reveal to us some info on geographics, then someone may be able to help.

Cool you found rock! Looks promising. Just looking it could be hornstone or one of the NY state cherts, but who knows?

[Tower]

Water boils at 212 degrees at sea level. At a lower temp in higher altitudes. 

[mcginnis6010]

Sorry for the missing info i was pretty excited to find it as ive only ever been able to knap some obsidian and most everywhere around me is nothing but shale and clay. Its from Virginia found in the South River in the Shenandoah Valley. I found it in the portion of the river thay flows through Waynesboro. It definitely will produce flakes and there were some conchoidal fractures already present on some of the rocks when i found them. They alao make a nice glass sound when you tap a metal hammer on them.

[Dalton Knapper]

Knap some of that stuff - that info you gave is promising! Maybe someone can give it a name.

(Tower - sorry for the temp confusion - my memory is only partly accurate part of the time except for when I am right and then I am told by my wife that I am pretty much wrong anyway - 212 - I should have remembered that!)

[Zuma]

Sounds like Grottos or the Merk plant area.
In my opinion you have some what I call North River chert. My guess is that you have discovered a material cashe.
What I see all looks modified from what it would look like in it's original form.
Most I find is lenses in limestone outcroppings of the Devonian age. One thing that puzzles me is the size of the pieces. Pretty rare to find chunks that large. May have been in a canoe for transport when it tipped over.
You should find that it knaps well enough without heat but do not expect to get large blades as it should be
riddled withstress cracks. The same black and gray cherts can be found just west of the Blue Ridge from NY to GA