Discoidal Flint Knife

3D Model

This beautiful discoidal flint knife was found in a Late Neolithic pit at Bulford, Wilts. It is one of only 3-400 such objects from Britain and one of the few with an associated radio-carbon date, 2,950BC. The knife is a superb example of the flint knapper’s skill, using a thin flake, produced from a carefully prepared flint core and requiring a minimum amount of retouch, pure economy of effort, to create a perfectly circular object. The edge was then ground to produce a strong, relatively sharp edge. We do not know precisely how the knife might have been used, whether it was hafted or functioned as a scraper. Knives were essential objects, normally served by flint flakes; our ancestors must have appreciated the skill needed to make this special knife, valuing it highly; so why throw it away? It was found standing upright, suggesting that it may have been placed deliberately in a symbolic act of the type that we see elsewhere in prehistory, yet sadly struggle to explain satisfactorily.