Flint stone: the material that defined history

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

The ancient history of mankind is inextricably linked with the development of fire, the study of the properties of useful plants and the domestication of domestic animals. But only one thing gave the name to two huge historical periods - the Paleolithic and the Neolithic. This is a flint stone. This mineral allowed man to become the king of nature.

Judging from the point of view of mineralogy, there is nothing special about flint: it is a material almost entirely composed of silica, the color of which is given by s alts of other chemical compounds. Due to the variety of these substances and a wide range of formation conditions, flint stone can have the most unexpected shape and color.

Geologists characterize it as a "viscous strong aggregate" of amorphous and cryptocrystalline forms of silica.

This stone is very weakly translucent, if you look at it, placing it in front of a powerful light source. Very often it is of organic origin, since silicon was part of the shells of mollusks.

For millions of years, the sedimentary rocks at the bottom of the ancient seas first turned into opal,and only then into other minerals, including chalcedony. Their color is so diverse that gems immediately come to mind. Oddly enough, flint stone is sometimes really used in this role, although its scope is completely different.

Once upon a time, people noticed that it can be easily polished, and only then appreciated its hardness, because of which the mineral began to be used as a material for making tools and even utensils. Then people learned how to properly split and grind it, after which the flint stone became a formidable weapon, embodied in the tips of spears and arrows.

If you look at its section under a microscope, you can see tiny needles of sea sponges, skeletons of radiolarians, the smallest valves of incredibly tiny bivalve molluscs.

Flint formation continues to this day. Waves of ebbs and flows, rivers and rains gradually grind down the rocks, carrying the stone crushed into dust far into the ocean. Chemical substances that have found a way to the surface after volcanic eruptions also get into it. Gradually, silica gathers into the finest colloidal suspension, which hangs in the water column. Part of this suspension is used by marine protozoa and molluscs, whose body needs material to build shells. Gradually, a flint stone is formed, the description of which was given above.

Remember how we talked about the "viscosity" of this stuff? It was she who allowed it to be used in the production of stone tools: cobblestone withthe impact did not shatter into pieces, but split, forming neat plates.

It was the processed flint that gave man an unprecedented advantage over wild animals. And when his ability to strike sparks upon impact was discovered, then a new world opened up before people - a world of warmth, fire and security. The food cooked on it was tastier and more nutritious, and the strongest predators were afraid of the heat and light of an open flame.

We hope you have learned about what a flint stone looks like. His role in the history of our civilization is undeniable.