Kentucky Hornstone

Description

NOTE: currently only offering raw nodules of Hornstone. More information about them lower on the page

Hornstone is an excellent flint-like rock with exceptional flaking characteristics. It does not need heat treatment and is ready to knap into beautiful and durable points. Hornstone was a favorite material used by indigenous people for over 13,000 years or more! Perfect for everything from Clovis spearpoints to Mississippian arrowheads. If you are not familiar with this rock, it is somewhat similar in consistency to Georgetown chert, but a little more dense in composition. The colors vary a bit from creamy colors to almost black. Some have great bullseye patterning as well. Hornstone is typically found in and spalled from small-medium sized cobbles, so expect a little cortex on many of the spalls. This Kentucky hornstone is also similar with the Georgetown in that the cortex typically skins off very easy. Please continue reading the information down the page and watch the linked videos for more information both about spalling and working Kentucky Hornstone. Available both in raw form as well as flakes and spalls. Hornstone also requires no heat treating. Flakes and spalls are typically arrowhead size on up to small knife blades. Hornstone is not common in exceptionally large pieces.

Kentucky Hornstone is the furthest north of the Fort Payne chert formation. If you are familiar with Black Fort Payne chert, then this will be no stranger to you. It is without one of the very best raw knappable stones available in North America. I would typically classify it as consistent and easy to knap, however, it is likely best for intermediate level knappers due to the cortex, somewhat frequent crystal inclusion pockets, and cobbled edges that must be worked around. We have a great video available on the HuntPrimitive YouTube channel teaching how to work with half round cobbles or squared off edges. Once you figure out the easy platforms to work through these spots, you will be in great shape for skinning off those edges in just a few hits as seen in the video below.

Raw nodules and cobbles require no heat treating like with some other cherts.

**Note: while we always take a couple test flakes off nodules and cobbles, there is no guarantee what is inside the rock. There may be some quartz pockets or small freeze fractures. That is the nature of working raw nodules, but that is also why it is significantly cheaper, to compensate for weight loss through the spalling process. It’s not uncommon to find that some rocks have the best quality right under the cortex while others have better centers. More information about spalling in the video below.