Abstract
IN view of the widespread prehistoric use of flint for making tools and weapons, it is of interest to compare its structure and strength with those of present-day ceramic materials. The physical properties of stone tool materials have been investigated by Mary Ellen Goodman1, who examined and compared the relative density, toughness, resilience and hardness of limestone and a number of siliceous materials. However, the transverse bending strength, needed for quantitative comparison with ceramic materials, was not determined.
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References
Goodman, Mary Ellen, Amer. Antiquity, 9, 415 (1944).
Dana's System of Mineralogy, 3, Silica Minerals, seventh ed., by Clifford. Frondel (John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York and London, 1962).
Weymouth, J. H., Mineral. Mag., 29, 573 (1951).
Ceramic Data Book 1962–1963 (Ceramic Industry, 30 E. 42nd St., New York).
Kessler, D. W., Insley, Herbert, and Sligh, W. H., J. Res. Nat. Bur. Stand., 25, 161 (1940).
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ILER, R. Strength and Structure of Flint. Nature 199, 1278–1279 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1038/1991278b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1991278b0
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