To start it takes time.
And like playing the piano it takes practice. But I have always
used the expression in archaeology, "it's the questions you are most looking for".
If it's just artifacts that you can see at the local museum, then go there. If it's wishing to
learn skills of man you need to go into the field. This means you need to visit sites and
spend the time.
...practice...
First hint is to learn what man could do to a bit of stone compared to that caused by
nature. Nature being cows, water, freezing, sometimes even earlier man, then the one you
give credit to, for making the artifact.
A suspicious piece of flint can be judged by the chip marks on it.
While points will
scream at you, "I am a point", not so with tools. On occasion a point
will be an advantageous
shaped bit of stone but not often. Most are made to proven patterns
used repeatedly by
their makers.
Tools are a different story, they are to be found in three
basic degrees of workmanship. The most common, and more often missed is the utilized
tool. If a craftsman is in need of a hammer to fracture a slab of flint he may just reach
for a nearby hard rock and pound away.
In west Texas, above the rock shelters, there were seams of flint. Here early man had
wander along and picked up bits he hoped would be of use. To test he would use his
hammer for a whack or two, if he doubted the stone would work as he required he
discarded and continued his search. The area was a good location to recover hammers.
Some of these were unquestionably hammers, but other were no more than stones he
used a time or two and discarded, possibly when his needs were satisfied.
It is here where the ability to select those marks made by man must be separated from
those caused by rock against rock, as sliding down a grade, or
the hoof marks of grazing
sheep or cattle.
Try and remember that nature will not leave a pattern on the stone like man would. If the
suspected hammer has scores of small chips in only one location you have recovered a
hammer. Not much chance that a rock will tumble down an embankment and only
bounce on one spot. Nor will years of being stepped on cause damage only to one edge
or facet of a bit of flint. A small note here, later
American Indians liked to make tools from old glass, same rules here as with flint.
In time you will learn that many times man liked his tools to be of particular size or
shape. Here he will give his new tools some pre shaping before using it. These are the
forms he frequently used to make his knives and scrapers. Often it was the hand hold he
wished to form in the stone first.
The third group of tools are as well made as most points.
Some times these are old discarded points that have been damaged. Check all your
points to see if they have a worn edge on them, signs of a knife.
Look at the broken edge of a point missing it's distal end. A row of fine scars along this
fracture says "I am a tool". The majority of drills are from old points, they come with a
handy hafting area to mount in a rod for spinning.
To repeat, there is no magic formula to finding artifacts, it's
simply learning how to
identify something man has altered.