Finds tray – Neolithic flint chisel

This unusual stone tool was recently discovered in a back garden in Hastings, East Sussex. It is a Neolithic polished flint chisel, or possibly axehead, that appears to have been reworked into a cutting or scraping tool. The flint is sub-rectangular in shape, with a lozengiform cross-section (rhombus- or diamond-shaped), and while one end has been nicely worked into a curve, the other end has broken off. On one half of the flint, the tool is smooth and well-polished with a straight edge. Analysis of the images by Sussex archaeologist Chris Butler suggests that this was the original shape of the tool, polished into a chisel (or possibly an axehead, based on it being a bit thicker in shape