Sourcing Gunflints to Their Country of Manufacture

Sources of flint in Britain and Ireland: A quantitative assessment of geochemical characterisation using acid digestion inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

“…The source of flint raw material cannot be determined using petrological analysis, as thin sections of flint do not reveal distinctive mineral structures that can be matched to raw material sources (Tingle 1998, 89). A number of attempts have been made to chemically characterise flint using a suite of analytical approaches: atomic emission spectroscopy and atomic absorption spectroscopy of samples from British flint mines (Sieveking et al 1970 and, neutron activation analysis of flint from British mines (Aspinall & Feather 1972) and flint tools from the Iberian peninsula (Prudêncio et al 2016), electron spin resonance of flint from the north of Ireland (Griffiths & Woodman 1987), laser ablation ICP-MS of British and European flint samples (Rockman 2003, Durst 2009, Pettitt et al 2012, acid digestion ICP-MS of British and French flint samples (Rockman 2003) and samples of flint from Scandinavia (Olofsson & Rodushkin 2011), and X-Ray fluorescence of Scandinavian flint samples (Hughes et al 2010, Högberg et al 2011. These studies have demonstrated that flint samples from different areas of Cretaceous chalk can be distinguished on the basis of their geochemical composition.…”

Techno‐Morphological and Use‐Wear Analyses of Gunflints from Two Spanish Colonial Sites (Patagonia, Argentina)

“…According to the available literature, most of the gunflints recovered in Spanish colonies in America have been either French or British, perhaps due to the fact that Spain had not yet reached the production levels needed to export gunflints (Merino ). Just a few sites have reported Spanish gunflints, probably brought individually by soldiers from the Peninsula (Kenmotsu ; Villalobos ; Silva ; Durst ; Austin ). In the case of the Patagonian colonies, the presence of French gunflints is expected at least until the end of the 18th century, a choice conditioned by the conflict between Spain and Britain.…”

“…Just a few sites have reported Spanish gunflints, probably brought individually by soldiers from the Peninsula Figure 2 A sketch of the firing mechanism of a flintlock musket (taken from Kenmotsu 1991, 343). (Kenmotsu 1991;Villalobos 2003;Silva 2006;Durst 2009;Austin 2011). In the case of the Patagonian colonies, the presence of French gunflints is expected at least until the end of the 18th century, a choice conditioned by the conflict between Spain and Britain.…”