Neolithic Flint Core

This stunning large flint core is believed to date to the Neolithic period and was found at West Kennet, Wiltshire during a field walking exercise. Traditional methods were employed to record this artefact and detailed analysis has been made of the techniques used to prepare and create blades taken from the core.

RTI/PTM was carried out as part of a development phase of the photographic technique as the raw material was deemed suitable for its reflectance qualities. It was hoped that the photographic technique would enhance the existing analysis and reveal more detail. 

When viewed in the RTI viewer and in default setting the viewer presents normal lighting conditions (below left). Here, detail and shading can be varied highlighting the flaking on the core. When passed through the rendering mode coefficient unsharp mask, the core is presented in a razor sharp image (below right).

Control of contrast and lighting can also be enhanced and when the image is processed through the diffuse gain mode the flaking and concoidal fractures are highlighted to a stunning level (below left). The viewer also allows the user to zoom in on areas of interest allowing close-up viewing and also image capture. The specular enhancement mode is particularly good at highlighting subtle detail at large scale. The slight differences between surface detail is difficult to capture in normal conditions but, with specular enhancement the detail and beauty is revealed (below right).