Flint (or flintstone) is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline silica rock with a glassy appearance. Flint is usually dark grey, blue, black, or deep brown in colour. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in chalks and limestones.

Along with chert, this mineral was one of the most commonly used materials for the manufacture of stone tools during the Stone Age, as it splits into into thin, sharp splinters called flakes when struck by another hard object (such as a hammerstone made of another material). It remained an essential mineral resource for making fire, including the flintlocks on early firearms, until the close of the 18th century. Since the dawn of European civilization, some of the best flint has come from Belgium and the coastal chalks of the English Channel and the Paris Basin.

See also: chalcedony, chert, obsidian, List of minerals

External Links

• http://www.theaaca.com/flintvs.htm
• http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/earth/waton/f9811.html

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Flint is also the name of two places in the United States:

• Flint, Michigan [1]
• Flint, Texas

and one in Wales:

• Flint, Wales