I have noticed that many odd items have been made of hematite.  I have also noticed that items made of hematite tend to be very small.  Here a few examples: #1 - Hematite celt measures only 2 1/8" 
#2 - Strange drilled hematite cone or bead measures only 1 1/4" 
#3 - Hematite pebble pendant measures only 1 1/2" 
#4 - Hematite celt measures only 2" 
#5 - Strange hematite plummet measures only 1 1/2" 
#6 - Strange hematite pendant or celt with engraving and a sharpened bit measures 4"
 I welcome your thoughts and comments.

I have loaded a few pictures showing patina / deposits present on flint as well as slate.  I have also given an example of how thousands of years in the ground leaves a different patina to each side of the artifact.  All examples required little or no magnification.  These are a few basic things to look at when looking to aquire an artifact.  When you see severe differences in patina on an artifact you must determine if it is due to damage like this piece or if it was intentionally re-chipped in order to deceive a buyer.

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I am sure most of you are already familiar with so called spokeshaves.  This post is intended for those who are not familiar with them.  Somewhere in your collection I bet you have a piece with an  odd notch taken out of the side of the blade.  The notch looks to be intentional and not the result of damage.  These concave notches are referred to as spokeshaves.  It is commonly believed that they were used in shaping wooden or bone shafts.

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Flint was highly prized and many miles of travel were often required in order to obtain this critical material.  Flint was the center of the ancient tool box, because it was easily knapped, held a very sharp edge, could be used over and over, and did not break down in the elements.  I regularly find artifacts here in Wayne County Ohio made of Coshocton and Flintridge flint.  These materials were quarried 100 miles away.  The process of acquiring flint, knapping it, then mounting it is quite time consuming.  If a blade became dull or is damaged, one would never consider just throwing it away and getting another to replace it.  They would work it over and over until it was of little or no use.  Once a blade or point was worked until is was no longer useful for it's original purpose, it could be fashioned into another tool all together.  For example:  The drill below was once a mounted knife or spear point.  It was sharpened over and over until it became a completely new tool.  It's life as a knife blade or point was at an end, but just beginning its new life as a drill.

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I have seen many end scrapers and understand their use as mounted scrapers that were most likely used to scrape hides.  Nearly all measure 1 - 2 inches long, with only a few measuring longer than that.  The examples I have seen longer than an inch or two all have rounded ends.  I can understand why end scrapers with flat ends would do a good job scraping hides, but wonder what the ones with rounded ends would be used for.  They seem to have been intentionally rounded and that does not seem to be the best shape for scraping hides.  I wonder what one would scrape that would benefit from a rounded end as well as a small and large sized tool.  Below I have two sets of pictures one with flat ends and one with rounded ends.  The group with rounded ends includes a piece measuring 4" long. 

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There are a few similarities as to why a slate item may have been slavaged compared to why a flint tool would have been re-sharpened.  Slate, like flint takes a great bit of work to produce a finished product.  Like flint, It can be reworked into a new form that takes on a new function.  Example:  The bird effigy below was salvaged from a bannerstone and then engraved.  Note the eye created by the banding.  
That is where the similarities end.  Unlike flint,  slate was used for utility (bannerstones) as well as ornamentation or ceremonial items (gorgets, pendants, birdstones, and so on).  The use of tally marks, drilling, using the banding of the slate to enhance its beauty, and engraving were all used in the process of creating a slate item.  Flint was generally re-sharpened in order to extend it's life as a utility tool, while salvaging slate was most likely done for other reasons.   A few possible reasons include:   Did engraving the slate give it powers?  Could it ward off evil spirits?  Was it an offering to the good spirits? Was it a status item within the group? or as it just a beautiful object?  These questions will most likely never be fully answered.