Ohio's gemstone (chert)

For the past week/weekend I have been working a lot so there were only two visits to the site, one on the 22nd and one today.
On both visits we kept on digging and sifting, it is a long process but will defiantly pay out in the end. We have mostly found chert. Chert is a "microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline sedimentary rock  material composed of silicon dioxide (SiO2). It occurs as nodules, concretionary masses and as layered deposits". Chert is more commonly known as flint and was used by the Native Americans for a number of different uses. The most widely known use was to make projectile points, though one could also start a fire, make various other tools, etc. Chert comes in a variety of colors and grades and Ohio has an awesome array of the varieties. One day when I went to the nature center at Highbanks I met a man who works for OSU who said he could put me in contact with someone who has mapped out the different locations of the chert in Ohio.
At the site we have found all different colors, black, white, greys, pinks, reds, blues. Its really exciting to find such a plethora of different kinds.  I know that I have posted about chert before so I won't go on too long about it but today we found some really cool pieces.
One piece was striped and looked like a vein of chert with a different grade and color of chert bounding the striped above and below (see picture).
The second piece that was pretty cool was actually found not in the unit but about 10 feet away towards the South. A tree had recently fallen down and the root bulb was exposed. I walked over to the tree on a short break and saw chert lying on the surface of the ground as well as in the matrix of the root bulb. I bagged what I saw and labeled this as surface collection (see picture).

Among the chert we found two large stones which may be hammer stones. In order to shape chert, which breaks a certain way ( if you follow the link here it will give an overview of the technique of shaping flint), one must use another tool, such as a large stone. A hammer stone is just such a tool. I will take pictures of one of the stones later on when it is washed so that everyone can see what the artifact looks like.

Stay tuned for more updates!!