In message <[log in to unmask]>, Anne Stolla <[log in to unmask]> writes >A question on the subject of building materials --- I've just returned from a >short visit to France where spent most of my time focused on palaeolithic caves >and stone tools. Naturally I spent alot of time looking at wonderful objects >made from what the French call "silex." Having the image of silex handaxes >still fresh in mind, I also visited the English town of Canterbury and was >surprised to find there original walls faced with what looked for all the world >like debitage. I was told they call these walls "flints." They are attractive, >a mottled charcoal grey or black and quite sharp to touch---I imagine nasty to >climb. Is someone out there familiar with flint wall construction? Please >forgive my California-born ignorance -- are there such structures in the U.S.? >Couldn't help wondering if the flints used might have--inadvertantly?--included >prehistoric flint artifacts. Any known cases of this? > In Britain, flint is used as a building material in areas poor in other stone. It is typically used with brick quoins, window cills, etc, as it cannot be given a straight face. Sometimes the infilling is a pattern with brick. the glistening dark grey/black of the flint face, contrasts beautifully (to my eye) with the dull dark or bright red of the brick. Best wishes, -- Pat Reynolds [log in to unmask] "It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time" (T. Pratchett)