Flintknapping - A thousand generations of humans can't be wrong

[josephusminimus]

<p>Maybe one of the pastimes all of our ancestors shared for the longest while involved making tools from stones.&nbsp; Back before copper and bronze smelting came along to commercialize it all and bring us computers and RVs.<br /><br />Those people sat around campfires, talked about the women, the hunting, the people across the hill they wanted to kill, rape and plunder, and chipped out pieces of flint or chert while they talked.<br /><br />Or they squatted down alone, where ever they happened to be when the mood struck, and spent a few minutes making an axe head, spear point or scraper instead of reading a book or magazine.<br /><br />Today it's a skill that has to be re-acquired to put it into the ways a person might wish to spend his time, but once done there's a lot of satisfaction in it.&nbsp; The materials for doing it are all around us, same as they were for those savages who became our ancestors.&nbsp; Solitary, or social, a group of humans can still sit around a fire talking about the women, the hunting, the people across the ocean somewhere we'd like to kill, rape and plunder.<br /><br /><br />Flintknapping: Even A Caveman Can Do It <br />From stone to weapon: a primer<br /><a href="http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/flintknapping-even-a-caveman-can-do-it/Content?oid=2007735">http://www.boiseweekly.com/boise/flintknapping-even-a-caveman-can-do-it/Content?oid=2007735</a></p><p>Do it Yourself Flint Arrowhead Knapping<br /><a href="http://www.ehow.com/way_5409314_do-yourself-flint-arrowhead-knapping.html">http://www.ehow.com/way_5409314_do-yourself-flint-arrowhead-knapping.html</a></p><p>Flint Knapping <br /><a href="http://www.squidoo.com/flintknapping">http://www.squidoo.com/flintknapping</a></p>

 

[blars]

I'll also add http://www.obsidiandesigns.com/fkinfo.html<br /><br />I have been to a couple of her demos.&nbsp; This is not a hobby for someone scared of seeing their own blood.

 

[josephusminimus]

I'll also add http://www.obsidiandesigns.com/fkinfo.html<br /><br />I have been to a couple of her demos.&nbsp; This is not a hobby for someone scared of seeing their own blood.

<br /><br />No argument here.&nbsp; But nothing much I've ever done left me unblooded after doing it.

 

[hitekhomeless]

Haven't done any flintknapping, but I feel the same way about tanning hides. It sustained us for 1000s of years. So many skills, so little time.

 

[josephusminimus]

Haven't done any flintknapping, but I feel the same way about tanning hides. It sustained us for 1000s of years. So many skills, so little time.

<br /><br />hitekhomeless:&nbsp; I've never done much tanning, but I've never worn skins much, other than footwear.&nbsp; I'd be satisfied with this lifetime if I go out of it never had to learn to tan hides as a necessary part of keeping warm and clothed.&nbsp;

 

[Where~the~wind~blows]

I have tanned many hides mostly deer and rabbit and it messy, smelly and not for the faint of heart.<br /><br />edited to add I guess you could do this on the road, and use hemlock branches and brains for tanning...i think it's hemlock they use...

 

[hitekhomeless]

<p>I wasn't satisfied, josephusminimus. And, I found out that I enjoy it. There's also more than just clothing that can be made with skins. Backpacks are a good example.<br /><br />I use brains or egg yolks. I have never heard of using hemlock. I'll have to check it out.</p>

 

[crazybill]

I can spend hours and hours flint knapping. It took quite a while getting where I was any good at it. <br />&nbsp;In Bakersfield, CA and many other towns there are people who are happy to show you how it's done. <br />There are also "knap-ins" which are gatherings of knappers that are single day or multiple day events with camping. These are very friendly people who are happy to share their hobby. Plenty of you tube demonstrations too. <br />&nbsp; The only drawback is you leave behind lots of very sharp shards and need to be aware of that and act accordingly. A supply of band-aids helps also. <br />&nbsp;I get obsidian for free in the Sierras and also like to use plate glass which can usually be had for little or nothing at a glass shop. I have also seen people use the bottoms of bottles. <br />&nbsp;As an added bonus these are people who usually also practice other primitive hobbies like bow making and pine needle baskets, etc. <br />&nbsp;-Bill-

 

[josephusminimus]

I can spend hours and hours flint knapping. It took quite a while getting where I was any good at it. <br />&nbsp;In Bakersfield, CA and many other towns there are people who are happy to show you how it's done. <br />There are also "knap-ins" which are gatherings of knappers that are single day or multiple day events with camping. These are very friendly people who are happy to share their hobby. Plenty of you tube demonstrations too. <br />&nbsp; The only drawback is you leave behind lots of very sharp shards and need to be aware of that and act accordingly. A supply of band-aids helps also. <br />&nbsp;I get obsidian for free in the Sierras and also like to use plate glass which can usually be had for little or nothing at a glass shop. I have also seen people use the bottoms of bottles. <br />&nbsp;As an added bonus these are people who usually also practice other primitive hobbies like bow making and pine needle baskets, etc. <br />&nbsp;-Bill-

<br /><br />I hope we run across one another sometime, Bill.&nbsp; You strike me as a person I might learn something from sitting across a campfire.

 

[crazybill]

Jack, thanks for the kind words. I'm sure that given the way the world works, our paths will cross. We will see who teaches who. <br />-Bill-

 

[josephusminimus]

One of the off-shoots or sidelines of learning something about flint knapping is the increase in understanding a person gets coming across artifacts from the distant past and the skill that went into them.&nbsp; As well as the circumstances surrounding their loss when they were still comparatively new.<br /><br />Somewhere around here I have a 12,000 year-old undamaged axe head I found on private land a few miles from the Sandia Man cave NE of Albuquerque.&nbsp; The workmanship is a thing to behold and the mystery of why and how that ancient man left it or lost it there on that ridge consumed me at the time I found it.&nbsp; I've spent a fair amount of time during the years since admiring it and pondering about it, as well.&nbsp; The axe was near enough Sandia Cave to have possibly been owned by one of the dwellers there, or been acquainted with them.&nbsp; Someone went to a lot of trouble chipping out that axe and the circumstances of him losing it, nobody else picking it up, would probably be a story worth knowing.<br /><br />I'd have never been able to identify the axe by the workmanship, etc, and recognize it for what it is if I'd never studied and practiced flint knapping.

 

[peacetara]

Maybe you could do a brief display of how it all works around the RTR?<br /><br />I think it would be interesting to see how it all works!

 

[josephusminimus]

Peacetara:&nbsp; I'm betting CrazyBill would be a better candidate for the job.&nbsp; I'm not at all certain where I'll be in January.<br /><br />But I'd guess Bill could put on the sort of demo you're talking about a lot better than I could, anyway.

 

[crazybill]

I think would have a hard time teaching someone to knap. But if I am at the RTR I will be happy to try. I don't know yet if I will be there. <br />&nbsp;I know that a group of flintknappers will be at Quartzite this year and I will find a way to put you in touch with them. These are very friendly people that delight in showing anyone how it is done. In addition to the sources already listed by Jack and Blars there is a ton of stuff on youtube. <br />&nbsp;Jack, I agree with you about recognizing artifacts. There is a place I have visited where I found a lot of small obsidian chips that I know came from Native Americans making arrowheads a thousand years ago. There they were scattered about and being passed by visitors not realizing what they were. It had been a prehistoric waterfall that is now a dry pile of rocks. I could visualize the guy sitting there making a few points and enjoying the cool water. <br />-Bill-<br />&nbsp;