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Video Documentary: 1950's Yokut Arrow Maker from California

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caveman2533:
Hollywood, I challenge anyone to make a point like he did from the spalling to the pressure flaking.   This from the site itself  "this film is a series of reenactments"

Dalton Knapper:
I guess I was suckered Steve. It was such a strange method that I thought maybe there was something to it. In actuality, the angles are all wrong.

Sasquatch:
I have seen people split a cobble stone like that.  I wonder if he is able to do that with the obsidian?   They had to get the flakes some how? Why would they change it, and lie about the method?   But I do agree that the angles were wrong.  Maybe he was doing something that the camera couldn't catch.  Idk  let me go watch again

JackCrafty:
Obviously staged but no too cheesy.  The cooking methods are definitely more accurate than the knapping, although the method I've seen to leach the tannin from the acorns was done straight on the sand without leaves.

Anyway, knapping can be done on a wooden post like that, while kneeling on the ground, but not for very long... at least not for most of the guys I know, including myself.  Not to mention the cuts on the knees that would surely follow after a few minutes.  A pad on top of the leg, while seated, works better.  The knapper in the video was obviously inexperienced and was very patient to allow the leather pad to be "seeded" with flakes to pretend that he had removed them.

The composite arrow idea was probably taken from museum examples and then a script was written to show it's use.  Again, the Indian was inexperienced but patient (tolerant) to allow the staging and interpretation of certain equipment (like the back quiver) and methods.  The shooting style was interesting, though.

Just my opinion.

It was interesting to see the children holding atlatl darts.  hmmm ?

JackCrafty:
As far as splitting the core like that (in the beginning of the vid), it is possible to accomplish and has been shown in many different contexts.  But I think, in this case, it's just a interpretation of the removal of blades from the sides of the core.  I'm pretty sure that most true arrowheads (bird points) from that area (California) were made on flakes and not from reduced bifaces.

video on "cobble splitting":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkfSJoXNOQo

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