Main Discussion Area > Flintknapping
Knappability Scale?
mullet:
Well,,,, now you have made a connection, Patrick, what is the true answer? ;D ;D ;D >:D :'(
AncientTech:
Edit: The effects of grain can be quite different than the effects of brittleness.
JoJoDapyro:
You had me till the end. I am not an archeologist. I am a knapper, not even a year into the game. Not even 200 pounds into the game. Having an idea of what stone I will be more likely to work at my level is a great help. From experience I know that I have a harder time reducing obsidian than I do the raw chert and raw Keokuk I traded from Cowboy. I can however pressure flake obsidian better.
JackCrafty:
My knappability scale is by a modern flintknapper (me) for modern flintknappers. That should settle that issue.
Understanding ancient knapping is a spurious pursuit. (I didn't know what "spurious" meant until that term was used on me by Dr. Hester in another forum when I brought up the importance of hafting strategies... but that's another story). Anyway, the best we can do is to try to copy the ancient artifacts with what little knowledge we have. But even then, the benefits of such knowledge will be used primarily by counterfeiters. Most people simply want to enjoy the experience and maybe learn something about the way our ancestors' minds worked. That's fine with me.
JackCrafty:
If I were to construct a mathematical formula on how to solve for knappability, it would look something like this:
K=L/(M+C2) with a high "K" value being more favorable (knappable) than a low value.
K is Knappability
L is Length of workpiece in millimeters
M is Mass in grams
C is side-view Curvature of workpiece in millimeters.
The curvature is measured by placing the workpiece on a flat surface and then measuring the greatest "height" from that flat surface to whichever face of the workpiece ends up being furthest away.
It has nothing to do with the properties of the material (well, maybe that's too strong. I should say, "It is not directly related to any specific property"). It has to do with a flintknappers ability to produce a long, flat, biface/flake/workpiece with the least amount of mass. And this has to be an average value of as many flintknapped items of that material as possible.
I realize that this formula doesn't follow proper mathematical rules (you can't add grams to millimeters) but this is not a physical property. It's a measure of what can be done with a certain material from a knapper's perspective.
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