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Overshot Technology

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Dalton Knapper:
In the images below, you will see an example of cueball-based overshot technology. The Keokuk mateial used has been heat treated, however the rock remains very fryable and hard and prone to thin flakes. To create this supurb example of cueball-based overshot technology, a center ridge was selected, the platform isolated and direct percussion was applied to the area - a specific point actually. The angle was acute so that the force would spread along the ridge and carry to the other side. If you can imagine the cueball as a chunk of mammoth ivory, and a tine-based pressure flaker used to isolate the platrorm following the ridge principal, you can imagine how it is done. This process is repeatable given the specific setup and conditions necessary to reproduce the overshot effect. I aplogize for the faint hazing - the lens was not clean. In the future, I hope to produce a video. Here are the images:

AncientTech:
Thanks for sharing this.  So, out of curiosity, can you employ this technology from inside indentations, where the ball would not be able to make contact, due to size constraints?

If it does not work inside indentations, then I would have to guess that paleo people were not using Q-balls - or using anything similar - while flaking from inside indentations, located in both basal and lateral areas.

Zuma:
Not sure I understand.
Do you shoot the cue ball at the preform's
platform with a chalked que?
Zuma

AncientTech:
Double thanks.

If this process does not work inside indentation, and it can be shown that prehistoric knappers worked from inside indentations, near the centerline, then this experiment demonstrates that larger spherical percussors were probably not used to strike flakes off of smaller recessed platforms, located in indented areas.

So, what also looks like a "sphere"?  A "semi-sphere" (half a globe").  And, what sort of flintknapping tool exhibits semi-spherical morphology?  Quite frequently, modern flintknapping batons, that were devised in England during the 1930's, and then were later popularized by Bordes, and Crabtree, via worldwide television.  Almost invariably, the ends of such modern flaking tools have a semi-spherical shape - unless you happen to get a flat spot, and then you have to grind it - which is a whole 'nother story.

Seeing that the ends of modern flintknapping batons are semi-spherical, this demonstration brings to mind the possibility that maybe were not used to flake out of recesses, at all. 

Dalton Knapper:
Ancient Tech - I assume your question is can I flute a point with an object of a larger diameter curve than will fit inside the smaller diameter curve of the base of a point prepared for fluting. I'd say no. There should howver be absolutely NO assumption that any archaic society used any percussion device even remotely shaped like a cue ball. This is just something I have done for three reasons. 1) to be humorous. 2) to see if I could do it 3) to get a rough idea if a dense and rather short ivory or antler like material could be effectively used, but I'll say right here that it is mere conjecture that a modern pool ball is anything similar to ivory, however I believe it to be very similar to a dense antler (based on experimentstion). So no you can't fit it inside the base of any typical points preped and ready for fluting, but it is proven to do good edge work.

However, we do have this: http://www.lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-pages/2010aprilivorybilletblackwaterpage1.htm. Be sure and note Dothager's moose antler replicas. I think these would work rather nicely doing all basic percussion work. There is no reason we should expect (or not expect) that the same tool used for edge flake removal was the tool used for fluting on Clovis, Folsom or other fluted points. Could have been another tool. I think we can however assume that any tool kit a Paleo Indian had that consisted of semi-permanent tools would be few and portable. Perhaps a tine punch, similar to the one you have often displayed, may have been used for fluting. However you have never revealed it's exact use. You have also never denied that your tine was used as a punch.

Zuma - Those are the easy shots - just try banking one!

I'll do more experiments. I wold like now to aquire a very short, dense antler billet (likely moose) as Ivory is out of the question. I don't want to conttribute to any ivory bearing animal's potential death, even old ivory, but you I may get lucky and see something for sale one day. Also regarding longer billets, in genera,l made of antler, if these were a common knapping tool, where are all of them in the archeologicla record? We certainly see some, but I think by and large hammerstones in skilled hands can do a great job - Just look what Marty Reuter can do with one. Maybe one day we will know more about what Paleo Indians used.

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