Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Flintknapping => Topic started by: Timo on June 03, 2009, 10:55:09 pm
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There are those who can do it very well. I can't....(yet) ;) But figured I'd give it a try tonight. This is a Scottsbluff (burlington) that I tried to make like the one I found a while back. Tried to do it all abo, but screwed up the first pressure pass, so had to redress and finished it with a copper flaker.So now it is too narrow, and the flake pattern is a bit uneven.Nothing really like the original.Man I have a lot of respect for our ancesters, and their talents. The strength it takes to pressure off big flakes is ...well more than I have right now.The length is perty right and the thickness is a bit strong, but I and gaining. Now I am driven to do it better.
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tim thats excellent. i take what ever the rock lets me have. no duplicating here cause i have no idea what is gonna show up. ;D
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wow tim.that is great...keep going on them.sooner or later it will happen.john
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that's a beauty!!
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Sweet point Tim, looks to me like ya done pretty dang good :)
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Tim, that's a mighty good-looking point if you ask me-I'll sure take it. :) I doubt if aboman made any two points exactly alike, either.
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Very nice point! I'd bet an ancient flintknapper would have been pleased with that result.
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Looks great! Yeah, those ancient flintknappers knew their stuff.
I've been trying to replicate some larger blades too. I think the ancient masters were really good at percussion flaking and choosing the right material & hammerstone combination. That's the only way I can see them making such long flakes without the help of copper. Either that or they used punches? Also, I've seen some illustrations of the cross section of knives like yours and there is usually a central ridge that is fairly thick...which would enable the blade to stand up to the percussion work.
In any case, trying to make the larger blades is addicting. I need to get a video game or something to get me off the rock....
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Jack, lots of opinions as to how they did certain things. I figure ifin they had a good women,then all they had to do was to protect,hunt,fish, and knap? (maybe one other things) ;) They had the time to work on a piece,gather good mat/tools, and perfect their craft. That is one thing that impresses me about the paleo,late paleo period,they where so anal about getting good material, and getting it made right. Not much of that left today?
I agree about the right tools with ya, I've come to the understanding that most of their pressure work on points like these was with big tipped antler tines,maybe 3/8"? But.....The preform had to be RIGHT! That is where most of us screw it up...speaking about myself here.
It's something that has intrigued me since my youth.
Ya know I always wondered if they had a way to grind their preforms down like the flake over grind fellas do? Kinda like slab work? That might explain some things aboout how nice the convexity is on some of these older points.
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Man that looks good Tim. A little off here and there? Where? I sure can't see it :). I wonder about that flake over grind on the paleo stuff myself with some of the perfect blades they made. This whole knapping thing is like a life journey it seems. You can spend months or years working on one little aspect like symetry, platform prep, angle's, yada yada ;D. Just keep on learning and sharing - that's the fun of it all..
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Very nice. Boy you guys are sure good
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Love the scars and that is a beautiful point. There used to be an old timer named Tinsky form Rock Springs Wyoming. He had a collection of over 10 thousand artifacts. He had several he screened out of an overhang that were unfinished Scotts Bluffs. You could see how they ground them down before pressure flaking. I think that was some of the early flake over grind. I only try to make my hunting points as close to the same weight as possible, but every thing else is just what I can find hiding in there! They must have had lots of time and patience to make those kind of points. Good job! Joe