Flint knapping is the process of
making stone tools (i.e. arrowheads, projectile points, hand axes, etc.).
The ancient art of flint knapping has been around for about 4 millions
years. Flint knapping has evolved as man has evolved. And it
was not until recently that man quit knapping for survival purposes.
Only a few small groups of people in remote parts of the world still knap
as part of their daily lives. Flint knapping is a reduction process
because flakes of stone are broken off the of the original piece of stone.
Knappers, both ancient and modern, generally begin knapping a piece of
stone with direct percussion. Direct percussion is accomplished by
directly striking the stone which is to be made into a projectile point,
etc., with a tool, such as a hammerstone or antler billet to remove large
flakes. The purpose of direct percussion is to thin the stone to
the required thickness. Generally, the next step is pressure flaking.
Pressure flaking is achieved by placing a pointed tool, such as an
antler tine or copper-tipped pressure flaker, on the edge of the stone,
and applying an inward pressure to the tool. This pressure will remove
a small, thin flake from the stone. Pressure flaking shapes and refines
the projectile point. Finishing a point can include notching, stemming,
fluting, etc.
You can enter my Flint Knapping
Photo Gallery or choose from the links below. All
pictures were taken for maximum resolution, so the pages may take a little
while to load. Below or next to each piece I have written a description
and listed the measurements for that piece. The measurements were
made in centimeters and converted to inches.
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