Flint Knapping

Introduction Our ancestors have used stone tools longer than any other type of tool to date. I cover the history of stone tool use throughout human history and across many different continents in a brief blog which I will link here if you are curious or need to more clarification. Even though many people are

Introduction For those who have found ancient artifacts (such as I), one is typically amazed by the thinness and interesting flake removal patterns on the artifacts. I for one was very impressed with the sharpness of the triangular point despite all of the natural wear and tear that the wind, rain and snow had done

Introduction A month or two ago, while I was listening to the radio before bed I overheard my local NPR station talk about an observation made by scientists/archeologists regarding the creation of stone flakes by monkeys and how they seem to be similar to the flakes that they find at our old sties. Since I

Introduction There are a variety of ways that humans have learned to  shape knappable rock into tools throughout history, but the more “traditional”/”native” styles are referred to as “abo” knapping (short for aboriginal). The aboriginal style entails the use of natural materials that you can typically find in the woods off of animals or in

Introduction Flint-knapping is a general term used to describe the act of shaping various silica based rocks into usable tools and art. It involves using hard objects such as rock, antler, bone, wood, and various other metals such as copper and iron to name a few to hit the stone and remove flakes of material.