Flintknapper
From Free net encyclopedia
A flintknapper is an individual who shapes flint or other stone through the process of knapping or lithic reduction, to manufacture stone tools, strikers for flintlock firearms, or to produce flat-faced stones for building or facing walls.
Knapping is done in a variety of ways depending on the purpose of the final product. For stone tools and flintlock strikers flint is worked using a fabricator, such as a hammerstone, to remove lithic flakes from a nucleus or core of tool stone. Stone tools can then be further refined using wood, bone, and antler tools to perform pressure flaking.
For building work a hammer or pick is used to split flint nodules supported on the lap. Often the flint nodule will be split in half to create two flints with a flat circular face for use in walls constructed of lime. More sophisticated knapping is employed to produce almost perfect cubes which are used as bricks.
In cultures that have not adopted metalworking technologies, the production of stone tools by flintknappers is common, but in modern cultures the making of such tools is the domain of experimental archaeologists and hobbyists. Archaeologists usually undertake the task so that they can better understand how prehistoric stone tools were made.
Flint knapping for the supply of strikers for flintlock firearms was a major industry in flint bearing locations, such as Brandon in Suffolk, England, where flintknappers made strikers for export to the Congo as late as 1947.
Flintknapping for building purposes is still a skill that is practised in the flint bearing regions of Southern England, such as Sussex, Suffolk and Norkolk, and in Northern France, especially Britany and Normandy where there is a resurgence of the craft due to government funding.
For more information on archaeological use, see lithic reduction.
Flintknapping as a hobby
Modern interest in flintknapping can be traced back to the study of a California Native American named Ishi who lived in the early 20th century. Ishi taught scholars and academics traditional methods of making stone tools and how to use them for survival in the wild. In the late 1960s and early 1970s experimental archaeologist Donald Crabtree published texts such as "Experiments in Flintworking". Francois Bordes was an early writer on Old World flintknapping; he experimented with ways to replicate stone tools found across Western Europe. These authors helped to ignite a small craze in flintknapping among archaeologists and prehistorians. Many groups, with members from all walks of life, can be found across the United States and Europe. These organizations continue to demonstrate and teach various ways of shaping stone tools.
External links
- Brandon flintknappers
- Norfolk Flintknappers
- Speartactics.com (Flintknapped items for sale)