Saturday, July 6, 2013

FLINTKNAPPING MAGAZINE AUGUST 2013. VOL.1 NO. 4

 


FLITNKNAPPING MAGAZINE AUGUST 2013. VOL.1  NO. 4

     Doing the FLINTKNAPPING MAGAZINE is a bit harder than I thought. Some folks deliver articles and stuff and are very prompt, other make big promises yet give me nothing. Do to this lack of interest by most of the readers  I am backing it off to every other month. This bimonthly format will give me more time to brown nose people into sending me articles. I tried to do a better job this time to lure in more photo and written contributions. Thank you all to  the kind folks that contributed (  :.
Ray Harwood at  Western Lithics.  figflint@yahoo.com. Find "FLINTKNAPPING MAGAZINE" "WESTERNLITHICS" on FACE BOOK.

FRONT COVER BY ELMER SNAGNASTY
FLITNKNAPPING MAGAZINE AUGUST 2013. VOL.1  NO. 4 Elmer Snagnasty
I have never been so disappointed in my self that I couldn't corral any girls to take any sexy knapping pics and that I couldn't get any glass person to collaborate. but...and this is a pretty lousy consolation (you know compared to what i had in mind) It s a guy showing a kid a point.
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THE ZEN OF FLINTKNAPPING
Ray Harwood
People meditate in many different ways. Zen Buddhism is one of the Chinese teaching that believes in meditation to reach enlightenment. Find your calmness. I smash a rock in a systematic manor.
Zen is an ancient and proven technique to know yourself and manifest your True Nature, which is the nature of enlightenment. It was established 2,500 years ago by the historical Buddha and allows you to learn about yourself by observing your life unfolding from moment to moment without biases.  Flintknapping was established millions of years ago and one uses nature or natural items to express artistic-ness and being one with the stone, hence-one with nature. Concentration and reading the stone and planning moves of the chess game of lithic reduction takes your mind out of your daily reality and you share with the stone and share thoughts that humans have shared in this knapping realm for thousands of generations.  

Truly when I am flintknapping I zone out of the rest of the world, in a paleo-bubble and

 my mind is in the proverbial chess game with the stone. I would like to even the odds by getting a flake over grinding FOB machine, but I have no idea which one to buy or how to use it.  

I, as many flintknappers, have spent a lot of time in marshal arts, the concentration is quite similar and the specific systematic repetitiveness  is present in both. While notching points, closed entry, my focus is so intense that I am nearly in a trance.  Getting ready for a big knap-in and leaving at the butt crack of dawn is nirvana, an excitement that brings me back to when I was a kid going fishing or hunting with my dad.   
 

When I find a really nice knapping rock or when I am ordering lithic material online I am like Marcos buying a new pair of shoes, even when she has 10,000 pairs already, it like a drug. When a box of rocks, which I am dumber than, comes in the mail, I am  like a little kid at Christmas! YAY! It is so exciting. My personal favorite is a type of silver sheen called "dragon skin", from Glass Buttes, Oregon.  I love the black and olive green flow patterns and the slight hint of shinning silver glitter in there. I truly think the patterns in the stone are a fingerprint of god and nature, and it is important to pay homage to the stone by making something wonderful and do not waste any.  

Everyone has their favorite thing; horses, guitars, banjos, turnips, body building, getting fake boobs put in,  I like some of these things too, but I am addicted to flintknapping and rocks. So with pen in hand (keyboard), I set forth another week end in search of the perfect rock to help me to reach enlightenment!     





 
KNAP-INS I DID GO
The amazing "green blanket knap-in"  located in Lander Wyoming was wonderful. we met up with  fellow flintknapping folks like Larry and Mona Averrit and Jim Shipley. The event was hosted by Burr and Chancy Garretson. There  was a wonderful  atl atl competition in which Tristan took first place in the youth and Newt took third in the men's compition , it was very exciting and we all had a great time. Tristan met a really great friend named Jessica, and our weeinie dog Henry feel in love with a black poodle. A wonderful time was had by all in Wyoming.

Then we attended the "Illahee knapping" in Illahee  Flats, Oregon. The event was hosted by gem point flintknapper, Jim Hopper. It was a very  interesting and entertaining knap-in. Oregon is a beautiful place for a knap in, and there is lots of obsidian there!. we were there 3 days, then we went to the kind house spent 2 days there and that was a lot of fun. Then off too glass buttes to dig  obsidian for 6 glorious days. It was  hot and dirty but we mined lots of Obsidian and Emory came and helped us. Then we went too Burns too Visit Emory for awhile. After Emory's visit it was   home.org ..was a great time. We certainly enjoyed seeing everyone and look forward to seeing them all again soon..thanks for your help Emory!!!!!!!

 

DOG VALLEY DICK DAGGER
 
WOWZERS! AWSOME DAGGER BY DOG VALLEY DICK!
 

 
Elmer Snagnasty

Knapping in the Age of Novelty This is a feeble attempt at trying to transcend knapping for the sake of lithic replication. What is popular then is still popular now, but the points made now are popular because they appear similar the ancient points. Some people can find exotic materials, some people can grind the exactly convexity in their material to ensure that each flake runs from edge to edge creating beautiful parallel ripple flakes. Some people can flake and notch into the points with exact precision. Some people can stitch their points back and fourth like the Danish. Some people can flake on one side and polish the back side like the Egyptians. Some people can Drill through the points and knap from the center outwards. Some people can knap the shape of a point out from inside the point so is looks like a point within a point. Some people can mix metals with glass and other knappable materials.
What the Point? Well, if you consider that there have already been millions of Dalton points made, millions of Clovis and Folsom and Cumberlands made already, that making one in recent times is an act of copying the Old Masters. This would be similar to a Modern Painter trying to make an exact replica of a Rembrandt or DaVinci. But if you set out to paint like Rembrandt or DaVinci you will only make a worse version. After all, the Davinci used to look horribly modern; it took hundreds of years to develop that sfumato look. It took hundreds of years of people smoking and coughing and fly by boogers and floating dandruff to turn the Mona Lisa from an obnoxious brightly colored Drag Queen to the softened muted toned painting it is today. It didn’t start out beautiful, it became beautiful.
















Picasso is quoted as saying, “Bad Artists copy; good artists steal.” We should be stealing from the past, stealing from each other, stealing from every single culture that ever broke a rock, stealing from their symbols, stealing from our symbols, making up our own and playing with something new. We can collectively dream up new rich and complex creations that are devoid of all function, exist simply for sake of existing, and people will like them, I promise.
The Ancient World was painted in Vibrant Color; now all we see is the weather grey stone and broken white Marble Statues, that once Popped Florescent.
There is nothing written anywhere that says, “The lithic artifacts of the 21st Century looking like: this…” That book has not been written yet. We are still in the process of discover; we are in the process of making new things, things that are fresh and bold and look like a lot like that obnoxious 15th Century Mona Lisa, where the colors are too bright, the painting still smells of turpentine and Da Vinci sweat. But eventually, it will become beautiful.
By Elmer Snagnasty









BY:

Dwayne and Bill  Earnhardt

of Modern Flint knapping

The turtle man!! Bernhiem Forest Kentucky knap-in  with JAKE WEBSTER
20july2013
"Ernie Brown, Jr. (aka the Turtleman) has been diving into murky Kentucky ponds in search of snapping turtles for nearly 40 years. Born and raised in Washington County, Kentucky, he spent his childhood exploring the woods and learning the ways of the animals that occupy them. Turtleman caught his first snapping turtle, a 25-pounder, when he was just seven-years-old, after his father and uncle taught him the risky technique.
Since then, the legend of Turtleman has spread throughout the Blue Grass state and has afforded Ernie a career as an animal rescuer. At the age of 17, he caught his biggest turtle to date, aptly named the "Loch Ness Turtle," a monster snapper weighing close to 55 pounds.
Ernie catches an average of 300 turtles a year and has been injured 33 times. To date, he reckons he's caught over 12,000 turtles.
Prior to devoting all of his time to rescuing and relocating wildlife, Ernie worked an array of hard labor jobs, including cutting boards for whiskey and wine barrels, milking cows and working in construction for nine years. He currently lives off the land deep in the backwoods of Kentucky with his loyal canine companion Lolly"
Turtle man has been on TV for quite some time now, so it was very exciting when he showed up at a Kentucky knap in and bought some  "GHOST POINTS" from flintknapper Jake Webster. Turtleman was kind enough to do some of his signatures posses with Jake for a camera. Then he went off andhad fun with some of the other knappers.
Due to the great response on the pic of Ernie "The Turtleman" Brown Jr., here is another one to enjoy...... I've spent the day trimming 300 inches of spectacular Amethyst Sage Agate and Fancy Jasper. I'll get a pic up on some of it soon............. Dennis at Kentucky Flintworks 

  

After 12 action-packed episodes featuring the bare-handed backwoods animal-trapping skills of "Turtleman" Ernie Brown Jr., Animal Planet announces a second-season order of CALL OF THE WILDMAN, adding 16 brand-new, 30-minute episodes to premiere in summer 2012, including a special to air as part of the recently announced Monster Week this spring. The inaugural season of CALL OF THE WILDMAN delivered an average of nearly 780,000 P2+ viewers and ranks as the most-watched Animal Planet series

I first noticed Jake Webster's gallery on Flintknappers .com in August 2011. His unique designs and different style points immediately caught my eyes. As I have wrote before, I believe that thinking outside of the box and making your own new designs is the nature and a sign of a true artist. This is one of the basic tenants of our philosophy at Modern Flintknapping, thus our motto "Keep Pushing the Boundaries of Flintknapping".
 
In reading his bio on his gallery I seen he credited fellow knapper Ed Mosher as being a big help to him in his knapping development. I am friends with Ed and knew he would be attending the Flint Ridge knapin the following month, so I hoped I could meet Jake there. I meet Ed shortly after arriving at the knapin and he said Jake was coming but I left Ed's booth before Jake arrived. But before I left, someone mentioned in a discussion among several people that Jake was a flintknapping prodigy.
 
The next day while at my booth two guys came up that I did not know and started looking at our table display. I heard one(who turned out to be Aaron Lincoln) refer to the other as "Jake". I asked, are you Jake Webster? He replied yes. I told him I had been admiring his work on his gallery. I also told him that I had heard someone say he was a flintknapping prodigy. Jake seems like a modest person and I think this embarrassed him a little. 
 
 
 
 
Please visit Jake's gallery on www.flintknappers.com and check  out his unique work. 
 
Below is my interview with Jake.
 
I see on your gallery bio that you started knapping when you was 12 yrs. old and you have been knapping for 11 yrs now, do I have this right?      So you are 23 yrs old now?
 
Yes I am currently 23 and been chipping off and on since I was 12. Field flakes with an antler tine at the start, till walking around the Johnny Appleseed festival I saw a knapper. I was appalled by all the precious flint material he had that in my eyes at the time looked more valuable then gold! I watched and watched until my parents grew tired of the monotonous routine, they had to practically drag me away. Before I left this very generous knapper (Who I don't know and remains anonymous in my memory) grabbed a bag and started piling in the flakes at his feet for me! I remember hearing each "tink" as the flakes collided and thought it was a heavenly sound. The main thing that I took away from watching him was he was "beating" the stone with a large antler! I had to improvise. So one day while shooting my bow in the woods where I live. I found an old butter knife and had an "Ah ha!" moment I instantly ran back to the house grabbed my bowl of material and began striking away. Little did I know this was my first time doing percussion work. So like any kid who gets into mischief as did I because as soon as the back end of my improvised "butter knife bopper" would warp or get to chewed up to continue on, I'd go retrieve another. FROM OUR SILVERWARE DRAWER!! haha.. Mom wasn't very pleased about that one .So I waited until I was able to get my first antler billet from an auctioned off knapping kit. I was very excited.
My first drive in making these points was shear fascination and wanting to know how the heck these ancient guys where able to send a flake scar any where and every where on there points. This was all around the same time that I was getting into traditional archery and was always curious if one of these stone points would actually "do the trick", of course since man had been using them for thousands of years there was no doubt in my mind that they were stone hard killers. I then started toying with the idea of wanting to try to haft up a point and actually try. but had no knowledge of where to begin really.. Around age 15 I was able to produce thick, wavy, unstraight points that I was very proud of yet couldn't seem how to thin out my works.. It took me one more whole year just to learn how to do the "thinning" process and it just happened. Flintknapping was on my mind 24/7 I had the "bug" and so it wasn't uncommon for me to wake up in the morning and while laying in bed think of new tactics and avenues of approach in this challenging time. Most ideas ended in frustration and never panned out, but the few that did lead me further down the rabbit hole in getting a little better.
 Photo
And you started out making points to deer hunt with, is this correct?
 
So at age 16 I decided it was time to try to kill my first deer with my 50# Slim Line Red Wing Recurve bow. I made the tough decision to pick out my very best point at the time (which was still VERY primitive) and haft it up. I told myself if i'm going to attempt this the deer is owed my very best point it was the most "ethical" thing to do anyhow when I could have been using a perfect modern steel point. So I used a ban saw to cut up three of the arrows that I put together and cut a slit and hafted them with epoxy and artificial sinew and a few days later there I was opening day of archery season with an Indiana Hornstone flint point arrow knocked.When a 6 point buck came trotting in and stopped 20yds broadside to me, I raised my recurve aimed at his arm pit and let her fly. My arrow landed in its designated parking spot that I assigned for it and that deer bucked fell over and took off running. I COULDN'T believe my eyes! I instantly wanted to go see what happened but waited a grueling 30 minutes. Dad and I looked for blood and found none. I instantly felt sick that my point didn't do the trick.. upon following where I'd seen my deer run towards I found my arrow! about 8 inches of blood on the shaft and the point plus some shaft was missing. I took a few more steps and saw my deer dead in front of me 20 yds up! WOW I was excited! I never did retrieve the point however.
 
You state in your bio that 6 months ago you meet Ed Mosher and Aaron Lincoln and they have helped you improve your flintknapping skills greatly. How did you meet them?   In what ways have they helped you?
 
I met Ed about a year ago at the Johnny Appleseed festival and the battle of 1812 festival. I was 22 at this point and had been entirely self taught only seeing one live knapper when I was a kid. I knew there was still much to learn and just knapping with someone else would greatly help. I watched Ed for awhile and then got a business card from him. I contacted him maybe once every two weeks so I didn't feel like a bother to him and finally asked if I could just come knap with him and get lessons. So Ed was the first other knapper I ever knapped with and I was hooked! He answered so many questions to various things I wanted to do whether by just watching or asking. Upon my departure he gave me a coffee can and bag full of flakes and material. Truly generous. He gave me a contact for Aaron Lincoln who lives in Fort Wayne close to me and since I met him we have been knapping 2 days a week together on average sometimes more or less. Aaron helped me out with learning how to keep my notches from rounding out on me and boosted my confidence in every way! He constanty challenged me to do things I thought way above my skills. But I could never refuse a good challenge and would always strive to meet his request if not that day then I would continue until I achieved what I wanted to achieve. He gave me the skill set to never give up or stop trying.
 
You have many uniquely designed pieces that I would like to ask you about. Basically my questions for all of them is what is your inspiration for your point designs, do you go through a process to develop these designs or do they just come to you?
 
First, are the "ghost" points, these were the first to catch my eye on your gallery. You have several variations of them, snyders, corner, heart, and an eccentric. Where did you get the idea for these?
 
Typically my thought process in designing my points is what would turn heads. I want to get attention and known among my fellow knappers and I'm not going to get that making the same thing every one else makes. So I came up with the "Ghost" point and label each with my name so that I have something out there that is somewhat original to me. Like a signature point in the knapping community. I learned how to do this point style while knapping with Aaron over the winter and fell in love with notching points mainly because I just learned and was still learning how to get them deep. Aaron challenged me to make a fish hook like one he made and I raced to start. I broke so many of those little things and frustration had sunk in.. UNTIL I learned what I was doing wrong. Little did I know that just the slightest torque or bending force you put on a point will snap it every time and thats what I was doing to these hooks! So I grabbed a paint stirring stick cut it to match my leather pad and was able to start cranking out fish hooks! This hollowing out process became very fun to me when the idea hit me. Could this work on a point? with notches?? I don't know how many casualties of nice points I lost through this learning and developing process but it was worth it.
The "Ghost" point style ideas just came through wanting to challenge myself because every time I do I learn immensely.
 
You also have some small eccentric points, the "watchyamacullit" and the flint ridge point. Is eccentrics some of your favorites?

I love doing eccentrics because they allow me to be creative in any way I want. Nobody can tell me that its wrong like they might if I were going for a replica. Its my own design and they are all almost totally original. That's why I would encourage EVERY flintknapper to try some eccentric work. You will learn a lot the more you do. It helps you understand the stone better because your being challenge more and have less room for error. That means you must be more precise and actually have meaning to why and how you take each flake. Every flintknapper is different and there work is different, no two knappers knap alike, thats why sometimes you can just see a point and say thats a "Mosher" or thats a "Lincoln" etc.. detail is key! Go the extra mile to make it look how you want it. take chance hits your work will show the extra love and pride put in and you might just surprise yourself with what you can do!
 
You do some animal effigy pieces such as an eagle and buffalo. I really like that you do some designs that aren't in a point design. Have you done other types of animals and any ideas for future ones?
 
I have done several animals sharks, buffalos, eagles, wolves, bears, indian heads, turtles and even a perched bird. They are time consuming but fun because of the amount of detail required. 
 
Other point designs that I like are the deep notched point, rocket point, crusaders shield and the neat pendant. Any comments on these points?
 
The "rocket" point is my newest favorite. I love the intricate sleek design and thoroughly have fun doing the fine work involved. I love deep notching as well because it keeps challenging me and my skills brushed up!
 
You also take some old artifact designs and add your artistic flair to them, such as the sallisaw, lake eerie, columbia and texas duran. Do you like to "amp up" old artifact designs?
 
Yes I love to "Amp" them up! I feel it adds a little modern in with the old and think it just adds that extra touch to my work. I know that my work doesn't and wont please every one, but as long as each piece appeals to me then im still having fun with my knapping. I find it very fun to push the boundaries of traditional points as well as modern styles. its good to do a little of everything.   
 
As a side note, I find it very interesting that Jake and my father have similar stories as far as how they taught themselves to knap at a young age and went years without any contact with any other knappers. I believe this helps a person to always think outside of the box in their future flintknapping endeavors, because they had to think this way while trying to learn on their own. 
 
I want to thank Jake for doing this interview with us here at The Modern Flintknapper


  Ray,
 I just want to let you know that, last year, I believe
 I figured out how the Sweetwater Biface, and some similar
 blades from the Old World Paleolithic were made.
 Currently, I have heard that there is a flintknapper who is
 using a variation of the technology that I predicted was
 used to create such

   bifaces.   This particular
 flintknapper previously made videos on replicating the
 Sweetwater biface, via direct percussion.  But, he now has
 found that he can produce thinner bifaces via indirect
 percussion.  The form of indirect percussion involves
 placing the biface on a padded anvil, holding the flaker

 horizontally, like a pressure flaker, and striking down on
 the it.  This produces large spanning thinning flakes.  If
 the flaker has a wide end, such as a basal flaker, then the
 flakes, and flake scars, are wider.  If the flaker has a
 narrow end, or is a tine tip, then the flakes, and flake
 scars, are narrower, and have smaller initiations.
  In thinning a piece like a large biface,
 the knapper can first remove the larger flakes, with a
 thicker flaker, and then switch to to a smaller tine flaker
 to remove smaller flakes, near the tip, and in isolated
 spots.  The reason that a padded anvil is used is because
 of the size of the biface.

 But, if the biface was small enough to fit in one's
 hand, then the knapper could simply hold it on the palm of
 his hand, while a second person struck the flaker.  This
 technology, involving the anvil (or hand), and a flaker
 struck on the broad side, I believe was most clearly
 explained by Cushing, during the end of the 19th
 century.  Unfortunately, Cushing appears to have been
 ignored by many leading European researchers - the same ones
 who formulated most of what was taught about lithics, in
 universities, and among academics. 

    Also, modern flintknappers have a very
 difficult time understanding why a basal flaker would
 be used, rather than a "baton".  What they do
 not understand is that by using indirect percussion, the
 shock - and vibrations - created by the blow, are greatly
 reduced.  This allows for the creation of larger, intact
 blades, and for creating thinner bifaces, that do not snap
 during production.
  I am convinced that American aboriginal
 knappers were thinking about various types of rock, and
 various types of flaking processes, when they worked
 stone.  I believe that large bifaces, like the Sweetwater
 biface, were made from very large unifacial spalls.  These
 flat surfaces can be worked via the indirect percussion
 process, that I had mentioned, because there is far less
 bulbing with the indirect percussion process, and the flakes
 tend to run flatter.  Still, if a person did not know that
 a uniface was used, rather than a true biface, then any
 remnant flat spots would appear to resemble the flat spots
 found on ground preforms.  My prediction is that these
 were actually large unifacial spalls, that were
 already quite thin.  The purpose of using such a unifacial
 spall would be to utilize the best portion of the lithic
 material, which is typically right under the cortex.
 And, since the the spalls are already quite thin, the
 knapper only needs to flake the surface off, in order to
 produce a large blade.  With freehand indirect percussion,
 this would probably be almost impossible, given that
 a large unifacial surface spall would be difficult to hold,
 by hand.  But, by using a padded anvil, and a horizontal
 punch flaker, the knapper would be able to operate with much
 greater control, with the least amount of stone
 movement.

     Anyway, this is information
 that no one really knows.  And, the only reason that I
 know is because I studied the records of early observers,
 for a number of years, until I was able to track down
 variations of this technology that had been either fully
 recorded, or alluded to, by probably over a half
 a dozen observers, in the Americas.  Also, some of the
 flintknappers independently invented the "between the
 knees" punch flaker method, which is similar to the
 anvil/punch flaker method that was observed by various
 American observers.  The problem with the "between the
 knees" method is that the knee tends to move, when the
 flaker is struck, whereas a double block anvil of wood, or
 padded stone, cannot move, at all.  I tried to explain this
 to people in the flintknapping crowd, since these
 movements can be seen on video.  But, they refused to
 listen.  The other problem with the between the knees
 method - which some of them have even admitted - is that
 their initiations do not look quite right.  Oftentimes, the
 initiations are overly bulbed.  The reason why is because
 they are propping the end of the punch tool on the platform,
 and pressing together with their legs.  The problem is that
 this creates a scenario where the end of the punch tool
 "bites" into the edge, too much, due to leg
 pressure, and punch angle, and punch shoulder contour.
 They cannot master the light hold, or the hold just above
 the platform, that had been described by Cushing, because
 leg pressure is being used to hold the punch in place.  For
 this reason, the initiations are frequently overly bulbous,
 and look "inaccurate", according to some.  Again,
 I have tried to explain this to the flintknapping community,
 while trying to point out why the padded anvil is better
 than the "between the

 knees hold".  They simply do not listen.  But, I have
 heard that one knapper appears to now be using the padded
 anvil method that I predicted would work the best, and his
 thinnest Sweetwater biface replications are better
 than what he previously created with direct percussion.
 So, eventually, the flintknapping community will probably
 take notice.

    Also, the rationale behind the technology is
 so simple, that everyone should understand it.  In fact, I
 have let Mexicans help me with my flintknapping.  And,
 within a very short time, they have a full grasp of the
 indirect percussion flaking processes, simply by
 observation.  If we had a group of teenage knappers who
 only used pressure flaking, and one of the teenage knappers
 asked the others how he might be able to flake the stone,
 and create larger flakes, with his pressure flaker, someone
 else might say, "Well, why don't you strike the
 flaker, instead of pressing the

 flaker."  At that moment the light would come on, and
 the teenage knapper would grab his flaker, and biface, hold
 it in pressure flaking position.  Then, he would tell his
 buddy to strike down on the flaker, maybe with a stick. The
 strike would produce a flake much larger, and longer, than a
 typical pressure flake.  In other respects, the flake would
 look very similar - if not almost identical, since the same
 tool was employed - a deer tine.  The concept of
 "upgrading" from a manual press, to a manual blow,
 is so simple, and so easy to grasp, that it should be
 child's play, to anyone who sees the processes carried
 out.  I have seen Mexicans watch the process, and perfectly
 grasp every minute detail of the process, within a week of
 helping me.  Even a Mexican, with zero knowledge of
 flintknapping, can rapidly learn the entire process, to the
 point that he can improve on various details of the
 process, such as platform thickness, etc.  But, if you
 show the process to some of the "world's leading
 flintknappers", they remain mute, and act mystified.

  Well, the problem is that what I just
 explained is the ABC underlying fundamentals of the
 process.  So, if a person cannot understand it (even though
 a non-knapper can figure it out, simply by watching), then
 the person has no way to proceed to understand how all the
 rest of the variations actually

 work - which makes it impossible to understand various
 recorded accounts of Native American knapper.  In my case,
 I not only understand the underlying process, but I now can
 understand how many variations work, in various
 contexts.

    In my opinion, the biggest problem in the
 flintknapping movement, is that people do not want
 to think.  They want to follow something
 "monkey-see,
   monkey-do" style.  As far as I can tell, this
 approach is the product of the Industrial Revolution.
 A wrench is used for "A".  A screwdriver is
 used for

   "B".  A hammer is used for "C".
 This hyper-linear approach, when applied to understanding
 prehistoric flintknapping, is so wrong, on so many levels,
 that the flintknapping community never understands that it
 is hamstringing itself, over and over again, in terms
 of understanding prehistoric lithic
 technologies.  The approach is the approach of a modern
 mechanic, from the Industrial Revolution era.  Along the
 same lines, flintknappers cook stone like crazy, to make it
 "workable".  They do not understand that
 variations of different processes, which are going
 unrecognized, is what was used to work stone.  In
 other words, prehistoric knappers thoughtfully modified
 various flaking in order to work various grades of stone.
 In doing so, prehistoric knappers were able to retain the
 original tensile strength of the stone, which led to long
 tool life.  In comparison, modern knappers destroy a
 stone's inherent tensile strength, through massive
 cooking in commercial kilns, in order to make it

   "workable".  In some cases, the
 stone becomes so brittle that it could be chipped with
 one's fingernails, while the mantra is, "All that
 matters is a finished point"
 My conclusion is that aboriginal lithic technologies cannot
 be directly understood, via modern flintknapping.  My
 conclusion is that it is only when modern flintknapping is
 strictly designed to follow known anthropological data, that
 we can begin to get a picture as to what went on, in the
 realm of ancient/aboriginal flintknapping.
  Take
 care, Ben   
 
 



made at the Ron Fuller memorial Knap-in
Anthony Raimondi Yellville, ARK
 
Anthony Raimondi Yellville, ARK
Anthony Raimondi Yellville, ARK 2013 World Notching Champion!!!
 

Marion Fillancq, female French flintknapper.


Marion Fillancq
Marion Fillancq's
knapping tool.

Marion Fillancq's biface potato head






CHRIS NICHOLS


Two little Agee points
CHRIS NICHOLS, AGEE POINTS




made yesterday









wrote:
Hey Ray,

Here is the edge to edge article. I am having problems attaching the pictures to this email so i will send them in another email as attachments. In the article is say "below are some pictures" so i guess you could add the pictures at the bottom of the article.

If you have any suggestions for this article, let me know. It is fairly short because there isn't alot i can say without saying stuff that may sound arrogant.
The ultimate goal at Modern Flintknapping is "Keep Pushing the Boundaries of Flintknapping". By this, we mean to convey that we believe it is good for flintknappers to develop new designs, techniques and ideas in flintknapping which encourages a flintknapper to explore their artistic ability and flair.





With this in mind, Bill Earnhardt developed a new and different type of edge to edge flaking. Bill's edge to edge flaking is parallel in contrast to the traditional type of edge to edge flaking seen in Type 1C Danish daggers which is oblique. There are only a handful of modern flintknappers that I know of that have ever accomplished edge to edge flaking and as far as I am aware of their edge to edge flaking has always been made with oblique flakes.







Below are some pictures of example of Bill's parallel edge to edge flaking in knife blades and dagger. There are also short videos for much better viewing on our YouTube channel. Here are the direct links to the videos 























We are not in anyway trying to diminish anyone doing traditional flintknapping work or who does replication of traditional types of flintknapping. Actually, contrary to that, I enjoy many types of traditional pieces and specifically I appreciate traditional oblique edge to edge flaking very much.








 
 

PSK Knappers,

When I was asked to take over the responsibility for publishing the Puget Sound Newsletter ‘SPALLS’ and decided that the addition of a PSK website could/would help get the word out, I didn’t want the website to be my website but to be the PSK member’s website.  Members support, contributions and participation were the keys to a successful PSK website.
The same concept should govern the efforts towards a Western Regional Knap-in – it should be organized and run by and for the knappers of the West.  How we do this has been a question in my mind for some time.  I’ve given it a fair amount of thought and will throw out a suggestion – create an advisory group from the various knapping associations/key players in the west  along the lines of the PSK Council of Elders.  Recipients of this email would make up the core of this group.
I’ve come to this point in the planning process due to the interest the Western Regional Knap-in has generated within the PSK.  Along with the strong interest have come some questions brought up within our ‘Council of Elders’(COE) as to how we’ll run the knap-in.  For those that may not know, the Puget Sound Knappers Association has no leader (no president, chief, CEO, etc).  Instead we rely upon the advice and guidance of twelve of our most respected members (see http://www.pugetsoundknappers.com/about_us/about_us.html).  They not only determine what goes into our newsletter ‘SPALLS’, but the content of our website.  They have also established ‘Puget Sound Knappers Knap-in Best Practices Guide to help host/potential hosts conduct a knap-in.
Anyway, back to the question that has been raised within the PSK COE – how will ‘we’ conduct the Western Regional Knap-in vis-à-vis PSK Knap-in?  The members of our council would like to see the key features of PSK knap-ins included in the Western Regional Knap-in.  These basic features of our knap-in go back twenty years and are pretty much taken for granted by our members.   Suffice to say that there would be a high correlation between attendance and ‘features’.These ‘features’ are as follows (along with comments):

 

1.  Free admission/open to the public  - charging admission would substantially reduce if not eliminate participation by PSK members.  We have ALWAYS more than covered the cost through voluntary donations.

2.  Free knappable rock (host, co-host provided) – PKS members will contribute

3.  Free instruction - members do not charge for providing lessons at a PSK Knap-in (pointless as PSK members will provide free instruction regardless of policy)

4.  Free loaner tools (hosts and members provide) -  PSK members can/will provide  

5.  Free safety  glasses and gloves (hosts and members provide)  PSK members can/will

6.  One  free Potluck Dinner - Host provides entrée – TBD (host council will provide entrée???)

 

Recipients of this email/Western Regional Knap-in Planning Group:

 

Jim Keffer – PSK (I’ve received authorization from the PSK COE to act in their behalf)

Ray Harwood – Bakersfield Knappers

Gary Pickett -  Bakersfield Knappers

Bo Earls – Utah Valley Knappers





Dino Labiste – California Knappers



Tom Dodge – Arizona (PSK)



Jim Winn – Nevada - independent 



Sincerely, 



James C. Keffer aka ‘Reefer’


Proud Member of the Puget Sound Knappers AssociationChief – PSK Clan of the Ooga Booga Tribe OogaBooga




Publisher – SPALLS, Official Newsletter of the PSK










The Volgu Replica

 

BY:

Dwayne and Bill  Earnhardt

of Modern Flint knapping








This Volgu replica is 11.63 inches long and 3.2 inches wide, it is .26 inches thick at the thickest point with an average diameter of .25 inches. It has a standard W/T ratio of 12.3/1 and average W/T ratio of 10.2/1. The average W/T is lower due to the shape and size of the Volgu artifact blade itself.(not being as wide throughout the length of the blade).

The Volgu artifact itself(also pictured) is 13.75 inches long, 3.4 inches wide and "slightly over" .25 inches in diameter. If you use .25 inches this gives it a stand W/T ratio of 13.6/1. We have no way to figure an average diameter or average W/T ratio because there is no cast available of the blade. The problem lies in the "slightly over" part, because if the blade is actually .27 inches thick, that slight difference brings the W/T down to 12.6/1, right in line to our current replica. This is an example of why precise measurements are needed when figuring W/T ratios. Here is a good link to learn more about the Volgu and see more pictures. http://www.lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-pages/2008januarysolutreanpage1.htm Here is a link to some other pictures I recently found http://paleobox.forumactif.com/ou-voir-des-originaux-f12/les-feuilles-de-laurier-de-volgu-t241.htm

UPDATE: I have learned there is actually a cast of the Volgu which can be purchased from someone in France, although it is very expensive. My friend Jim Winn has purchased the cast and although it is thin, it isn't a thin as the Sweetwater. Hopefully in the future I will have the opportunity to measure the Volgu cast.
 


 



NEOLITHICS

 

"Neolithics is a company that deals with top of the line customers from all over the world. We have participated in the research of obsidian for surgical scalpels to being featured in prestigious museums and galleries. Along with numberous awards for excellence, artisan Craig Ratzat has established a place in the flintknappers's "Hall of Fame". His fascination with this art form has spanned a period of approximately forty years.

 

It all began at the age of six when finding an arrowhead in his parent's garden. It was the start of a long journey that took him from terrorizing his sisters with makeshift bow and arrow to working with some of the best teachers of flint knapping available. Craig is now one of those teachers himself. He has produced two very successful DVD's and teaches workshops throughout the year."
 







LEAKY- AFRICA: For many of my generation, it was the fabulous National Geographic specials that forged out interest in archaeology and flintknapping. It was a large gray haired man with a South African acfcent and a Britsh Leland Land Rover. It was Dr. Luis Leaky. Dr Leaky was born near Nairobi, Kenya. His parents were missionaries there in Kenya and young Louis grew up along side children of the Kkuyu tribe. He learned early the knowledge of primative skills, including flint working. Dr. Leakey went to cambridge University, majoring in Anthropology. Leaky landed a job on an international archaeological mission to Tanzia as soon as he graduated. Luis Married Mary in 1936. During WWII Leaky was a spy. It was 1949 when Leaky discovered the first Proconsul skull, a missing link. Dr. Leaky did many television specials for National Geographic and often incruded flintknapping and use of the stine tools. Dr. Luis Leaky died at age 69 of a heart attack. Ray Harwood (Flintknapping Digest 1984)
Antiquity Vol 82 Issue 318 December 2008 Louis Leakey: man and myth Julie Lawrence Louis Leakey in the early 1950s. Photograph courtesy of Meave Leakey.Louis Leakey's pioneering life is wrapped in folklore. His astonishing success in finding major fossils demonstrating human evolution was attributed to 'Leakey's Luck'. His wife, Mary Leakey, is often regarded as the talented excavator of the partnership, a view mentioned in many of my interviews with archaeologists. However, attributing Louis�s achievements to good fortune and implying that Mary was the only talented excavator undermines the true intelligence and real determination that drove Louis Leakey�s own career. Unpublished field reports, personal correspondence and official records held at St John�s College Archives and at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge tell us that, as a young man, Leakey was greatly valued for his hard-won, pragmatic, field expertise and skill. The fact that, in his later collaborative work with Mary, he took the role of fund-raiser and public figure has overshadowed his own earlier proven ability as an archaeologist. As an undergraduate, in 1924, Louis Leakey took a year away from his studies for health reasons. Because of his intimate knowledge of the environment, people and language of East Africa, he was chosen to participate in an expedition with the British Museum of Natural History. Reports by Jack Driberg and Wynfrid Duckworth, held at St John�s College, acknowledge the advantages that Leakey�s previous knowledge and childhood association with East Africa gave to his anthropological work. The leader of the expedition, William Cutler, left the responsibility of practical arrangements, such as securing the water supply and camp equipment, to Leakey. Cutler noted in his diary, 'Leakey very low with malaria, temperature 104; Leakey still has malarial symptoms . . . but he superintended ditches 4, 5 and 6 all day' (Cutler as quoted in Morell 1995: 31). While Leakey benefited from the experience of running an expedition, Cutler was fortunate to have his practical awareness of the provisions needed in Africa as well as Leakey�s ability to endure arduous conditions while working productively. In 1926, at the age of 22, Leakey embarked as leader of his own East African Archaeological Expedition. Field reports and correspondence sent to the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology reveal that Leakey was a capable excavator, field worker, organiser and fund-raiser. This was in part due to the initiative he took to teach himself, acting upon his interests and investigating allied subjects such as geology. From the very beginning, he also demonstrated an impressive knowledge of lithic typology and technology. For example, in his November 1928 field report, Leakey analysed the assemblages from six different sites to address the then topical idea of migration of races and their associated industries. And, in three months of 1929 alone, he sent a total of 148 cases of specimens home to England. In the St John�s College Referees' report on Leakey�s Fellowship dissertation in 1928, Haddon wrote a glowing report describing Leakey as 'an efficient field geologist, a well-trained archaeologist, well able to tackle a problem in technology, and, unexpectedly, he has shown that he is a competent craniologist'. On the basis of his first two East African Archaeological Expeditions, Leakey was one of the first in Britain to be awarded the newly instituted PhD degree. Before 1935, he successfully led another two expeditions. On the fourth expedition, Leakey invited the established geologist Percy Boswell to inspect sites at Kanam and Kanjera where he had found fossils that were exciting scientific interest in Europe. Unfortunately, due to circumstances that were largely out of Leakey�s control, Boswell returned with a negative report. He published a damning article in Nature regarding the accuracy of Leakey�s archaeological methods (Boswell 1935). Boswell�s influence tainted Leakey�s reputation as an archaeologist for years afterwards. This may be the origin of the myth that Leakey was a careless excavator. However, Boswell did not work in the vast, uncharted landscape of East Africa where it was extremely difficult to distinguish and to mark securely a specific spot. Further consideration of the conditions surrounding this incident suggest that Leakey may have been judged unfairly. It would seem that previous biographical work and commonly-held views do not reflect the complexity and quality of Leakey�s character and abilities. Leakey�s skill as a young archaeologist has not been fully recognised. The usual perception of a man who was not patient or meticulous enough to be a dedicated, detailed excavator is undeserved. Leakey took on immense research projects early in his career and saw them to fruition. The folklore surrounding Leakey's life fails to portray the more enlightening reality. References BOSWELL, P.G.H. 1935. Human remains from Kanam and Kanjera, Kenya Colony. Nature 135: 371. LAWRENCE, J. 2008. Louis Leakey at Cambridge and beyond: 1925–1935. Unpublished MPhil thesis, LCHES, University of Cambridge. MORELL, V. 1995. Ancestral passions: the Leakey family and the quest for humankind�s beginnings. New York: Simon & Schuster. Authors Julie Lawrence History of Archaeology Research Network, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge The International Flintknappers ‘ Hall of Fame and Museum is encouraging individuals of all ages to “Be A Superior Example,” through a new education program as part of a new curriculum to promote healthy habits, while encouraging everyone to live free of drugs and other such substances or vices. It serves as the central point for the study of the history of flintknapping in the United States and beyond, displays flintknapping-related artifacts and exhibits, and honors those who have excelled in the craft, research/ writing, promoting events, and serving the knapping community in an ethical and wilderness loving manner.

<
Thanks for the update.  I want to make a few points that may help the people who you are communicating with.  First, it appears that Grace Nicholson did do a full documentary on Orcutt's method, at least the part done at his workshop.  So, tracking down her documentation might be more productive than following the work of Kroeber, and others. 

Also, in the .pdf the author uses Goddard's description of a Hupa tool kit, from the early 1900's.  In my opinion, this description is incomplete, because it lacks the "pitching tool", that was recorded by Ray, among the Hupa, during the 1880's, and was later confirmed by Mason, during the 1890's.  The known use of the "pitching tool" also appears to have been confirmed, among the Yana, by Sapir, in 1910, through an orally recorded tribal myth.  And, the pitching tool was featured, as part of the Hupa's arrowmaking kit, at the Columbian Historical Exposition, I believe in 1895.  So, I do not think that the description, given by Goddard, in 1903, is as complete as the references, starting with Ray.  Also, during the 1880's, Ray wrote that no one under the age of forty could make stone tools.  By the early 1900's Goddard would have been more disconnected than Ray, because another twenty years had elapsed.      

Thanks for the information, and keep up the good work.  Maybe, we will be able to find out exactly how these tools were used.  Hopefully, there will be some archaeological link to the past.  Do you know whether any large antler plug like tools are known from the archaeological record, in the obsidian bearing areas, of the Northwest? 

Ben
 
 
 
 
 Children of Many Colors Powwow
BY: CORINA ROBERTS
 
 Gary Pickett is an excellent FLINTKNAPPING teacher. He has the gift of teaching and has a lot of patience with us,” said Jim Boatman, 65, of Tehachapi.
Pickett’s interest in flintknapping came more than 20 years ago when he began finding old arrowheads in the creeks of southern Missouri where he grew up. He was fascinated by the arrowheads and thought he could make them himself.
“I just started beating two rocks together,” said Pickett, 48, who moved to Bakersfield in 1997.
It was five years of trial and error before he made much progress, but moving to Bakersfield and meeting Harwood through a flintknapping Web site helped both of them progress faster. They decided to meet every month and work on rocks, but didn’t expect for the small group to grow like it did. Gary has been knapping at the Moorpark Children of Many Colors Powwow  for many years. Each year he makes a rainbow obsidian biface of enormous size and auctions it off for hundreds of dollars and donates the proceeds to the powwow. Over the years Gary has donated many thousands of dollars.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Katianna Warren, Fancy Shawl Dance, Eagle and Condor Powwow 2013


 An Indian Princess. It sounds like a fairy tale. But there are princesses today, and they are role models for their peers and sources of pride and inspiration for their communities.

Katianna Warren of the Navajo Nation will don a crown and sash in July. She will be the first ever Redbird powwow princess. She will be introduced to the arena as a prin...cess just before Grand Entry on Saturday, July 20 at the Children of Many Colors Powwow. As she dances around the arena, her family and friends will accompany her, following behind her, proud and exuberant.
Katianna is 14 years old. She dances fancy shawl in the Navajo style, which is a bit more reserved than the way many young women dance; there is a sense of dignity and modesty executed that characterizes the way young Navajo women are expected to carry themselves in society.

As a princess, Katianna will represent the Children of Many Colors Powwow everywhere that she goes in the Native American community. More importantly, she will represent the Navajo Nation and the Native American community by participating in powwows and other events, and through that commitment, Katianna will learn things. She will learn many of the songs and dances that are a part of gatherings and ceremonies, because she will be expected to participate fully whenever possible and appropriate. She will learn the unique culture of the California powwow circle and she will be introduced to many new friends.

Being a "powwow princess" is more than a crown and a sash. It is a way of recognizing the potential of a young woman in her community, as well as he character and accomplishments. It is both acknowledgement and encouragement. For Katianna, we hope this will be the first of many crowns. We hope that she will gain the recognition of the Native American community and beyond, so that this will open doors for her, particularly as she forms her educational goals.

Finally, we are very excited that Johnny Nieto, Tule River Yokuts, our head man dancer in 2012 who graduated this May from Moorpark College, will lead the grass dancers out in front of Katianna. They won't have a lot of tall, unruly grass to beat down...they will be clearing the spiritual path for her, making good the ground that she dances on, taking their historical role seriously and in a meaningful way.

Congratulations, Katianna. We will be supporting you on this very special day, and we will stand by your side as you go through your life.
 
Katianna Warren



This is Katianna Warren (think flintknapper Matt Ashmore and Cydnee Ashmore and she will be the first ever powwow princess at the 2013 Children of Many Colors Powwow.
 
 

 

 

  • THE SPECIAL KNIFE By Ray Harwood
      I have collected obsidian points on a fairly small scale, both ancient and modern made. My interest took hold when I was just a small boy deer hunting with my family, in the Heaven that was Monache, in the Southern Sierra. I learned to make small arrowheads of glass and flint and have enjoyed the hobby all my life. Eventually I met others that shared my interest in flintknapping and became part of an ever-growing subculture. Knappers have their own newsletters, websites, books stores and so on. An anthropologist, Dr. John Whitaker, even penned a book about us.

      When I was just a kid, I can remember the news showing death tolls in Viet Nam, it was shocking to me, an I can remember when one of the neighbor kids came up on the list. He lived down the street; he was a snake collector and used to take delight in scaring us kids by caring his favorite snake around the hood. At the time there was another young soldier fighting over there whom later became a good friend of mine, Ross Dieffenbaucher .


      Ross was an avid hunter, some say obsessed! I am proud to say I have entered the field of hunt with Ross several times and he indeed lived up to his nick name “Rambo”. Ross was one of those folks that would drop whatever he was doing and come and give you a hand if you need one. I remember onetime I bought my wife an oak book case with a glass door , it took three fellows at the shop some heavy grunts to get that sucker in my truck, I called Ross to help me unload the thing at home, to my surprise, Ross was in my drive-way awaiting my arrival when I turned on my street. I got out of my truck and was met by Ross’s booming voice and hearty laugh. You could hear Ross laugh a mile away! I went to open the front door and when I turned around Ross had the thing in a bear hug and was single handly haulin' it in.


      I worked with Ross for many years and we spend every morning, five or six days a week, getting ready for our days duties and we related our day’s trials to each afternoon before heading home. Ross had done his time here at work and was getting ready for retirement. H bought a nice Dodge truck from a salvage vendor and had fixed it up very nicely and painted it competition yellow.

      He was getting ready to sell his Bakersfield home and move to a ranch in the wilds of Oregon. One day he said to me; “Ray ya know I always wanted one of them red and black obsidian knives with the antler handle, make me one fer my retirement”, I of course said Ok! I set out on a quest for the perfect stone, it was getting near and I had yet to find it. One afternoon I stopped in to see my friend Roy at Rosie’ s Rock Shop on 19th St. I was telling Roy about the knife I planned to make and he paused “just a dog gone minute Ray” , Roy went into the back room and came back with a fiery red piece of mahogany obsidian with lighting shapes of black streaking through it. I traded Roy some arrowheads I had chipped for the rock and was headed home.


      One of my downfalls is that I am very sloppy and inpatient with the way I proceed on a lot of matters, (writing) especially my flintknapping. This time I took my time and carefully crafted a beautiful blade, well planned out, perfect in symmetric and pattern. I aligned the flake scar patterns to enhance the natural colors and patterns of the stone.
      I scanned the many deer antler racks dangling precariously from my garage walls until I found the perfect handle. I took the antler and carefully cut and trimmed the perfect handle. I inserted the blade carefully in the handle with some tar and the knife was complete.

      The day came for Ross’s retirement party and I was gitty as a school boy waiting for him to open the gift I had so carefully wrapped. Ross was in charge of the barbeque, as always and the air was filled with wood smoke and Ross’s infectous laughter. There were quite a few folks there at the party we were having quite a time there at the park. Finely Ross was opening his gifts and he picked up the neatly rapped little box I had so carefully coveted for so long, “I know what I hope this is”, said Ross with a smile. He carefully opened the box and slid out the knife. He loved the knife and we shared a moment of elation. I was so proud of having pleased the one whom had done so much for me over the years I was intoxicated with pride. Ross sat up on his haunches and boasted about my flintknapping hobby for what seemed like an eternity and I was puffed up like a banty rooster.


      The special knife.

      After Ross retired I didn’t see him much, we did a bow hunt one week end and hunted tarantulas in Lost Hills one Saturday for a pet for my son. He brought a fine jasper arrowhead over on Thursday night, he had found it when he was out bow hunting that day, it was the first arrowhead he had found and he was excited to share it with me.
      The next morning, early before work I got a strange call from my boss at work. He paused at first, and then said; “Ray I got some bad news, Ross passed away last night”. I was beside myself with grief, I could not help but reflect on all the years he worked and all the planning he did for the retirement he will not enjoy.

      In the next day or two I called Ross’s wife and we shared our sorrow. The next day she called, she was making the final arrangements, do you have anything you want to say or do for Ross? My thoughts immediately went to the red obsidian knife that Ross and I cherished so much. A day or two later I was pole bearer at Ross’s funeral. As we carefully sat his coffin down on the ceremonial pedestal, a military salute shot their riffles high in the air. I shared one last silent prayer with my friend Ross. Ross rests in piece beneath the hills he loved so well, his special knife lies there with him forever by his side.







      The Bakersfield Californian
      Dieffenbaucher, Roswell Fisher
      1942 - 2005

      Roswell Fisher Dieffenbaucher
      Services: Mon., Nov. 28, 2 p.m.

      Graveside services will be held for Roswell "Ross" Fisher Dieffenbaucher at
      Hillcrest Memorial Park on Monday, November 28, 2005, 2:00 p.m. Ross was born
      in Taft, California on June 19, 1942 and passed away unexpectedly on Sunday,
      November 20th of a brain aneurysm. He had attended local schools and received
      an Associate of Arts Degree from Bakersfield College. He served in the U.S.
      Army for five years and was a Vietnam Veteran. He retired in 2003 after 27
      years as a Senior Auto Estimator. Ross is survived
      by his wife of thirty-seven years, Judy Dieffenbaucher and a daughter, Amy
      Dieffenbaucher of Bakersfield; his mother, Frances Creery, sister, Marie
      Dieffenbaucher, and nephew, Clint Quinney, of San Luis Obispo; his brother-in-
      law, Ed Reed and wife, Patty, nephew, Mike Reed and wife, Becky, niece,
      Michelle Kachelhoffer and husband, Brian, great-nephews, Jake Duncan, Bryce
      Reed, Brock Reed; step-niece, Leah Klein and step-nephew, James Craig, all of
      Bakersfield. Ross was preceded in death by his father, Roswell Dieffenbaucher
      Sr., sister, Gail Dieffenbaucher, and father-in-law, Buel Reed. Rosss
      boisterous voice and hearty laugh will be missed by all who knew him. He was a
      friend to all and knew no stranger. He was a lover of the outdoors and an
      expert archer, known to have shot a pheasant flying through the air. He was an
      avid bow hunter of bear, wild boar, and deer. He enjoyed his hunting trips to
      Colorado and Utah for deer and elk and already experienced a successful fall
      bird season this year near home. He was known for his skill in taxidermy and
      his love for the ocean while fishing aboard his boat, Grumpy Old Men. Ross was
      well respected for holding a black belt in Karate. He also enjoyed restoring
      antique clocks and watches and was a member of the Golden Empire, Chapter 97
      National Association of Watch and Clock Club. He will be greatly missed by all
      who knew him. No visitation is scheduled. A reception will follow at the home
      of Paul and Claudia Milazzo, 5601 Georgia Drive, Bakersfield, CA 93308.

  •  
  •  

  • xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

     
     Shalom All,

    We are happy to introduce the workshop webpage, and we hope you will
    find it interesting and useful.

    Do not hesitate to contact us in any matter, and we will be happy to
    ave you with us at the workshop


    all the best

    Ran,Crostina and Manuel




    Ran Barkai, Associate Professor
    Department of Archaeology
    Tel-Aviv University
    Tel-Aviv 69978
    Israel
    TEL 0544295988; 046272207
    web page
    Qesem Cave website



    New Limited Time Offer: B Grade Rainbow Obsidian 20 LBS Box - $1 a Pound
    I have a small pile of B grade rainbow obsidian with small and med boulders (1LBS - 6LBS each) in the yard I would like to sale off.
    Large Flat Rate Box Ships $16.85 in USA (will ship overseas)
    Pay with paypal. Email me if your interested!
    Great deal for Knappers and Carvers!
    https://www.facebook.com/volcanic.treasures
     




    RIGHT HAND DRIFT OF FLAKE SCARS
    D.C. Waldorf


    ·  Hello Ray
       I have been keeping an eye on the new e-magazine. Good idea! It was the internet that drove CHIPS under so excuse me if my level of enthusiasm is not the highest. On the other hand this is something that is needed for the knapping community and I am surprised that it took almost two years to fill that void. After I put CHIPS to bed I wrote two more pieces that had to do solely with flintknapping. One was an easy romp, a guest chapter about flintknapping in America in an English book on the subject. The other was a six month slog. A technical article on working Helgoland flint for a German magazine. This had to be written in a European scholarly style, and I said I would never write another one of these again! 

       To open a can of worms on the subject of left and right hand drift of flake scars, to do it right, this would require an extensive article with drawings or photos showing the 

    various holding positions and the results. In theory, for percussion flakes struck off in a series from the under side of a biface, when the piece is turned over the general run of scars will be from lower left to upper right for a right handed knapper. The reverse is supposed to be the work of a lefty. In other words, lower right to upper left as with the larger scars on the three Richey Clovis points and is also seen on some of the pieces from the Fenn Cache. What muddies the waters is the holding positions. On the side of the thigh, or in the hand? The thigh is easy, the rule holds pretty true. This is the support technique I used when trying to replicate the Richey points over 20 years ago. If the piece is held in the up turned hand so as to be oriented the same as on the leg the drift should be the same. If held "under hand" the the biface will be 90 degrees to that of the above positions with the whole edge facing the knapper. In this case flakes struck with the right hand can be made to go oblique right, straight in, or oblique left! It is harder to handle larger bifaces this way, and the other two techniques or usually favored for them. Adjustments in holding positions for random work also muckies things up a bit with overlapping flakes seeming to run in all directions!

        As for series pressure flaking, if the point is supported in the left hand, like Ishi and most modern knappers, the drift for a right handed knapper is usually from lower right to upper left. If the piece is supported on the bench like I do, then it is opposite. Lower left to upper right. Long after I'm gone, looking at my pressure work people will think I was left handed. And, they would be partially right, I was born left handed and my parents and teachers made me switch when I was very young. To this day I still suffer some confusion when it comes to directions and I had to recheck what I wrote above 

    several times! 

        You may print what I said here to get the debate going. As for those who don't believe Ishi made the points in questing what about the many people who saw him do it? At present I am working on two short stories and a novel I started many years ago, and since I type about 30 words a minute with one finger my writing stuff about knapping will be minimal if I expect to make any headway on the fiction works. And, I'm still knapping more than I should with my hands starting to get crippled up. The bills have to payed! I will put a link on my web site moundbuilderbooks.com to the magazine and send some readers your way. Also, on my site I have available "The Complete CHIPS Archives and 20th Century Lithics" on three CDs. I went to a lot of work to put these together with the hopes that CHIPS will live on and keep informing long after its demise as a print publication. Best wishes in your new endeavor.


    DC Waldorf
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
      
    The Art Of Flintknapping ...D.C. Waldorf's #1 Best seller!
    This is the premier flintknapping instructional guide. This book is responsible for guiding thousands of knappers worldwide in their quest for mastering the illusive craft. This book has easy to follow illustrations by Val Waldorf, an expert in drawing flake scar patterns. It contains step-by-step instructions for tool selection and preparation, heat-treating, thinning, notching, parallel pressure flaking and even making gun flints! If you just getting started or want to polish your skills making simple arrow points or a fluted Clovis point, this is the book for you! There are few publications out there addressing this subject that even come close to this one. If you are interested in this art form, then this book is almost a must. This author, beyond a doubt knows his stuff. The work covers just about every aspect of the art of knapping, from material selection, to prep-work and step by step to the final product. Clear writing and great illustrations. If you can find a copy, grab it. Recommend this one highly.
     
     
     
     


    When I was a kid I was very interested in arrowheads. I used to find them once in a while when hunting with my dad and brother. Like many folks dabling in flintknapping I eventually came upon Waldorf's book, "Art of Flintknapping". The books has sold many thousands of copies and is considered a classic. I never had enough flint around to learn his method, but I used to read it and gaze at the photos often. Waldorf also wrote in the original "Flintknappers Exchange" - the classic knapping publication that brought knappers together from academic and folk communities. I met D.C. Waldorf in 1984, through my old newsletter, "Flintknapping Digest"

    At eight years old old D.C. became interested in Indian traditional technologies. At about fourteen years of age he discovered the a nail could pry flakes from the edge of broken glass and flint spalls. Later he found that ciopper and deer tines worked better for the pressure knapping method. D.C started percussion knapping about 1968 after reading Howell's book "Early Man". H was, at the time one of only a hand full of knappers on the planet. He joined the Archaeological Society of Ohio. His point become so well made that he was banned from selling or displaying them at the meeting.

    Waldorf uses antler and stone for percussion and copper and antler for pressure. D.C. and his wife Val took over the "Flintknapping Digest",at my request, and turned it into "CHIPS" - this was a huge success. He also wrote many other books, including
    novels out of his rural Missouri cabin. D.C. and Val made a good living with "Mound Builder Books". Later D.C. Waldorf became one of the pioneers of the new Danish Dagger movement. He worked with other dagger knappers on occasion such as Callahan and Stafford.
     
     BLUE BEER BOTTLES WORK!
     John Piri
    xxxxxxx

    Ray,

    Sure let them know the beer blue glass works.  Here is the fire Schedule:


    Bud Light Platinum Arrowheads
    Crush bottles into small pieces
    Spoon into bottle slump molds coated in mold release

    Heat at 400 deg/hour to 1880 deg F
    Hold for 4 hours
    Drop at 400 deg/Hour to 1200 deg F
    Hold for 4 hours
    Drop at 100 deg/hour to 200 deg F
    Open lid and cool to outside temp

    And Ray, Drink water, lots and lots of water!!!!!!!!!!!

    John Piri



    Hüter der Erde Festival 2012Ein genialer Ort um viele Profis bei ihrer Arbeit zu beobachten, ihr Wissen zu erfahren und Kontakte zu knüpfen. Viele Wildnisschulen, Spezialisten ihres Faches kommen als Workshopleiter aus ganz Europa hier zusammen und bieten eine ganze Woche ihre Fertigkeiten an. Sie kommen um adas Alte Wissen unserer Vorfahren zu teilen. Hier bist du Hautnah am Geschehen. Ein Angebot für die ganze Familie

    Bogenbauer,Flintknapper, Gerber, Schmiede, Pflanzenleute, Scoutleute, Kampfkunst, Töpfer, Korbflechter, Primitive Art Museum und sagenhaft vieles mehr........
    Es gibt super Angebote für Teilnehmer und Familie
    Über 100 Workshop´s mit Themen über das Leben in und mit der Natur

    Hier geht es zur Website vom Hüter der Erde Verein - www.hde.at
    ________________________________________________________________________________
     
    TWO KNAP-INS IN ONE WEEK END! KERN COUNTRY
    A unique and cherished cultural event is returning to Tehachapi for the third consecutive year: Go Native Day, a celebration of the art and culture of the California Indian people and Flintknapping knap in., will be held on Saturday, Aug. 31, at Centennial Plaza on Green Street in Downtown Tehachapi...

    Sunday the 14th Anniversary of   Hart Park Knap in!!! BAKERSFIELD

    A NEW BOOK HONORING ERRETT CALLAHAN
    By Ray Harwood

    There are an ever growing number of us that eat and sleep thinking about the crack of obsidian or flint and obsesses on the contours created with each passing chonchoidal fracture.  As a kid my heroes were not cowboys, not sports figures either,   but flintknappers . Odd maybe, but true. My father showed me a bit about knapping  obsidian as a 9 year old and I proceeded to cut off my left little toe, my pop sewed it back on and it looks great, except it does not move. 

    Long before there was FLINTKNAPPING MAGAZINE  there was Flintknapper's  Exchange.
    Through the late 1970's FE was the bomb! Then it was Flintknapping Digest and Chips. Now it is Flintknapping Magazine. It was Errett Callahan and my other childhood heroes that made that possible. And now here is a book honoring Errett's achievements in lithic technology.






    
    ERRETT CALLAHAN, BOOK
     BY RAY HARWOOD


     By: Ray



    The Thinking Man: One of the most knowledgeable and talented
    flintknappers of our time was a Virginia Flintknapper, whom has
    influenced hundreds, if not thousands, Errett Callahan. We can sit
    and wonder where Callahan came from and why he was such an influence.
    The answer is this, Callahan came into knapping with a great deal of
    The International Flintknappers ‘ Hall of Fame and Museum is encouraging individuals of all ages to “Be A Superior Example,” through a new education program as part of a new curriculum to promote healthy habits, while encouraging everyone to live free of drugs and other such substances or vices. It serves as the central point for the study of the history of flintknapping in the United States and beyond, displays flintknapping-related artifacts and exhibits, and honors those who have excelled in the craft, research/ writing, promoting events, and serving the knapping community in an ethical and wilderness loving manner. skill, intellegence and strength, at a time when a whole new
    generation of archaeologists were coming out of the old school with a
    lot of questions. Crabtree had just released his book and was bumping
    out students by the bus load. Archaeology was hungry and Callahan was
    just what the doctor ordered. He had fresh ideas and an uncanning
    knapping ability intertwined the craft and theory like no one before
    or since.
    In 1956, just out of high school, Errett spent the summer in
    Yellowstone National Park working at the Old Faithful general store.
    He was exposed to a lot of history at the park and had access to
    obsidian, this gave him the start he needed and he began knapping
    seriously then and has been doing it full steam ever since, later
    combining his early grinding methods as part of his flaking strategy.
    It started on a trip out when he was waiting for the train in
    Montana. He went into a local library and found a book on various
    point types. He was fascinated by this and it sort of plugged some
    into his memory. In his spare time he would try to duplicate these,
    using small pieces of obsidian and bottle glass and guided only by
    the flintknapping picture in Holling's book. It was another 10 years
    before Errett realized that there were other people flintknapping. Up
    until then he thought he was the only one.
    Errett read more and more of Bordes's works and met him several
    times. Francois Bordes stayed at Callahan's house for several days in
    1977. Bordes, as Errett, was inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs and he
    published numerous science fiction novels. Callahan, as a college
    student, had once been assigned to be Bordes's escort to a knapping
    demonstration sponsored by the Anthropology department in D.C. for
    the Leaky Foundation lectures. In 1977 Bordes spent four days
    knapping there in Richmond. Bordes had plenty of money to visit the
    U.S.A. because not only was he a master flintknapper and Europe's
    leading archaeologist, but also one of the most popular science
    fiction writers in France. According to Callahan Bordes wrote dozens
    of novels under the pen name of Franci Carsac. Callahan was
    influenced quite a bit by Bordes. At the same time Errett was also
    reading the works of Don Crabtree. Errett was Fascinated by Crabtree,
    they met in Calgary in 1974 and Crabtree gradually became a heavy
    influence on Errett's knapping. J.B. Sollberger was another major
    influence and led Errett to bigger and better things than he could
    have without that input. Gene Titmus of Idaho, a friend of Crabtree
    was also a major influence on Callahan, mostly his notching and
    serrating techniques. Errett stayed in close contact with Gene for
    many years, Gene a master knapper of percussion and, like Don, about
    the nicest and humblest guy he'd ever met.
    Some other overseas influences on Errett were Jacques Pelegrin and Bo
    Madsen. Pelegrin had been Bordes number one student in France,
    working under him for years. Pelgrin first trained with Bordes over
    six summers, for three weeks each summer. Pelegrin worked with a
    hardwood billit, which he learned to use from Bordes's friend in
    Paris, Jacques Tixier, whom was one of the Masters of flintworking of
    the time. Pelegrin became very good with boxwood. Jacques Pelegrin's
    father built a cottage in the French woods, here Jacques reflected on
    archaeological concepts and flintknapping. At this time, in the
    1970s, Pilegrin was writing a bit back and forth to Master Don
    Crabtree in the USA and Jacques had begun to read and interprit
    Crabtree's publications. Pelegrin did public flintknapping
    demonstations in the Archeodrome, which is on the main road between
    Beaune and Lyon, France. He is concidered one of the best
    flintknappers in the world. Pelegrin and Bordes learned English
    together and spend years flintknapping together and learning, master
    and student became knapping partners. Jacques Pelgrin went through
    almost all the Paleolthic French technologies while learning his
    craft- Levallois, blade making, different kinds of Paleolithic tools,
    different kinds of flint cores, and leave points, including Solutrean
    pressure material. It is an interesting fact that Pelegrin learned to
    flintknap standing up and only changes after his first exposure to
    other knappers and text.
    Bo Madsen is Denmark's premier flintknapper, a grand- master of the
    Danish art. Madison is an expert on Danish lithics and earned his
    Ph.D. at Arhus in Jutland, Denmark. Madsen's dagger research
    influenced Callahan greatly and this spread to America and in this
    era many knappers were attempting dagger production: Waldorf, Patten,
    Stafford, Flenniken and Callahan in particular. Errett spend a good
    deal of time in the 1970s in Scandinavia and returned again in August
    of 1984. Madsen had moved over to the University of Arhus and was
    teaching a talented portage, Peter Vemming Hansenat at the University
    of Copenhagen, the two had co-wrote and published a paper on the
    replication of square- sectioned axes. While in Scandinavia Callahan
    gave several flintknapping workshops sponsored by the Archaeological
    Institute of the University of Uppsala, Sweden, he was assisted by Bo
    Madsen and Dr. Debbie Olausson. According to Callahan, the Copenhagen
    area has several talented non-academic knappers as well Thorbjorn
    Peterson, Asel Jorgensen, and Soren Moses.
    In later years Errett's biggest influence was Richard Warren. Richard
    was completely underground and out of contact for most of his
    knapping life, he became a lapidary knapper that had an exclusive
    clientele. Richard Warren's work was incredibly precise, much more
    than anyone at the time thought was possible. Errett had to
    reconstruct the Warren technique entirely from scratch. Richard
    Warren showed Errett one important thing- perfection is possible- and
    that's all he needed to know. Richard Warren died a few years ago,
    Warren's curiosity was to know what could be done with flint if
    someone picks up where the best stone age knappers abandoned the
    craft for metal technology or extinction. In short Richard's quest
    was for knapping for the sake of art-perfection, by any means
    possible. Richard used the term "Teleolithics" to describe what we
    now call lapidary knapping, flake over grinding (lap-knapping). After
    Hannus' colon operation, in 1983, for which Errett made the obsidian
    blades used in the surgery and observed the entire operation, two of
    Callahan's students decided to start a company with him to market
    these blades to the medical community. The one who was supposed to do
    the marketing dropped out and little became of " Aztecnics".
    Errett markets his obsidian art through "Piltdown Productions" in
    Virginia. Callahan is best known for his published work The Basics Of
    Biface Knapping In The Eastern Fluted Point Tradition A Manual For
    Flintknappers And Lithic Analysts. This was published in Archaeology
    Of North America, . He has also published many other books and
    articles. Including: "Flintknappers' exchange" (the original
    journal), "The Emic Perspective" and "Flintknapping Digest". The
    Basics Of Biface knapping In The Eastern Fluted Point Tradition was
    the single most influential lithic book ever written.
    The Callahan biface book is Vol. 7, No. 1 of the journal Archaeology
    Of Eastern North America. The book introduced many new techniques for
    the study of stone tools, for standard and experimental archaeology.
    The concepts, "the lithic grade scale, and biface staging, are widely
    used in flintknapping circles to the point the most new knappers
    didn't even know these concepts were fairly new and discovered by
    Callahan.
    As Crabtree before him Callahan was the only living flintknapper with
    the confidence to have major surgery done with stone tools he crafted
    himself. According to the news release on December 9th, 1998, Errett
    Callahan had major surgery done to repair his right rotator cuff
    tendon. The two hour landmark operation was done by Dr. Jay Hopkins
    of Blue Ridge Orthopedics at Lynchburg General Hospital. Callahan's
    rotor cuff tendon had become completely torn off the top of his
    humerus bone and had to be extensively reworked. Dr Hopkins said that
    it was as bad a tear as he had ever witnessed. All incisions were
    made with Callahan's obsidian scalpels. Dr. Hopkins, after performing
    the operation, was impressed with the great reduction of bleeding in
    the initial incisions and states: I used the obsidian blade for a
    shoulder operation and found them quite satisfactory. They performed
    very much like a scalpel and the bleeding with the first cut through
    the skin was minimal. Healing appears to be very much normal, if not
    accelerated.
    Errett Callahan was founder and president of the Society of Primitive
    Technology for many years . The Society is an international
    organization devoted to the preservation of a wide range of primitive
    technologies. The SPT preserves and promotes this knowledge
    principally by means of a remarkable magazine, the Bulletin of
    Primitive Technology. Errett has now retired from his editor and
    chief and president but he will stay an active member. For more
    information contact Society of Primitive Technology, P.O. Box 905,
    Rexburg, Id 83440. The Bulletin is now being edited and produced by
    Primitive skills expert David Wescott. At this time Errett Callahan
    is in the midst of writing a major book on flintknapping - everything
    he knows...and he knows a lot..The book is going to focus a on Danish
    Daggers. The book is addressed to both the archaeologist and
    flintknapper a like. This book is a 20-year research project in which
    200 daggers were replicated. The research was funded by a grant from
    the King of Sweden and by Uppsala University. Callahan is cowritting
    the book with Jan Apel, a PhD student at Uppsala and fellow
    flintknapper. The new book will do for daggers what his biface book
    did for that field. Callahan is also working on a book on
    experimental archaeology.
    Callahan still puts on his week long classes at Cliff Side on
    flintknapping, traditional archery, primitive pottery, lithic
    analysis, and more. Bob Verrey, a former student and long time
    flintknapper, archaeologist and supplier of knapping tools offers a
    scholarship to the school but it is very competitive. .
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    Saturday June 3, 2006 - 10:22am (PDT) Edit | Delete | Permanent Link | 0 Comments
    Entry for June 03, 2006
    Entry for June 03, 2006 magnify
    Crabtree, often referred to as "the Dean of American
    flintknapping". He was born June 8, 1912, in Heyburn, Idaho.
    According to Harvey L. Hughett of the University of Idaho: Don spent
    his early youth in Salmon, Idaho where he first became interested in
    Indians and their tools. His mother would have him run errands for
    the next-door neighbor and as a reward this woman would give Don an
    arrowhead which her husband had gathered. Young Don became fascinated
    with these tools and even at this early age began to wonder why and
    how they were made. There were, at this time, many Indians in Salmon.
    Thanks to Harvey Hughett, at the University of Idaho, whom is now
    curator of the Don Crabtree Lithic Collection, we now know much more
    about Don Crabtree's childhood. I spoke to Mr. Hughett a few in
    October of 1999 (Val Waldorf had no problem either) he gave me
    permission to quote his copyright article on Don Crabtree in Chips
    Vol. 11, No.3, 1999.: "Young Don became fascinated with these tools
    and even at this early age began to wonder why and how they were
    made. There were, at this time, many Indians in Salmon. Their custom
    was to sit flat on the sidewalk with their legs stretched in front of
    them. Don found it great fun to jump over their legs and to talk with
    them, for which he was severely reprimanded by his mother.
    When Don was six, his Family moved to Twin Falls. This was desert
    country and Don spent most of his time hunting for artifacts, Indian
    campsites and building his collection of Indian tools. The family's
    home was just a stone's through from the Snake River Canyon and Don
    spent every possible moment hunting in the canyon, collecting from
    campsites and caves and adding to his collection. He also collected
    obsidian flakes and began to try to reproduce the artifacts. This
    meant more trips to the canyon for knapping material. Soon, young
    Crabtree had gathered a fairly large collection of artifacts and his
    interest in experimenting with different stones and methods of
    manufacture to achieve replication increased. He tried many
    approaches to holding and applying force but with little success and
    much failure. After interviewing many local Indians, he was
    disappointed that he was unable to learn anything of how these
    fascinating artifacts were made. Flintknapping was essentially a lost
    art even at the time.
    Don was constantly in trouble with his father for being away from
    home so much, for the many cuts on his hands and the permanent
    bloodstains on his clothing. He received many reprimands for coming
    home after dark. Even this did not cure him of his quest for
    knowledge of the Native Americans and their tools. At one point, his
    father became so disgusted with Don spending so much time knapping he
    offered to pay him $100.00 if he would promise never to make another
    arrowhead. Don wanted a bicycle and a gun so badly that he considered
    this offer for some time. However, the love of Indian lore won and he
    told his father that he could not give up his attempts to make tools
    as the Indians had.
    In the late 1930's he was supervisor of the Vertebrate and
    Invertebrate Laboratory at the University of California at Berkley,
    this is also where Ishi's artifacts are curated. Also, Ted Orcutt
    still lived not far to the North. Crabtree also worked in the
    Anthropology lab with the well known Anthropologist Alfred Krueber,
    whom was Ishi's friend and caretaker at the museum a few short years
    before. According to Dr. Errett Callahan (1979), following a
    flintworking demonstration at a meeting of the American Association
    of Museums in Ohio, in 1941, Crabtree was employed at the Ohio State
    Lithic Laboratory with H. Holmes Ellis and Henry Shertrone. He was
    also advisor in Lithic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and
    the Smithsonian Institution's museum.
    During world war II, Crabtree was coordinating Engineer with
    Bethlehem Steel in California. Between 1952 and 1962, he was County
    Supervisor with the U.S.D.A in Twin Falls, Idaho. In 1962 and 1975,
    Crabtree was research associate in lithic technology at the Idaho
    State Museum in Pocatello."
    Not only was Crabtree a master flintknapper and an inspirational
    flintknapper , he was also an expert on the theoretical aspect of
    stone tool studies. Crabtree published papers on replicative
    flintworking and other aspects of lithic studies in such publications
    as:
    "American Antiquity" (1939,1968), "Current Anthropology"
    (1969), "Science" (1968,1970), "Curator" (1970), "Tebiwa" (1964,
    1966, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1973,1974), and "Lithic Technology" (1975).
    Crabtree's textbook, "An Introduction to Flintworking", was the main
    publication readily available from 1972 on. The Crabtree book,
    although 26 years old, is still a classic and is one of the most
    referenced books in lithic studies today. The book is easy to read
    and is full of excellent drawings and text. The book is available
    through the Idaho Museum of Natural History, Idaho State University,
    Pocatello, Idaho. They also have republished Crabtree's articles,
    papers, and videos, his articles are better than ours decades later.
    Crabtree was featured in many archaeological films in his day, many
    were shown around the world in class rooms from elementary school to
    doctoral classes. These films influence many up and coming
    flintknappers. The film "Blades and Pressure Flaking" (1969) won best
    anthropology film at the 1970 American Film Festival.
    In 1972, the Idaho Museum of Natural History received a grant from
    the National Science Foundation for the production of several 16mm
    films featuring the legendary flintknapper. Just a few years ago
    these films were dubbed onto VHS video tape and made available to the
    public through Idaho Museum Publications. Though faded somewhat, this
    footage still maintains its detail and shows Don Crabtree at his
    best. In the Shadow of Man , Don is shown quarrying obsidian at Glass
    Buttes in Oregon. The Flintworker discusses the basics of
    flintknapping, stone tools are made using simple percussion
    techniques, and the Hertzian cone theory is introduced. Ancient
    Projectile Points covers the making of bifacial points. The hunter's
    Edge covers prismatic blade making. The Alchemy of Time concerns heat
    treating, and the manufacture of Clovis, Folsom and Cumberland
    points. In 1978, Crabtree had open heart surgery with stone tools.
    The blades Crabtree made were so sharp that Crabtree's doctor agreed
    to use them on him after seeing how sharp they were. The first
    surgery one of Crabtrees's Ribs and a lung section were removed, an
    18 inch cut. Crabtree's stone tools were so sharp that there was
    hardly a scar.
    Don Crabtree flintknapped all types of artifacts including fluted
    Folsom , parallel flaking, chevron flaking, notching, blade making
    and even Ted Orcutt style large obsidian biface points. His large
    points were very similar to Orcutts , some were so thin that they
    looked like dinner plates, his obsidian arrow points were very
    similar to those he helped to curate in Berkley made by Ishi.
    While working agate Crabtree noticed that his had a satiny texture
    and the Indian arrowheads out of the same material were like opal.
    After much experimentation he rediscovered heat treating of flint
    materials to improve knapping quality.
    In the later part of his life Crabtree traveled the world meeting and
    flintknapping with each nations leaders in lithic fields of endeavor
    and really opened the door for all of us. During this time
    flintknapping saw its heyday, "knap-ins", lithic conferences and
    publications. Sort of what is happening now but with the
    academics.
    Don Crabtree, Dean of American flintknappers, died on November 16,
    1980 from complications of heart disease, within six months of
    Francois Bordes . When Bordes and Crabtree passed away the 1970's
    academic flintknapping heyday passed away with Them. THE PALEO
    KNAPPERS : The Late Don Crabtree, of southern Idaho, is considered to
    be the "Dean of American Flintknapping" not only for his fine
    publications, but also for the vast amount of important information
    he uncovered in a life devoted to the study of stone tools. Don was
    most probably the first flintknapper in thousands of years to flute a
    Folsom point, as early as 1941 Crabtree was employed at the Lithic
    Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania and the prestigious
    Smithsonian Institution. He had experimented with fluting in the
    1930s but became quite famous for his studies into the Lindenmier
    Folsom in 1966 . Don Crabtree passed away on November 16, 1980.
    Jeffery Flenniken and Gene Titmus, students of Crabtree carried on
    the studies and are still considered to be among the best
    flintknappers in the world.
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