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Another nifty but useless life skill :D
Look what I made today!
Unfortunately they photograph terribly, but these are sharp(ish) obsidian flakes. :D
We're learning about lithics in my archaeology class, and today they put a tarp on the floor, brought out some pieces of obsidian and safety glasses, and let us bash away. I am really terrible at it, not surprising for a beginner. I had to do several whacks with a hammerstone just to get a flake to come off. I would clearly fail at Paleolithic survival. But I did eventually get some flakes, and we were allowed to keep the ones we made.
I also realized that I'd always had an inaccurate idea of how basic flint knapping is done. I had always assumed the stone would be struck on the narrower end and a flake would peel off the side, the long way. But that's not what happens. Instead you put the obsidian, flint or whatever flat on your thigh (or brace it in some other fashion; you can also hold it in your hand, but that's harder and more dangerous) and give it a sharp tap on the top side; then a flake falls off the bottom. And you pick up your stone and there is a flake underneath! It's kind of magical watching it happen.
Because there was only room for one person at a time and the whole class needed to try it, there wasn't much time for retouching (popping little flakes off the edge to shape the tool; this is how you get a nice arrowhead shape or whatever you're aiming for). We basically just did enough of that to get the basic idea. But I really want to try some more of this!
Unfortunately they photograph terribly, but these are sharp(ish) obsidian flakes. :D
We're learning about lithics in my archaeology class, and today they put a tarp on the floor, brought out some pieces of obsidian and safety glasses, and let us bash away. I am really terrible at it, not surprising for a beginner. I had to do several whacks with a hammerstone just to get a flake to come off. I would clearly fail at Paleolithic survival. But I did eventually get some flakes, and we were allowed to keep the ones we made.
I also realized that I'd always had an inaccurate idea of how basic flint knapping is done. I had always assumed the stone would be struck on the narrower end and a flake would peel off the side, the long way. But that's not what happens. Instead you put the obsidian, flint or whatever flat on your thigh (or brace it in some other fashion; you can also hold it in your hand, but that's harder and more dangerous) and give it a sharp tap on the top side; then a flake falls off the bottom. And you pick up your stone and there is a flake underneath! It's kind of magical watching it happen.
Because there was only room for one person at a time and the whole class needed to try it, there wasn't much time for retouching (popping little flakes off the edge to shape the tool; this is how you get a nice arrowhead shape or whatever you're aiming for). We basically just did enough of that to get the basic idea. But I really want to try some more of this!
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Huh. I had no idea. Looks like the books I read on the subject contain some flimsy information. Hope I'll someday get the chance to try it out for myself.
I've already tried making fire with a bowstring and flinging an Atlatl. Both a lot harder than it looks!
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And yeah, I don't know if it's just that the descriptions in books aren't very good, or that I'd gotten an inaccurate picture in my head, because it's not at all what I thought it was going to be like. Now I understand why I've been having trouble visualizing what they were talking about in class when they discussed angles of rock breakage and so forth, because I was imagining the rock being struck from the top rather than from the back, and now it makes perfect sense.
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