Nehawka Primitive Skills

Always, More Stone Knives

2011-05-08T23:35:00.002-05:00

Spring finds me doing some knapping and making knives, processing sinew, and continuing to experiment with the marcasite and flint firemaking. Sometimes I get off work and have to fire up a bow drill hot coal just to smell the aroma of smoldering yucca. I've been anxious to get out and sleep under the stars, but family commitments have kept me busy.

Obsidian & Deer Leg Bone

2011-04-23T00:47:00.002-05:00

Perhaps not the best picture. I've been intrigued with this style of stone knife since I saw examples of it on display at a stone age fair.

Marcasite & Flint Fire Making

2011-04-11T17:16:00.004-05:00

Decades ago, I remember looking at an old library book, that had a line drawing of a round nodule with a groove in it. It said it was one of the oldest artifacts, from Europe, of a piece of iron pyrite that was used in fire making. Over the years I had tried banging rocks together in an attempt to understand this method. Refining my understanding, I've come to understand that the form of pyrite used is what is called 'marcasite'. There are various forms of iron pyrite with varying crystal formations. The type here has a crystal starburst pattern. I received this piece, in the mail, from Storm in 2008 shortly before he passed away. You can see his work at: www.stoneageskills.com . I came across an article online that kind of put it all together for me, by Susan Labiste, on the Primitive Ways website at: http://primitiveways.com/marcasite%20and%20flint.html . Great researched article and video...check it out. Al Cornell also had an article in the Spring 2008, Bulletin of Primitive Technology, concerning experimenting with various natural spark catchers. The tinder, or spark catcher, is key as the sparks made by scraping the marcasite nodule with a sharp edged flint are very small and almost imperceptible. In truth, every time I wanted to try this technic I had to go into a darkened area so that I could see the sparks and tinder catch. I do not know if I could do this in the light of day very well. Almost all the time when I read about this technic, tinder fungus was used. As I did not have this, I slowly learned that I could substitute other natural materials. Ultimately, I have been having success with cattail or milkweed seed down. I roll this between the palms to condense the fibers into a mat. Also, I have added rotted punk wood finely crushed to the down to help grow and spread the coal once it catches. In the picture is a milkweed pod with smoldering down in it. I kind of stumbled onto the idea of rolling the seed down, and then replacing it in the pod. I strike the sparks onto the down in the pod. When it catches, I have lit a dry piece of punk wood with the smoldering down, and transferred the punk wood into an awaiting tinder nest to be blown into flame. The pod, I simply fold over and smother the coal, leaving me charred down in it own carrying pod for the next fire. This technic has taken years for me to put my mind around, connecting all the dots, ...and thanx in great part to Susan Labiste, Al Cornell, and Storm.

Another Stone Knife

2011-04-03T15:41:00.002-05:00

Finished another stone knife, nice and sharp,...have the cuts to prove it. My posts have been sporadic over the past year as I have had to make some different choices of how I use my time. Primitive skills is still an ever present passion though. I have more ideas of projects I would like to do, than time and energy to carry them out. I have been playing with fire making with a marcassite nodule. The challenge is finding the right natural material to serve as a spark catcher, as the sparks are quite small. But I did come across an interesting article in the Bulletin for the Society of Primitive Technology. Al Cornell was addressing this same subject of spark catchers for flint and marcassite firemaking. So, I have my next project to work on, in between flintknapping sessions, and will report on this later.

Latest Knife

2011-02-27T17:32:00.002-06:00

This is the latest stone knife of two-toned novaculite with an elk antler handle. Slowly, but surely I am dusting off my primitive skills endeavors. Hit the woods last weekend to check it out and do some gathering of odds and ends.

Corn Cobs & Stalks

2011-01-20T14:03:00.004-06:00

Over the Christmas holiday I stumbled across several you tube videos, by Brandon K. from central Nebraska, that kind of blew me away. He was demonstrating the firesaw technic using cornstalks as the hearth and saw...and doing it in 10-20 seconds! Also, he made a hot coal with the bow drill method using a corn cob as the drill component. Wow, I have cornfields all around me and never have considered this. So, with all the snow/moisture in the area latley I settled for purchasing some bagged corn cobs, you use to feed the squirrels, from the local plant nursery. I cleaned the dried corn from the cob and hastily gathered a used cottonwood fireboard, bow, and socket, and found a piece of dry ground under a shelter. After a couple of attempts fumbling around to get the drill situated to the socket, and tighten the bow cord, I produced a hot coal in 20 - 30 seconds. I have never read of corn stalks or cobs being used historically for firemaking, though it was an indiginous plant to the Americas. If I am correct the Indians taught the Mayflower colonists to grow corn in the New World to survive. Brandon related, as he considered the characteristics of plants that would work for firemaking, that he successfully used the stalks of yucca, mullein, sunflower, corn, bull thistle, hemp, and goldenrod. Hmmm....now I have a few more local plants to try I hadn't considered. Check out Brandon's you tube video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZCS-BIFmBQ

Mesolithic Axes

2010-12-10T18:56:00.003-06:00

Around 8500 BC - 4000 BC, in Europe, Mesolithic (middle stone age) man was transitioning from a nomadic hunter gatherer to farming and domestication of animals. They excelled at fishing, learning to build fish weirs for efficiency. Axes were used to fell trees to construct living quarters and fishing vessels, as the above picture depicts from the Archeon, the living history/experimental archaeology park in the Netherlands. Reading a couple of articles concerning artifacts of recovered Danish axes, I became intrigued in their design and use. The two variations below are an antler axe, and a stone blade set in antler. A hole was bored that a slender handle could be run thru and wedged into for hafting. I was a little sceptical how the antler axe would fare chopping wood, but it did as well as the stone axe, on green wood. When it dulled, I just worked the end on across a sandstone abrader. Examples of antler axes have survived because of the properties of the bogs to preserve them. I liked the design of the stone hafted in antler. It is a little light weight but did the job felling shelter poles. It is amazing the ingenuity and variation man developed utilizing natures resources to live and survive.

Late Paleolithic in Nebraska

2010-04-16T03:37:00.002-05:00

What we know about past peoples and events archaeologists speculate from what evidence survived in context with the world in which it was found. They sumise that the Americas were the last of the major continents to be inhabited, starting somewhere around 10000 - 11500 BC. These time frames are changing as new evidence is found. The Paleolithic, or Stone Age, was divided into two eras in North America...the Early and Late Paleo. The Early was marked by the advent of the big game hunters of the Ice Age, using their distinctive Clovis style points to hunt mammoth and mastodon, giant ground sloths, and giant bison. Around 9000 BC the climate began to change in Nebraska as the glaciers receded, becoming much as it is today. The large boreal forests were replaced by grasslands. The large game disappeared and animals similar to today remained. New stone spear point styles emerged with this change. The points were long, narrow, unfluted compared to Clovis styles, and more lance-like...lanceolate. There were a number of varieties which archaelogists recognized as different distinct cultural groups - Agate Basin, Hell Gap, Scottsbluff, Eden, Alberta, Cody, and Frederick. They were still nomadic hunters living off the game and wild fruits and vegetables gathered, and they still had no permanent settlements or farming which marked the next phase of development. The lanceolate points pictured were found in Nebraska and classified, from top to bottom, Eden, Agate Basin, Plainview, and Scottsbluff.

Tomahawk II

2010-04-12T15:25:00.003-05:00

The tomahawk is a much romaticized weapon of the Native Americans. Certainly it would have been utilized as a fighting weapon, but much more common and of much more use was as a chopping tool for day to day camp use. The earliest blades were made of stone, sometimes very crudely but with a serviceable edge, and was later replaced by metal axe heads traders bartered with for furs. I knapped several blades out in January and have been waiting for the inspiration to haft them.

2010-03-07T08:43:00.003-06:00

No deep thoughts or quizzical ramblings lately...just flaking rocks and hafting them to handles. I was watching television Saturday and caught part of a show- a woman in search of "volcanic treasures." On the border between California and Oregon she was searching for rainbow obsidian. A local Native American proceeded to teach her about how it was used by their ancestors for thousands of years to make tools. She broke most of her attempts but managed to come up with a serviceable chipped flake, which her instructor then hafted to a hollowed out deer antler with a mixture of pitch and charcoal. Later in the show he caught a large trout which they prepared for cooking with the obsidian knife. Made this knife, hafted it, watched an interesting show...all in all, a good afternoon.

Antler, Sinew & Stone

2010-02-26T18:40:00.002-06:00

Broken Bones & Fractured Stone

2010-02-22T22:21:00.003-06:00

When early man crossed the landscape, all he had to work with was what nature provided...wood, stone, bone, shell, etc. He skillfully crafted tools for cutting, chopping, scraping, and drilling from outcroppings of rock. Quality stone was a valuable commodity as it provided the material to make tools for daily survival. This past weekend I was able to finish a series of stone knives, three mahogany obsidian and deer leg bone knives pictured above, in preparation for upcoming historical events. I sell these to support my stone addiction. Living in Nebraska there is not alot of good stone to work with so you end up trading pieces of paper with pictures of presidents on them for nice flints, cherts, and obsidians. There are always better flintknappers and artisans than I but really enjoy demonstrating the living skills of our ancestors....making stone and bone tools, starting fires by"rubbing two sticks together", or launching stone tipped darts with an atlatl. Everyone needs something that gets them excited...wakes them up early, and keeps them up late at night.

Paleohunters

2010-02-20T07:49:00.005-06:00

It is debated that around 12,000 years ago the first peoples set foot in the Midwest, coming up from the south, as the land to the north was still covered by the Wisconsin glacier of the Ice Age. As the climate warmed and the ice receded plant and animal life re-established. Animal life was quite different than today with varities of megafauna, distinctly large animals of this period - mammoth, mastodon, giant bison, ground sloths, and beaver. Also found was the camel, horse, peccary, and tapir. Dangerous predetors such as the dire wolf, saber toothed tiger, American lion, and short-faced bear roamed the landscape. Above is a section of a beautiful mural from the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. These Paleohunters (paleo is a Greek word for "ancient") were unique and identified by the type of stone points used on their spears - the Clovis point, so named for the location where the first was discovered in Clovis, New Mexico. Clovis points were unique being long and slender with a concave base. Flutes were driven up, from the base on both sides, supposedly to allow the attachment of a narrow shaft. Also the pointed ears projecting from the base helped keep the point set in place in the flesh. Pictured below is a Clovis point of Smokey Hills chert found in Nebraska. Around 9000 years ago the

point style began to change as the megafauna disappeared. Whether the large animals became extinct from hunting or disease is still a matter of debate. The later stage Paleohunters made use of smaller game and deer, elk, and carabou using more lanceolate styles of stone points in many varieties. The era of the Paleohunter lasted from around 12000 till around 8000 years ago and was marked by changes in their style of living. They were no longer only hunters, but not yet farmers. New ways and new tools were invented.

Stone Axes

2010-02-11T20:36:00.007-06:00

It is interesting the amount of pecked grooved axes and polished celts made from grainy hardstone in the Midwest. Having made of number of these I am hesitant to use them due to the considerable hours and effort invested. But, just as efficient to use, and taking only minutes to manufacture is the flaked flint axehead. Perhaps it comes down to the availability of the right type of stone. There are limited areas in Nebraska with flinty type stone suitable for tool making. Pictured above are several celts: a pecked Virginia greenstone in handle; at lower left, my newly made flaked flint celt; and to the right a basalt-like pecked celt artifact found in south central Nebraska. The lower picture is a 3/4 grooved stone axehead with a missing broken bit. This was found just inside my sisters basement wall, that was being repaired, in the middle of Fremont, Nebraska.

Primtive Skills

2010-02-09T20:09:00.003-06:00

Primitive skills has intrigued me for decades...the fashioning of stone into cutting, chopping, scraping, and drilling implements. Twining fibers from the leaves and inner bark of plants forms cords and lines for fishing, hafting, and binding. Twirling wood upon wood grinds off heated particles of smoldering dust that is blown into flame. There is so much to learn and do. One area I feel drawn to is further learning the nature and uses of plants, particularly in the medicinal aspects. Having endured some minor illnesses I recognize how vulnerable we are without modern pharmaceuticals. This will be a new area of study this spring. (Pictured below are several small flint, chert, and obsidian knives I made this past week.)

Flaked Stone Axeheads

2010-01-16T15:53:00.000-06:00

The weather has been a bit warmer, in the 30's with some sun, which is considerable better than the sub zero temperatures of the past couple weeks. You really can wonder at and appreciate the tenacity of the Native Americans living out on the plains in those conditions. Winter was something to prepare for in terms of food, shelter, appropriate clothing, and firewood. I had read once that December was considered by some tribes to be the "moon of the clacking rocks." Your time and efforts were more confined closer to the fire, so working on tools for the upcoming seasons occupied your time. Perhaps more specifically, it referred to the production of pecked and ground tools which took some considerable time and effort to make. Lately though, I've been preparing a number of flaked flint preforms for axes and tomahawks. You can turn out a flaked axehead in less than an hour. (Below are a couple of authentic flaked axeheads from Chase County in Kansas.)

Pine Pitch

2009-12-28T22:51:00.000-06:00

Before the last storm dropped 17 inches of snow, I was out exploring a stand of pine trees with the dogs, and came across some pitch sources. When a pine tree is injuried it will exude a sticky resin to protect the exposed area. Pine pitch has been used for millenia as an adhesive/filler to haft points and as a waterproofing agent - as with bark canoes. Tightly woven baskets were coated on the insides to make water containers by the desert peoples of the American southwest. Slowly melting the pitch in a container over the hot coals, I'll usually add up to 50% powdered charcoal, from the charred limbs from the fire to strengthen the pitch. If a little more elasticity is needed, I will use some ground up dung from a plant eater, such as deer or rabbit, for the additive as traditional peoples have done. Pitch sticks, for hafting points, are made by simply dipping a stick repeatedly into the hot mixture, and then into a container of water to build up a bulbous glob on a stick. When you are ready to haft a point you simply heat the glob over the coals, melting it somewhat, and place a small amount in the prepared notch. The point is the pressed in and seated as the pitch cools within minutes. Wetted sinew then further ties the point more firmly into place as it dries and shrinks. Not wanting to waste any last pitch residue, I will usually wipe the ends of some small tinder sticks with the flamable pitch to save for future firestarting efforts. Pictured above is dried pitch, dart foreshafts that have been hafted using pitch and sinew, prepared pitch and tinder sticks. On the left is a burl of a cottonwood tree that was pitch coated to make an expedient water cup, from an excursion.

Merry Christmas to All

2009-12-24T11:27:00.000-06:00

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all a Merry Christmas. Thank you for taking an interest in this blog, and for sharing your sites, stories, knowledge, and friendship as we all learn from one another. -Mark

Grinding Acorns

2009-12-15T12:51:00.001-06:00

Archaeologists roughly date the Archaic Period, in North America, around 5000 to 1000 BC. Big game hunters and game of the Clovis, Folsom, and Plano had disappeared - mammoth, ancient bison, and giant ground sloths. New techniques and tools for hunting smaller game, such as deer, antelope, fish, and fowl appeared. The people began to develop traits of the foraging tradition - they were no longer just hunters, but not yet farmers. The presense of mortars and grinding stones meant that plant seeds and nuts were being utilized, probably as well as roots and berries. Pictured is grinding acorn meats. A few white oaks have acorns sweet enough to be eaten raw, but most are extremely bitter due to a chemical called tannin. Tannin is water soluable and can be removed by boiling the meats in several changes of water - until the brownish coloring no longer appears. Native Americans would also put the crushed meats in porous bags in moving streams, to leech out the tannin. The Pawnee called acorns from the bur oak, Patki - natawawi, meaning "acorn bearing." Often the acorns would be used in combination with corn meal to make it more palatable. They did not use seasonings, so to make the traditional gruel or mush, acorn meal was simply mixed with water.

Making Preforms

2009-12-01T18:39:00.001-06:00

Today the temperature was in the 50's, but it felt much warmer working in the sun. Taking a block of mahogany obsidian, and a large hammer stone, I struck a number of flakes off. Using an antler billet I thinned the flakes, basically making a handful of preforms. I'll start pressure flaking them into knife blades, then haft them into antler handles. Obsidian is formed when lava cools real fast, producing a volcanic glass in effect. The fresh edges are extremely sharp, evidenced by the fact that I was surprised to find blood on my hands though I had not felt the cut. I am alway very careful when working with obsidian because one careless move could result in a serious laceration. Until the final pass of pressure flaking, the edges are always ground down - for safety and to produce a solid edge. Trying to push a flake off of an unground sharp edge, it will simply crush and crumble. An edge which has been properly arbraded will alllow you to build sufficient pressure against it and remove a longer flake. I'll post updates of the progression from preform to knives as I go along.

Hide for Bow & Drill Socket

2009-11-27T13:03:00.000-06:00

In a previous post I mentioned that the Mescalaro Apache of southwestern US and northern Mexico used the bow and drill fire making method, when the handdrill proved too difficult for some. In a 1935 article, in the American Anthropologist, it was stated that no special set was made. Even fighting bows were modified, when needed, to spin the drill. Also, no special socket was used, simply a piece of rawhide or buckskin to protect the hand. Using a piece of hide as the socket intrigued me. We tend to get stuck in preconceived notions of how things must be to work Traditionally, a socket being - a piece of wood, rock, or bone with a depression in it for the top of the drill to ride in. I had a scrap of racoon rawhide, with the hair still on it. Folded into a thicker pad, I fired up the bow and drill. The hide pad worked well, though the drill did start to abrade thru it. A little freshly pulverized grass would have lubricated it and helped. Another lesson in simplicity and primitive living skills.

Thanksgiving...a time for food, family, and flintknapping...

2009-11-26T15:16:00.000-06:00

The Bow & Drill Revisited

2009-11-21T16:31:00.002-06:00

When I first started demonstrating primitive skills at historical events, I tried to tie the technics to local history....what was practiced in this area. My firemaking technic initially was the bow & drill, and later the handdrill method. I could find references to use of the handdrill on the Plains more readily, but the information on the bowdrill was sketchy in North America. It was thought that the bowdrill was an Alaskan Eskimo influence, who had adopted it most likely from Asian migrations across the Bering Straight during Paleo times. It is a fairly sophisticated technic for the time...using a bow and socket to give a mechanical advantage to spin a wooden drill in a depression in the hearth board. The resulting friction grinds off tiny charred wooden particles, which heat up till they combust into a "hot coal". This is placed in a nest of combustable materials and blown into flame. It took a decade to come across solid information placing the bow & drill among Native Americans. Archaeologists have found pieces of a bowdrill set, among the cliff dwellings of the Pueblo Indians of southwestern Colorado, dated to 1400 years ago. And, in an article in the American Anthroplogist from 1935, interviews revealed the technic was used by the Mescalaro Apache who lived in what is now western Texas, southeastern New Mexico, and northern Mexico. It was said it was a technic used by those who had difficulty with the handdrill technic. No special set was constructed for firemaking. Fighting bows were even modified and used to drive the drill. It was related that no special socket was made either, simply a piece of folded rawhide or buckskin was used as a makeshift handhold...(hey, that is a clever idea).

Side Notched Spearhead

2009-11-13T23:00:00.000-06:00

Hitting the rock pile, I was able to find a nice spall of Keokuk Burlington chert, and knapped a 5-inch spearhead. This piece has a couple of side notches facilitating hafting to a spear shaft. Notches were developed on stone points some time during the Archaic Period (8000 - 2000 B.C.). Hunter gatherer societies that lived thru this broad span of time developed a multitude of point styles and notching technics.

Digging Stick

2009-11-13T22:18:00.001-06:00

(Pictured are jersalem artichokes dug with digging stick) One of the common items in the tool kit of early cultures was the digging stick. Most likely pre-dating the Stone Age, an expedient stick was useful in a variety of tasks. Europeans encountering Native Americans noted the use of the digging stick to harvest plant roots and bulbs, dig post holes for shelters, and steaming pits for cooking. The prehistoric Hohokam peoples (300 - 1200 A.D.) of the American southwest dug extensive irrigation ditches, some up to 15 feet wide, using digging sticks. Basically, it is a sturdy limb of dense wood, around 3 feet long, and 1 to 2 inches in diameter. The business end is beveled to a shovel-like edge by either chopping with a sharp stone, grinding on an abrasive stone, or a combination of charring and grinding. A beveled green edge will dull quickly in the moist soil, but four to five scorchings in the super heated dirt under the hot coals of a fire will drive out the sap and fire-harden the edge to a degree.

Quickie Axe

2009-11-06T17:10:00.003-06:00

I've made a number of axes before and it can be time and labor intensive. Some of the first axes would have probably been angular stones used as is. At some point, early man learned to take a few flakes off a cobbles edge to create a handheld chopper, and later developed a refined handaxe. Adding a handle definitely increases its efficiency. Flaked stone axeheads were followed by the advent of pecked and ground grainier stone heads, with a hafting groove,that were worked to a fine polish. This same peck and grind technology was used to make celts, basically ovoid axeheads that were wedged into a hole that was coal burned or chiseled in the axes handle. This all said, I was reading a piece by John & Geri McPherson, who have been and done in the primtive living field (See their website at: http://www.prairiewolf.net/ ). He was demostrating a quickie hafting technic he uses on flint axes. Intrigued, I went out to the rock pile and selected a spall and hammerstone. In half and hour I had an axehead with hafting grooves chipped into it. In about 15 minutes, using some of the sharp debris flakes I cut several supple shoots, and wrapped & tied the shoots on using a couple of strips of hide. Fast, simple, and efficient...and seems to work as well as my pecked and ground axes that took 30-40 hours to make.

Corner Tang Knife Blade

2009-11-02T16:27:00.001-06:00

One of the rare blade forms found in the south central US (Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas) is the corner tang knife. Basically, it is a somewhat triangular blade with the pronounced feature being a hafting tang on one corner. There has been some speculation as to how the tang was employeed. A handle may have been mounted on the blade. But, some tangs are small and a handle would have been somewhat a fragile addition. Perhaps the blade was more handheld and the "handle" was more of a stabalizer. Another idea proposed was that a thong was attached to the tang and tied to the wrist. During the butchering process it allowed the hands to work freely, and the blade was simply brought into play as needed by dropping the hand and grasping the dangling blade. ...? This unique blade form dates back to the Late Archaic period, some 4000 - 2000 years ago. The name "Archaic", loosely defined, means "ancient ones." These were a nomadic people of hunter gatherers, decended from the Ice Age PaleoIndians... who utilized the dart and atlatl to hunt game, as well a foraging plant resources during a time when the climate began to warm, much as it is today.

Flake Tools

2009-10-24T12:30:00.002-05:00

Lately I've been 'under the weather' and haven't had a chance to do much. I finally got to the point I was so bored with being sick I went out to the rock pile and picked out an angular chunk of blue/black Fort Payne chert to play with. You find this type of mineral in northwestern Alabama. There are several variations of Fort Payne cherts. Native Americans have been using this resource since Paleo time to make cutting tools, scrapers, choppers, etc. Picking up an oblong quartz cobble (looks like I had pecked a groove in it as some point), to use as a hammerstone, I pictured the angle to strike thin blades. In a minutes time I had half a dozen sharp flake tools. To illustrate this, in the middle picture I used a flake to cut 1/4 inch stiff leather. These tools can be used as is, or with some modification, made into thumb scrapers, perforators, burins, etc. Nature provides, you just need to know how to use it.

Blue/Black Fort Payne "PaleoKnife"

2009-10-22T20:18:00.000-05:00

Fat Lamp

2009-10-19T18:13:00.003-05:00

Pictured are a couple of fat lamps I use. The one on the right was pecked from a limestone slab, the other is chiseled from soapstone. I always save the fat from scraping deer hides as fuel, but animal grease or vegetable oil would work. The wicks were simply cattail down rolled into a wick and wetted. Fat lamps were traced back to Ice Age Europe nearly 40,000 years ago and coincided with several other developments - art, personal adornments, and the dart & atlatl. This controlled use of fire allowed activities after sunset and in places naturally dark. These lamps are considered "closed curcuit" bowl lamps, in that they have a depression to catch and retain the fuel as it melts. This is the most common type found in all regions, in all periods, where fat lamps were used, and range from crude to elaborately carved. It is easy to let the mind wander in the evenings in camp, and picture animal skin clad men dabbing mineral pigments onto cave walls, in the flickering illumination of the lamp light.

Lashing

2009-10-17T21:07:00.004-05:00

Lately I've been watching the documentaries of Mark Anstice & Olly Steed living among the primtive peoples of West Papua - the Kombai and the Mek tribes. In most respects these peoples still live as there ancestors did hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago. They wear little clothing, chop down trees using stone axes, have essentially no written language, and live as hunter gatherers off of the bounty of the rainforest. One thing I noted is their use of rattan, a climbing type of palm with a long strong stem, to literally lash their world together. The Kombai live in treehouses, 30 to 40 feet up in the canopy, made with uncanny balance and skill, by lashing stone axe hewn limbs with rattan cords. The same fibers haft an ancient axeblade to a wooden handle. The Mek tribe worked as village to lash a new hut and construct a 100-foot long "monkey bridge" across a raging river to join two villages. Today lashing is considered of makeshift or temporary use, but it is among one of the oldest technologies of man. James E. Gordon in, The New Science of Strong Materials, said: "In pure strength, apart from their flexibility, the lashings, sewings, and bindings used by primitive peoples, and by the seamen down to recent times, are more efficient than metal fastenings." (Pictured are spear and adze hafted with rawhide cordage...which do not do justice to the simplicity and efficiency of the Kombai & Mek.)

Eating Insects

2009-10-10T16:20:00.004-05:00

The weather on the plains made a short gathering this weekend. It dropped about 3-4 inches of wet fluffy snow overnight. All was not lost, we still had a hardy sampling of roasted crickets and mealworm larvae. (Pictured are the leftovers...plenty of drumsticks to go 'round.) Not as bad as my prejudiced Western mind had anticipated. They sort of "melt in your mouth, not in your hands." Except for the crickets long hairlike ovipositor that sticks out of the females abdomen (used to deposit eggs into soil or plant stems). That tasty morsel tends to get stuck between the teeth, or lodged in your throat, inciting the gag reflex...lol. Eating insects is part of the everyday diet in some parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Native Americans in the US feasted on roasted grasshoppers and were known to eat about 60 different varieties of insects. In Zaire, the mopanie worm is known as the "snack that crawls"...mmmm. There are about 1,462 recorded edible insects. Nutrition-wise, insects tend to rival fish and beef for protein, vitamins, and calories. All in all, knowing these facts did not curb my imagination when taking the first bites. All I could think of was an episode of "Man versus Wild", where Bear bites into a grub the size of your thumb - and guts and juice go spurting and run down his chin...>gag<.

New Neck Knife

2009-09-25T10:11:00.008-05:00

I have grown attached to a simple tool that comes in quite handily while doing primitive skill encampments and demo's. It is a 3-inch blade, struck from a core of tough Nehawka flint, with saw-like serations on both edges. I wear it on a buckskin thong, with a deer phallanges "bead", around my neck. One of the curious things about dressing primitively is that there are no pockets. Certainly this was quite an innovation. Contantly, it seems I need to saw a notch in a fireboard, cut a thong, or trim a stem and have to hunt down a cutting implement. I was watching primitive technologist Lynx Vilden's, "Back into the Stone Age: The Yaak River Hunterer Gatherer Project", in which participants lived in a stone age capacity for several month. All of them wore a simple stone blade attached to a thong around their necks. Whenever they needed a quick cut, bore a hole, or start a new notch, they employed their 'neck knife'. Prehistorically, I do not know if this was done, as it was a speculation on their part also, but we do know that small knives were worn in sheaths suspended around the neck historically. ( I see how this is posted, and am out of time to fix this right now...actually, I am packed and ready to head out to another event.)

Bone & Stone Daggers

2009-09-22T19:34:00.002-05:00

Buffalo Lance

2009-08-29T17:41:00.003-05:00

With the introduction of the horse to the tribes of the plains, the lance became an important weapon for hunting and warfare. Essentially, it was a long wooden shaft with a spearhead of chipped stone, sharpened bone, or later a metal blade. Most likely the first lances were no more than a shaft with a sharpened end. It was difficult trying to get a picture of the 6 foot lance, so here is half of it...lol. Lately I've been working on several lances and spears. This one has a hammered out metal spearhead mounted in a 6 foot wooden shaft with elk rawhide. The shaft is wrapped with rawhide and decorated with tufts of buffalo hide, feathers and scalp locks. It kind of violates my stone age focus using a metal blade. But, some of the lances I've seen would almost be considered works of art. There is a strange sensation that runs thru you when you weild a primitive spear, you touch the primal.

Elk Leg Bone Spearheads

2009-08-21T17:40:00.001-05:00

2009-08-08T15:01:00.002-05:00

I feel a little crazed today. Just got off a 60 hour work week, now...grilling hamburgers for supper in the 100-degree heat of the day. I can't wait to get over our busy season. Working as a web press operator, for an educational publisher, summers are the time to get materials printed for the next school season starting late August into September. The past couple of weeks I have been able to make a few stone knives - mainly for therapy. Even doing that was an effort as the body has taken another beating from hours of constant go, go, go. But, I love doing it...being able to thin out a piece of stone and flake it into a blade or tool. The knife, second from the left, I used at work to open skids of paper last week. That always brings some curious glances. I kind of prefer a short stout blade that can take a beating. Well, gotta go...time to flip the burgers.

"Leaf Knives"

2009-07-19T16:07:00.003-05:00

I was playing around the rock pile the other night and came away making a couple of "leaf knives." A good number of cultures have these simple cutting blade forms in their tool kit. They are pretty much a simple ovoid preform finished off with a cutting edge. Simple and efficient.

An event promoter contacted me and asked if I wanted to participate in an upcoming "Pirate Fest." It took a little thinking how I would fit into this kind of theme. Eventually, I came up with the idea of doing something like...Survivorman - Marooned. I'll demo/display survival skills and tools, such as firemaking with the bamboo firesaw, making discoidal and bipolar cutting blades with quarzite cobbles, the bamboo rat trap used by a contestant fromt the show "Survivor", etc. Probably, decorate the tent with some tribal masks, rubber snakes, various items 'salvaged from a ship.' All in all, it is entertainment with some educational aspects..."edutainment." Anyone have any ideas other ideas?

Grady Knife

2009-07-11T09:56:00.003-05:00

Grady knife...why do I call it a Grady knife? Because it is for a gentleman named Grady...lol. When one of the guys from work found I did flintknapping, he had me make some stone knives using antler handles from deer he and his sons had hunted. You know, I haven't dropped and broke a stone blade, in literally years....until the last event started a spree. I was demonstrating flintknapping and had made a nice long obsidian blade. Well, I tossed my hammerstone down onto the canvas tarp directly onto the blade, snapping it in two ... AARRUUUGGHHHHH!!! Actually, I wasn't too upset, but sometimes I think this is how cussing was came about. The large knife pictured, started off with a nice large whitish blade...until I dropped it on the concrete...AAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!! A new blade had to be made to fit the large antler handle (11 inches), thus the top knife you see. The smaller knife was made knapping the salvagable Novaculite stone into a smaller blade.

Bamboo Fire Saw

2009-06-20T22:11:00.003-05:00

One of the technics used by the indiginous peoples of the Phillipines, to make fire, was the bamboo fire saw. In Nebraska you will not find any natural stands of bamboo except at the local garden center where it is sold as ornamental pieces. Nonetheless, I acquired a piece and cut several 2 foot lengths and split them in half. It is helpful if the walls of the bamboo are around 3/16 to 1/4 inch thick. The first pic shows the components: one half was my saw, another half as the fireboard, a tinder nest, and a fold of

buckskin for padding. I selected a 'saw' piece that had a nice length
between nodes and cleaned a good sharp edge with a knife. On the fireboard, I carved an indention and bored a small hole thru the bamboo. (Click on the pic to enlarge to see the prep-ed area beneath the 3 used slots.) Using the padding, brace the 'saw' firmly against the ground with your body. Place the tinder nest loosely around the bored hole in the fireboard, making sure it does not block the hole. Smoothly drive the fireboard back and forth against the saw piece, using the whole length between the nodes. You will feel the bamboo began to cut into the fireboard, the saw edge will darken, and smoke will wisp up. This is your cue to apply more downward pressure, and take faster, shorter strokes. This may take about 30-40 short, fast strokes to produce a coal. Carefully stop and inspect the notch cut into the fireboard. Gently blow into this notch. A coal will form at the hole bored thru, and may be small and stuck to the edge of the hole. You may need to take a small stick and gently dislodge it into the tinder nest. Carefully remove the tinder nest and blow to flame. The coals formed by the bamboo firesaw are small, so some extra fine downs, such as cattail, milkweed, etc., are helpful to spread the coal. It should only take 20-30 seconds to make a coal. This is actually a variation of the firesaw technic. The original method involved holding the saw in your hand and driving it back and forth against the fireboard. This variation, in my opinion, is more efficient because you can apply more pressure and control.

2009-06-15T20:01:00.002-05:00

Here is a pic of me taking shelter from the sun, knapping at the Lewis & Clark Festival, held June 12-14 at the Lewis & Clark State Park, near Onawa, IA. This is always a good time. The smell of camp smoke in the air, the sound of fiddles and bango's plinking out tunes a hundred years gone. I am intrigued by the traders, alot of them sun baked, buckskinned men who travel from rendezvous to rendezvous peddling their wares. I want to be one of them. Here I am demonstrating friction fires and how stone tools were made...and selling stone knives, tomahawks, spears, war clubs, and tools to the passerby. I am still too clean cut, pale skinned, and have too many teeth to be a real trader for these events...lol.

Tomahawk II

2009-05-29T09:05:00.006-05:00

It has been a month since I posted last, ...work, events, and projects have kept me ever busy. Finished another tomahawk (and elk leg bone dagger.) Tomahawks were an interesting tool unique to the Native American. It was a camp tool for chopping, but more popularly recognized as a fighting weapon. Originally, it was a stone head lashed to a handle, or inserted into a hole bored or burned through the handle. But, early in the 17th century, European made iron hatchets were traded and began to replace the stone weapons. (Also pictured are two authentic stone tomahawks.)

Otzi, the Ice Man

2009-04-25T14:50:00.002-05:00

The Nebraska Renaissance Faire is a week away, so I am busy making preps. Invariably, the topic of the Otzi, the ice man, comes up a number times as I present stone age skills' demonstrations. This was a fascinating discovery. In 1991 a couple hiking in the Otzal Alps, on the border between Austria and Italy, happened upon a 5300 year old mummified man thawing out of the glacier. This is how he recieved his nickname, Otzi, from the Otzal region where he was discovered. His body, clothing, and tools were remarkably preserved, giving insight to life in the Neolithic age in Europe. Among his possessions, I tried to recreate, his belt and its contents, along with his knife and retoucher. His belt had a pouch sewn into it, kind of a predecesor of the butt packs of today. He wore the pouch in front wrapping the ends twice around his body, tying in the front. In the pouch five items were recovered: a flint scraper, drill, and cutting flake; a bone awl; and a blackened piece of tinder fungus with bits a marcassite in it. Apparently, he had made fire by striking sparks off of a nodule of marassite with a flint striker into the prepared tinder fungus. (I have tried this technic but have not been successful yet.) Originally tied to the belt was a sheath of twined bast fibers that held a small triangular stone bladed dagger. On the other side was a retoucher, used to pressure flake edges on stone blades. This was unique in that it was a piece of stag antler pressed into the pithy section of a limb, to form a handle. It was then sharpened, somewhat like a pencil, as it wore from use. Probably one of the most important objects he possessed was an axe made of yew wood - with a copper blade in it. This find pushed back the advent of copper tools several hundred more years in Europe. You can read more about this discovery, and see more of his clothes and tools at the website for the South Tyrol Museum at: http://www.iceman.it/en/oetzi-the-iceman

Rock Tied To A Stick

2009-04-16T20:33:00.002-05:00

Work has been kicking my butt lately. I am mentally and physically drained. So, again no thought provoking banter...just like the title says...rock tied to a stick.

Sticks & Stones, Pitch & Sinew

2009-04-11T13:20:00.002-05:00

Rocks Are Good...And So Is Poop

2009-04-10T23:59:00.005-05:00

The sun felt warm on my skin in the cool spring air today...I'm ready for spring. Having some time to relax, I found a piece of chert in the rock pile and thinned out a preform. Taking the pressure flaker to it, I ended up with this three inch blade in search of a nice elk antler handle (a strand of sinew lying beside). I love rocks...I think, for the potential of what they can become. I catch myself scanning the stones in the parking lot, when I go to work, picking out the pieces. Limonite, a kind of iron oxide, stands out against the limestone as an ocher-yellow. Native Americans would grind this to powder to make paint pigment when mixed with hide glue. I've heated it in the campfire, as they did, to tranform the color to a reddish hue to paint on rawhide. Pockets of flint was crushed up, with the limestone, and I've taken steel files to strike showers of sparks off the small shards. Just need the right spark catcher...like charcloth, or tinder fungus, or a little cattail and deer fat. Quarzite pebbles, broken in half using the bipolar technic, yield sharp cutting edges that would work to harvest the quantities of striaght shoots coming up around the bushes - to make twined gathering baskets. All the dried bird poop, across the outside break tables, mixed with a little spit would work well as traditional white paint. People get a little squeamish when you start working with excrement. Like the time I saved urine to pour onto deer hides I was fleshing, the uric acid breaks down the fat and tissue. What is that old proverb....Waste not, want not?

Rawhide

2009-04-03T15:56:00.002-05:00

Somewhere in the epoch of time, man learned to tan hides to make soft supple clothing, bags, and such. I do not quite fathom how he reasoned that mashing the brains of the animal, and working it into the hide, would work, but it did. The hide was then smoked to color it. This would have been a natural thought as some of the early shelters were bent limbs covered with hides. Most likely they would have had a small fire inside. Without tanning a hide, a green hide will become stiff like cardboard. It can be worked soft and supple by effort, but if it gets wet, it will get stiff. Basically, as I understand this, there is a chemical called collagen in the hide which act like glue. When the fibers are coated, as in braining, the collagen can not set up. A green hide is often refered to as rawhide. Basically, all that might be done to made rawhide is just fleshing the inner hide to remove the meat, fat, and gore so that it will not rot. Some Native Americans used these as rawhide mats inside their tipis as ground coverings. Containers such as parfleche (French for rawhide) envelopes and boxes were made. Fleshing and dehairing hides, I mainly use rawhide for bindings. Wetting dry rawhide makes it easier to cut with an obsidian blade. Pictured is a spear with rawhide wrappings around the hollowed end that receives the foreshaft so that it will not split. Next to it, a stone blade attached to an adze - a chopping implement. The rawhide is soaked in water, stretched, and wrapped on. As it dries it shrinks and becomes stiff making a secure binding. Hide scraps were saved, I had read, and eaten in times of hunger. Perhaps it was one of those times when scraps were put into a pot, and they boiled down to a brown sticky goo - that hide glue was discovered. Basically, the collagen was disolved out of the hide and the water boiled off. The brown object in the upper right is dried hide glue I had made. Unless you dry it, it will spoil. To reconstitute it all you do is grind it to a powder, add water, and heat. Often, bindings are covered with hide glue. The tools pictured are laying on the flesh side of a rawhide mat. It is interesting, nature provides...you just need to learn how to use it.

Slowly, But Surely

2009-03-22T18:49:00.003-05:00

Making knives and spears in prep for the Ren Faire, for part of the demo's and to sell. I still have some work to do on the spear foreshafts - tapering them to fit into the spear shafts snugly. Also, soaking and wrapping rawhide around the top of the spearshafts, so that they won't split out when the foreshafts are pushed in. I used to drive myself crazy, working on these projects for hours on the weekends. Maybe I've matured or disciplined a bit, now I only spend about 15 -20 minutes a day, to complete my projects...slowly, but surely.

I came across a cool site that is worth checking out. Flintknapper, Bernard Ginelli, has a really nicely done website of his work in European stone tools. The only drawback, is that it is in French, ...and I don't read French. Check it out at: http://bernardginelli.free.fr/index.php

Also, John Lord's site from England, is interesting: http://www.flintknapping.co.uk/ ...and it's in English, for us non-bilinguals...lol.

Burins - Tool of the Upper Paleolithc Stone Age

2009-03-20T19:28:00.007-05:00

I was contacted by a Renaissance Faire promoter to demonstrate at an upcoming event. In the past I have done a few, representing European stone age. A little bit of a stretch for a ren faire, but they appreciate the educational aspect..."edu-tainment" they call it. Besides, bone needles invented 27,000 years ago, were still used by the common man into medevil times. Flintknapping skills once used to make spearpoints translated into the budding gun flint industry. A lot of the tools & technics utilized in the European stone age were similarly found in various cultures around the world - hand drill fire-making, darts & atlatls, flintknapping stone tools. One interesting innovation of the "Aurignacian" stone age culture of Europe (28,000 to 21,000 B.C.) was a tool we call the burin. The name "Aurignacian" refers to particular way people were living, determined by the artifacts they left. They had refined striking blades off of a specially prepared flint core, to modify into different tool forms...end scrapers, backed knives, and burins. A burin was flint blade broken at an oblique angle, and beveled into a chisel-like tool used to carve antler, wood, and bone. This invention helped to create a whole new series of bone and antler tools and weapons. Some of the earliest ivory carvings of animal and human forms began to appear at this time. The burin was used to score deep parallel grooves in lengths of antler and bone to isolate slivers that were pried out and worked into needles and spear heads.

This burin was made by snapping a blade at an angle. Then a quick stroke of a small hammerstone or billet takes off the outside edge to leave a sharp chisel edge. In the background in a barbed bone spear point I've been working on.

Beveled Points

2009-03-05T17:04:00.002-06:00

I acquired this point from an artifact hunter at a gem and mineral show. He related it was a personal find he picked up in Oklahoma. It looks like it was knapped out of Burlington chert and possibly would have been a small knife form. It measures 2 1/4 inches long, and just over 1 inch wide. Even though it was missing part of the base, I found it interesting because it appeared to be beveled in the Archaic style. I am no expert on artifacts, but appreciated the knapping technic it demonstrated. The Archaic period (8000 - 1000 BC) in North America was characterized by some points, that were beveled, or unifacially resharpened. Basically, what this means, was that a series of flakes were removed from the face of one side - to produce a steep, wedge-shaped cutting edge. The point was then turned over and it was repeated on the other side. As you do this the point takes on a parallelogram, or propeller-like shape, in the cross section. In this manner it takes less effort to make a cutting edge and you can get more resharpenings before the piece is exhausted. Some beveled points have been resharpened so many times, that they have come to resemble drills, archaeologists have speculated. What do I learn from all of this? Beveling is the easiest method to produce a strong sharp edge on a dulled stone blade...perhaps to retouch after sawing fireboard notches. It may not be the prettiest, but it is a functional technic.

Bi-Polar Percussion

2009-02-25T17:19:00.007-06:00

Flintknapping, chipping fine points and blades, is a art form that takes the right tools, time to master, and the proper stone. The possibility of coming across flint-type stone while walking the woods is not likely to happen...well, here in Nebraska. Expedient stone tools can be made with common quartzite pebbles or some fine grained stones. For these pictures, I picked up a "skipping stone" from a local stream...kind of a flat ovoid rock. Squeezing the pebble between my fingers, I set it firmly on a rock "anvil". I could also hold it in place with an improvised tongs made by bending a green stick in half, to protect my fingers. Taking another rock, I soundly strike the top of the pebble, breaking it in two. This method of controlled breaking is referred to as bi-polar percussion. One archaeologist/primitive technician pointed out that this is the way children instinctively make stone tools when not shown otherwise. This technic works a good deal of the time creating two stone halves with somewhat sharp edges that can be used, in a pinch... to skin a rabbit, saw a fireboard notch, or scrape a hide.

Two halves of a common quartzite pebble with sharp-lipped edges

Cutting leather with one of the halves

Phallanges and Fishhooks

2009-02-17T17:44:00.005-06:00

Deer and elk are classified as ungulates, or hoofed animals. Their feet are actually two elongated toes. In the leg are two sets of phallanges that come off the lower leg bone and attach to small bones inside the hooves. These phallange bones have been used for beads, ceremonial rattles, small handles for stone blades, and fishhooks. The upper picture shows kind of a breakdown of the bones in a lower leg of a deer. The lower photo shows some of the reduction process for making a fishhook from the phallange. Sometimes I will soak the bone a day or so to soften the outer layer. Using a stone flake you score around the bone length-wise and carefully split it in half. It is basically hollow with marrow inside. Using a stone drill, I will then start to open up the middle portion of the phallange by boring holes in it. The tedious part is carefully grinding the excess away on an abrasive rock and shaving smooth the bone into shape with a stone flake. In this way I have the potential to make two hooks from one bone. I have heard that another way to appoach this is to simply grind both sides down on a sanding stone till you expose the hollow center, then form it into a hook. Truthfully, I have never been successful fishing with these bone hooks yet, but several of my friends, who are into primitive skills, have caught fish and bullfrogs...with great patience and perseverence using bone hooks.

"Swiss Army Knife" of the Stone Age

2009-02-14T13:05:00.004-06:00

The handaxe, a hand-sized tear drop-shaped stone tool, had been utilized for tens of thousands of years. First making its appearance in Africa, it was the first deliberately stylized form of stone tool working. Some considered it be the "swiss army knife" of the stone age because of its diverse uses. You carried everything you owned, so you only carried what was important. A multi-functional tool, like the handaxe, could be used for a variety of tasks. The tip was good for digging and piercing, for getting to buried bulbs and tubers or making the incision on a fresh kill. The upper edges near the tip were thinned, like a knife, for cutting and butchering purposes. The deep flake scars in the middle range work well for scraping shafts...also for producing shavings for tinder in wet weather. Edges closer to the base were suitable for chopping and hacking functions. The thick butt made a good hand hold as well serving as a good tool for pounding and smashing. If needed, the handaxe was also a core that sharp flakes could be removed from. Basically, you had a knife, hammer, axe, scraper, pick, blade core, and more - all in one.

(Scraping a spear shaft)

Bone Tools

2009-02-04T18:22:00.005-06:00

I had a personal revelation, or spark of understanding today. Archaeologists had noted that large tracts of Nebraska really did not have any decent stone resources for making necessary tools. A lot of the stone was carried in from remote locations. As I considered this, something hit me. The plains, before the white man, was a sea of buffalo. Buffalo, deer, elk, beaver, etc., provided food, clothing, shelter, and another natural resource...bone. Bone was considered the "plastic" of the stone age in its ability to be shaped, by reduction, into a multitude of items - knives, awls, needles, fishhooks, fleshers, spearheads, etc. The oldest known bone tool found in North America was a carabou bone flesher dated at 27,000 BP. Being a flintknapper, you tend to think in terms of stone use...kind of like the adage.."when you're a hammer, everythings a nail." Nature provided even in the absence of prime stone resources. The lower picture shows some of the possible uses from my tool kit. Top: buffalo jaw war club, the 'hinge' section was removed to form a point. From the left: elk scapula knife, similar to archaeology finds in Nebraska; a rib and leg bone knife; two wedges, for splitting wood; four awls from leg bone and ulna; two bone arrowheads; fishhook; misc. needles; leg bone pressure flaker for flintknapping, based on archaeology find.

"Groaning Stick"

2009-01-29T12:02:00.003-06:00

It's interesting that you find the same devices used by different cultures, around the world, often separated by great time and distance. The use of the atlatl to hurl a dart, seen on cave paintings of Paleolithic Europe 15,000 years ago, was also employed by the aborigines of Austrailia, and by native peoples of North and South America. Examples of fire-making technics, like the handdrill and bow & drill, are similarly found. In the movie, "Crocodile Dundee 2", Paul Hogan uses a bullroarer to contact his aborigine friends. A bone churinga, or bullroarer, was found dating back 10,000 years ago in Europe (see small picture). References can also be found in ancient Greece, the Maori tribe of New Zealand, arctic inhabitants, and native peoples of the Americas. Many tribes of Native Americans used the bullroarer as a sacred instrument to invoke the spirits during rites of passage to manhood, healing, for good fortune in hunts and growing of crops. The Apache, Blackfeet, Hopi, Athabaskan, Yokuts, Pomo, and Aztecs to name a few. The Navajo called it the "groaning stick" (tsin di' ni) and used it to drive away evil spirits and illness.

Generally, it is a flat piece of bone, metal, or more commonly dense wood, about 2-inches wide by 6 to 10-inches long, with a cord attached to it. The 'paddle' is set spinning, and then swung overhead in a circle to produce a vibrant "whirring" sound. A variation among the Native Americans was to attach the cord to a 2-foot long stick, which was used to twirl the churinga. It is interesting, at historical events, when I use the bullroarer the reaction of people...it is like it evokes a primal recognition in them.

"Rabbi"

2009-01-29T11:49:00.002-06:00

Attended the Modern & Black Powder Gun Show, in Lincoln, NE, held over last weekend. Met alot of nice people, learned some things, all in all a good time. One of the unique characters there is Les Vilda, aka 'Rabbi.' I have seen him at numerous rendezvous and he is always the center of attention as he is an avid entertainer, historian, and educator. Borrowing from his website..."Les's knowledge of history comes not only from books, but also from personal experience as a Living Historian. He has canoed the full length (2500 miles) of the Missouri River and 500 miles of the Mississippi River. He walked 980 miles of the Santa Fe Trail with a pack donkey in 1984 and 1100 miles of the trail with a horse and wagon in 1987. In 1988, Les traveled nearly 300 miles of the Oregon Trail in Wyoming on horseback and, in 1992, traveled 170 miles of the Nebraska City Cut-Off of the Oregon Trail in Nebraska with a wagon and a donkey-mule team." He conducts educational programs for schools, museums, and historical events on Lewis & Clark, the western trails, and skills. Check out his website at: http://www.havedonkeywilltravel.com/

Finished War Clubs

2009-01-18T20:32:00.002-06:00

Thought I'd post a pic of the finished war clubs. There is a modern & black powder gun show in Lincoln, NE next weekend I am prep-ing for. This is fun event. The blackpowder portion of the event is dressed in buckskins and sell period trade goods. A lot of characters who like to have a good time. I always get a table selling my stone knives, rattles, spears, war clubs & tomahawks...supports the 'hobby' and you always meet some interesting people.

Plains War Clubs

2009-01-07T18:58:00.004-06:00

I had the opportunity to haft a couple of modern made stone club & axe heads last month (see previous posts). One of them was a double pointed stone war club head. This got me thinking how I could make one. After doing some research, I found that alabaster was a stone that was sometimes utilized. This stone is used for sculpture because of its ability to be chiseled, sanded, and polished. Historically, where this was available-shaped war club heads, atlatl banner stones, pendants, etc. were made out of alabaster. Traditionally, they are made using the peck and grind process. Pecking the 'blank' with a hammerstone to form its general shape, then grinding it with fine sand on a stone slab. A groove is pecked around the head to facilitate hafting. The head is polished with animal fat and hide. Warriors would then decorate their weapons as the 'spirit' dictated with beads, fur, fringes, scalplocks, etc. Basically, there were three main types of Plains stone war clubs. One was a simple ovoid rock with a pecked hafting groove. The second, what I tried, was forming a double pointed stone head. The third, was similar to the medevil mace...a stone was wrapped in a loose fitting of rawhide and attached to a handle. The handles were sometimes up to several feet long allowing them to be used effectively from horseback.
Alabaster is an interesting stone to work with. I'll have to try my hand at making some atlatl bannerstones. One experience that is always reenforced working primitively is-the wear and tear your body takes flintknapping, grinding stone, scraping hides, etc. You really appreciate the modern tools in comparison.

Novaculite Chert

2008-12-22T23:28:00.002-06:00

You know, I have a really great job. Every year the plant shuts down for a couple weeks over the Christmas and New Years holidays. This has given me a chance to slow down and do some of the things I love...like breaking rock. Lately, I've been knapping some novaculite. Heat-treated it has a nice glossy shine when you flake away the surface. Novaculite is a type of microscopic crystallized quartz found in the Ouachita Mountains (pronounced: Wa-cha-taw) of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Every area seems to have its own distinct type of stone suited to knapping. The color can vary from white to grey-black. Since prehistoric times this stone has been mined to make points and tools, and in historic periods as whetstones for sharpening steel implements. The word novaculite comes from the Latin word 'novacula', which translates as 'razor', or 'sharp knife'. This was a term formerly used in England for certain stones that served as whetstones. Pictured is a knife I just finished today, a novaculite chert blade hafted with sinew and pitch mixture to an elk antler handle.

Finished Hafted Stone Heads

2008-12-19T16:25:00.003-06:00

I had a gentleman who wanted me to haft a couple of modern made stone replica heads to handles. These were pictured a couple posts back. The top was a full groove axe head which was set into a hardwood handle, wrapped with rawhides, that when dry had shrank to hold tight. The handle was stained with boiled walnut hulls and burnished with a deer leg bone to give a polished, or varnished look. To burnish all you do is vigorously rub a bone across the wood. It compresses and smooths the outer fibers to give a polished look. The bottom is representative of a plains war club. It was made in a similar way, except that deer hide was stretched and sew over the entire handle. Warriors would decorate their personal weapons with fringes, fur, scalp locks, etc. as they felt inclined. There were several varieties of war clubs utilized. One, like the pictured pecked and grooved double pointed head. Another was a common rounded rock, pecked and grooved, hafted. A unique style was a rounded rock, wrapped with a loose section of hide and attached to a handle - similar to the medevil mace with the ball and chain on a handle. These war clubs were used in combat, and longer-handled ones from horseback. As I did some research on war clubs, I found a good number of double pointed heads fashioned from alabaster, a carving stone used for sculptures. So, I located a source and will try my hand fashioning some double pointed club heads, as well as banner stones for atlatls.

2008-11-30T21:33:00.002-06:00

In a previous post, Rocks and the Great Spirit, dated Nov. 7, 2008...I had included a picture of a Keokuk burlington stone blade I knapped for a tomahawk. I thought I would show what it ended up looking like. The blade is fit into a hardwood handle, with deer hide sewn on, and wrapped with rawhide. Boiled walnut hulls make a stain used to add coloring. Decoration is arctic coyote fur, bufallo toe bone, turkey feather, and seed beads.

Captain John Smith (1612), of the Plymouth Colony, was the first to mention this tool using the name "tomahack" The term "tomahawk" is derived from the Algonquian Indian words "tamahak" or "tamahakan". The earliest definitions of these words applied to stone-headed implements used as tools and weapons. Basically, it was a lightweight axe with a head of stone or bone attached to a handle that the Indians of North America used as a tool for chopping, as a weapon in combat, and in ceremony. After the Europeans arrived in America, the Indians traded with them for iron tomahawk heads. Some people think the expression bury the hatchet came from an Indian custom of burying a tomahawk to pledge peace. However, many scholars doubt that the Indians ever had such a custom.

Pecking & Grinding

2008-11-26T21:00:00.002-06:00

Sometime during the early part of the Archaic Period (8000 BC - 1000 BC) it was discovered that fine-grained hardstones and slates, that could not normally be chipped, could be formed into durable tools by a process of pecking and grinding. Using a simple hammerstone, repeated blows would pulverize the surface of the new tool to dust. This often required many hours...and days, of monotonous repetition. After the new tool was generally shaped it was ground with an abrasive stone that smoothed the pitted surface. Finally, it was polished with animal fat and hide. In this way adze blades, axes and celts, bannerstones and pendants were manufactured.

Pictured is a full-groove axe, meaning that a groove was formed around the full diameter, and a plains-style war club head. The groove facilitates hafting by allowing rawhide bindings a more secure fit around the stone. Last weekend I worked an area gun show displaying and selling stone knives. A gentleman approached me asking if I would put a handle on these modern replicas. I'll post some pics of that when I finish. Hey, an interesting feather in my hat...I was approached by a representative with the History Channel, who had seen some axes I made on another site, about replicating a pre-Columbian Mayan axe for a show. It was flattering to be considered but I knew someone better qualified for the job, and probably had the makings on hand, and recommended Larry Kinsella. Check out his Megalithics website at: http://www.flintknapper.com/

Burlington Chert

2008-11-15T14:12:00.003-06:00

One of the most popular and widespread lithic resources in the central US is burlinton chert. Artifacts of the material have been found throughout the midwest. The colors can vary light in shade with white, cream, tan, and light pink predominating. Outcroppings occur primarily in Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa, but are found in other areas. One source said the chert was named after the city Burlington, Iowa..? According to John Stade, "some 320 million years ago much of Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois were covered by a large, warm, shallow sea which teemed with life. The primary life form was the crinoid, uncommon today though some are found in trenches of the deepest parts of the oceans. Crinoids were actually an animal but look like a plant. In the 320 million years since these creatures lived, died, and fell to the sea floor - the bottom became covered with many feet of sediment and compressed into limestone. Dissolved silica in the water helped to form large masses of chert" that we know today as burlington chert. This stone was prized by the Native peoples and utlilized for making their many stone tool forms - points, scrapers, drills, gravers, etc. ( Pictured is burlington chert samples and latest knife.)

Fluting Technology

2008-11-14T08:38:00.003-06:00

It is a curious thing that some of the oldest cultural point styles in North America are also the most technically complex dating back 12,000 years.

The Clovis point was a lanceolate blade about 4 to 5-inches long, with flutes on both sides running half way up the point, and presumably used on a thrusting spear because of its size. It was given this name because of the find made at Clovis, NM, in 1932. These points have been found from Alaska to Mexico, California to Nova Scotia. Bob Patten, in his book: "Old Tools, New Eyes", remarked that..."Clovis projectiles paradoxically are too advanced to be the earliest technology in the Americas, but they have no apparent predecessors."

Around 10,000 years ago the American plains gave rise to the Folsom culture. Named so because of their point style found among the bones of an extinct giant bison that roamed the plains 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, found near Folsom, NM, in 1925. Folsom points were thin, around 2-inches long, with flutes running up both sides nearly the the entire length of the point. It is logical to presume that Folsom fluting technology evolved from the Clovis fluting technic. Some speculate that these points were used on a new hunting weapon that was emerging-the dart and atlatl. It is interesting that after reaching, what some consider an apex of flintknapping, this fluting technology disappeared.

What makes these points so curious is the parallel fluting. Most likely it facilitated hafting to the foreshaft. Modern knappers replicating these points have devised various methods to drive these flutes from direct percussion to various types of jigs. It is a challenging process and breakage rates can be high. In any case it is still a mystery how these complex points emerged so long ago in comparison to the following styles.
(Casts by Peter A. Bostrom/Lithic Casting Lab. Check his site out at: http://lithiccastinglab.com/index.htm )

Foreshaft Technology

2008-11-12T16:42:00.004-06:00

I was planning putting a couple of light spears together this weekend that I had made some stone points for. One consideration was whether to attach the spearhead to the shaft directly, or with a foreshaft. That got me thinking...(uh, oh,).

What an ingenious innovation the foreshaft. 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, when Paleo Indians were walking the North American continent, some were using spears and atlatl darts with tapering wooden 'foreshafts', to which stone points were hafted. Instead of carrying many spears during a hunt, their composite weapon was more versatile. As the opportunity presented itself they could strike with the thrusting spear, pull back leaving the point and foreshaft in the beast, and "reload" in effect. Making a kill, the foreshaft could be dislodged from the shaft and utilized as a butchering blade. Repairs, and replacements, were easier since you were only working with the smaller foreshaft and point. Decades ago, early man was sometimes portrayed as a dull-witted opportunist, but scientists have have shown they were far from it in their ability to "adapt, improvise, and overcome" in their sometimes hostile environment.

Fireboard with a Chopper

2008-11-10T17:54:00.005-06:00

The sleet was coming down as I decided to put the large Keokuk spall, from the previous post, to work. I had mentioned that my first impression was that it would make a good chopper. It fit in the hand well and tapered to a nice edge.

I couldn't locate my fireboard so I decided to make one from a thick cottonwood tree root. I couldn't split it so I used this quicky technic. With the chopper I cut half way thru the root.

Bracing one end of the root on a log, with the chopped out notch facing the ground, I stomped the limb in two. The 'notch' caused a section to split off length-wise, thinning the limb down for a fireboard. I bored a depression and used the choppers edge to saw a notch into the depression.

With in a few minutes had a smolder ember.

Flintknapping 101: Reading Rock

2008-11-08T08:23:00.006-06:00

This is a continuation of the Flintknapping 101 series, if you look back thru past posts. I am trying to explain some of the strategies that come into play as you determine how to proceed at the stage of a large spall-using percussion, or a flake-using pressure. I am just trying to present some basic concepts, without writting a textbook...of which there are those much better qualified.

This spall is about 4-inches by 6-inches, and 1 3/4-inch thick. It had already been worked on when I recieved it. You can see where a large expanding flake had been struck off (Pic 1).

One of the side views (Pic 2) shows we have thick areas, top and bottom, to thin out. These slope to a thin sharp edge, seen at the lower left half. My initial thought picking it up was that it would make a nice chopper, fit in the hand well. The right hand side shows a squared edge, with a little cortex, that will have to be removed.

One of the principles is that- energy follows ridges (Pic 3). Look at any of the pictures, where ever you have a nice prominent ridge leading into the stone, this is a good place to intiate a fracture that will take off a nice flake-thinning the stone. A good strategy is to intially look for any ridges that lead to the high thick points of the spall first, to start thinning these areas first.

(Pic 4) Another concept that will become clearer as we go along is: centerline. This affects us in two ways. 1. As you work the piece, you want to move the edges of the rock up, or down, to the centerline. Hold an arrowhead on edge and you see that the edge follows a straight line back to tip...this is the centerline. 2. You can best strike, or push, flakes off of a stone from platforms that lie BELOW the centerline. The three "x" show possible platforms to use. If the edge lies above the centerline, as in edges to the upper right - flip the stone over. Now these lie below the centerline. Note: you are removing flakes off the bottom side of the stone while knapping.
(Pic 5) We have a squared edge on one side. To remove that we will use a process of alternate flaking. On the right hand side I will strike straight down (1). If you refer back to the post where we discussed the Hertzian Cone...rock fractures with a cone of approximately 100-degree angle. I will flip the rock over, and strike the angle left (2) from the first strike. Flip the rock and strike (3), repeating this process till my squared-edge is gone. In its place will be "zig-zag" edge. I'll show these actions in later posts.

Basically, this is a few of the mental exercises you automatically go thru when you pick up a potential piece and evaluate it. Probably another very important one would be: Begin with the end in mind. What do you want to make. With this piece I will initially make a preform. Basically, keeping the 6-inches length intact and eliminating about 1 1/2-inches of thickness in areas. It will look like a long ovoid thinning down to the edges. Early flintknappers would often make preforms at the quarry sites. They were lighter and easier to carry and could be modified, as needed, to spearpoints, knife blades, scrapers, adze blades, etc.

Rocks and the Great Spirit

2008-11-07T14:56:00.004-06:00

The UPS truck stopped out front with a couple of packages... wheeee! They were full of hand-sized spalls of novaculite chert and keokuk burlington. One of the knapping suppliers had written a tantalizing advertisement for their rock... "Knaps like butter, Chips to a Glossy Finish!" A month later, and $100 poorer I was the proud owner of a couple dozen spalls of quality knapping stone.

I know this sounds funny to many to spend a hundred dollars for stone. (I've spent much more at times.) This was an adjustment for my wife. But, business-wise, all I need to do is make 2 or 3 items and sell them at an event and the cost is covered. Despite the cool, no cold, weather I was anxious to break some rock. One spall spoke to me and revealed that it would like to be a tomahawk blade...and so it became. You know that is one thing I have learned to trust while knapping...my instincts, or inner voice. Particularly as you are doing some delicate work the voice will tell you, "Put it down, you are going to break it with your next strike." It's just a whisper. If I ignore it, sure enough, I suffer the consequenses. After awhile you learn to trust in that still small voice...the Great Spirit?

2008-11-06T20:30:00.002-06:00

Rumaging around I came across my deer leg bone drill extension for the bowdrill. Kennie Sherron presented this idea, which John McPherson introduced in his booklets. Sometimes you can't always find nice long staight drill material, or the ones you have are worn down from use. I notice in my supply of yucca stalks, only a small portion are good for drills. But, I have plenty of bit-size pieces. To make the drill extension-a lower deer leg bone has been scored, and the top and bottom ends removed. Sinew, and a little hide glue, is wrapped around both ends to prevent splitting. A pointy hardwood 'cap' is carved and glued into the top end, that will spin in the handheld socket (...actually a hardwood stick simply forced into the top would have been simpler.) The bits are shaved to snuggly form fit into the lower end. The square-ish shape of the bone rides well in the bow string with no slippage. As Mr. Sherron describes it..."for the Indian who has it all."

Two-Stick Fireboard II

2008-11-05T16:40:00.003-06:00

Got home today and immediately grabbed a mullein stalk and split it in three sections..."hello" kiss from the wife would have to wait. One part became my drill, the other two I tied together with some cord. In my area there is alot of mullein. I was curious how well this would work with the two-stick fireboard technic. Mullein has a styrofoam-like, soft pithy core, surrounded by a tough woody exterior. In the past, using a stalk as a handdrill I often drilled thru the fireboard before getting a coal...because of the hard woody sheath. I've learned though, you need to shave down the lower half-inch to thin the exterior wall for better results. My first 30-second attempt yeilded some smoke and brown powder in the groove. I re-shaved the lower end. The second attempt, with a little more determination, nearly drilled thru the two sticks of the fireboard. But, I had a smoldering coal for my efforts. It was small and needed some extra coaxing. Also, I recognize that a previously tried hole, with a little char to it, forms a coal easier than a fresh one. All in all, it answered my question of how well it would perform using this fireboard method. I sort of came to the conclusion, that for the time & ease of making the drill & hearth from a single stalk, I preferred this technic over splitting the stalk, forming the hole, and cutting the notch. And as for the "hello" kiss from the wife...I think I burned that bridge from the onset...lol.

Two-Stick Fireboard

2008-11-04T17:49:00.003-06:00

I had been thinking about trying this technic with a mullein today. When I came home the first thing I came across was an 3-foot long yucca stalk. Worms had infested it, but had since burrowed out, and departed. I scored it and snapped it into three sections. The straightest became my drill. The other two sections I simply tied together with some buckskin thongs. This is the two-stick fireboard method. You need to brace the drill against your foot when you start, so it won't travel up and down the groove. After a few strokes it will burn into the two stalks and settle in...you can move your foot a little to the side now. It only took about 10 seconds and I had two smoldering hot coals, one on each side of the drill. The groove formed by the two ajoining sticks forms a notch for the powder to accumulate, till it is hot enough to form an ember. Simply drop the coals into a tinder and blow to flame. Another cool thing about this technic is that you can untie the pieces, rotate the stalks, re-tie, and have a new area to work with.

Naked into the Wilderness

2008-11-03T16:16:00.004-06:00

John McPherson introduced the theme of "Naked into the Wilderness" in his primitive skills series. I've seen myself naked. I'm not that pretty or gung-ho. But, I have been intrigued and challenged for decades with answering the question- how I would cope, skills-wise, stepping off the beaten path. Out of habit I survey new surroundings with that question in mind. Is there wood and leaves/brush for insulation to construct a debris shelter? Rocks to make simple cutting blades, to help construct a bowdrill, to make fire? Fire to coal burn a wood bowl to purify water with hot rocks? What's for supper, and how do get it? I recognize that I 'play' at primitive skills. I have a j.o.b., and a family, and a mortgage to support. But, it makes my imaginaition soar. I meet interesting new friends. I have acculmulated a lot of 'stuff' in the process. It's not the stuff I care about so much...it's the skills, or know how...to be able to start a fire by "rubbing two sticks together". To be able to make a cutting blade from a quartzite cobble, to cut the notch in a bowdrill fireboard. To make a poultice from plantain leaves to stem the flow of blood from a bad cut...( which I received while cutting the notch with the the sharp edge of the quarzite cobble while making a bowdrill to make fire...lol.) Oh well, tomorrow is another day. Perhaps I will not feel as melancholy. Hmmm...I wonder what time Survivor Man comes on t.v.?

Asphaltum

2008-11-02T17:44:00.006-06:00

Asphaltum was one of natures resouces used anciently as an adhesive and waterproofing for hafting, baskets, and canoes. Found where crude oil seeps to the surface, the light fraction of oil evaporates, leaving a heavy sticky tar. Most notably, the La Brea tar pits of California, was used for thousands of years by the local Native inhabitants. Knife artifacts, hafted with asphaltum, have been found originating from seeps in California and Texas.

Tonights project was hafting some stone blades in deer leg phallanges. The phallanges were drilled out to receive a stemmed point. Dried asphaltum (left) was heated over hot coals in soapstone bowl and applied to the bone and point. When it cools it forms a fairly solid haft. More so, it was used to waterproof the bindings hafting the blade to the shaft.

Cattail Handdrill Attempt

2008-10-31T11:38:00.004-05:00

I had read that other primtive skill practitioners had used cattail stalk for handdrill fire making. Having worked with the handdrill for years, I recognized how limited my choices were for appropriate material to make it with in my area. Mullein grows wild along the roadsides. Yucca is more of an ornamental plant here, but grows in the sandhills in northcentral Nebraska. Cattail is an easily recognizable plant, that to my knowledge, grows in moist areas and is available everywhere I've seen. I went out a couple weeks ago and cut half a dozen stalks, and stripped them down, to dry. Over the past couple of days I've been attempting to make a hot coal with a cattail stalk on a yucca fireboard. So, far I have smoke, but no hot coal. Some observations: The stalks are fragile higher up, denser lower. If I squeeze too hard I compress the stalk, and buckle them. Some of the stalks have a styrofoam-like inner pith, like mullein. Others are fibrous. Maybe I need to study out where this changes in the stalk. In my enthusiasm to try this, I harvested these stalks before the seed head were mature. I will gather some later in the season. The powder that forms in the notch in brown. I am not getting enough heat, from friction, to form the black powder and combust it into a hot coal. Also, the stalks outer portion is sturdy enough to drill through the yucca fireboard, perhaps a harder fireboard like cottonwood. Well, primitive skills is just that...skills. Right now I am just embarking on the learning curve with this new material. But, what a great plant if I can make fire with it. Cattails are food, cordage, medicine, insulation, shelter, tinder, torches, etc.

One Mans Trash

2008-10-30T18:35:00.003-05:00

One man's trash, is another man's treasure...or something like that. I got the urge to start cleaning out the Paleolithic Shop of Horrors...my shed where I stash my projects & possibilities. It has gotten away from me in the past year or so that I could not even get in it. Well, I started sorting...and shoveling it out. A friend of mine said years ago, "You can't do something, if you don't have something to do it with." Boy, I must have taken that to heart. Making the first dent I've found buffalo ribs, deer jaws and leg bones for making knife handles, needles, awls, and bone flakers. I was saving spalls of soapstone to make more fat lamps and bowls for processing pitch and asphaltum. Stalks of yucca, mullein, and cottonwood are tucked away for friction fire sets. Chunks of rotted wood and chaga fungus make great coal extenders. Some of the dried rivercane shafts are made into atlatl darts. Half made points, flakes, scrapers, and cores of obsidian, nehawka, keokuk, novaculite, and English flint liter the wooden floor. Deer hides, buckets of dried clay, elk rawhide, sinew, pine pitch are heaped in piles and buried in boxes and buckets. I've got the stuff, now all I need...is time.

Slab-o-riffic

2008-10-23T18:20:00.002-05:00

Earlier this month I attended the Nebraska Mineral & Gem Show and met a vendor who was eager to unload some mahogany obsidian slabs. This is the first knife, from those slabs, next to a cleaned slab. They are laying on a couple sawn slabs. Knappers will use sawn slabs to conserve good stone. The knife is 10-inches long, in a elk antler handle, wrapped with sinew.

This blade has already tasted blood...cut my finger handling it...>ouch<.

Stone Knives III

2008-10-17T07:37:00.002-05:00

Completed another series of knives. About once a month I get a spurt of ambition and haft some antler and stone.

Memory Lane

2008-10-10T21:10:00.003-05:00

I was cleaning out my book shelf and came across an old picture of my first 'primitive skills' set up at a local event in 199?. Finally decided to step out do something publicly. No one had done something quite like it, in the area, so it was well received. I cringe now looking at it, and so did the buckskinners I was next to,...with my big green plastic tarp, posters taped to cardboard panels, laying out a ga-zillion pieces. The take down after the event was gruelling...hot & tired after several days you had to pick it up and pack it away. I finally evolved into a more efficient display set up. Though, I do not know if I really saved any time & effort, because now I am hauling around a large canvas fly tent. Now I roll up a large tub with wheels (wheels are good) and set out 6-8 'trays' of display and instructional material: area stone & points, stone & bone tools, flintknapping tools & process examples, primitive hafting, deer leg 'tool kit', friction fire making, etc. Of course, this is only the instructional part. Have a buffalo 'trade blanket' of stone knives, spears, tomahawks, etc., and the tent 'decorative accessories.' But, when the day is done I can retreive the tub (with the wheels), and pick up the display in minutes...wheeee. That way I have more time to drop poles, pull stakes, fold the tent,
...>sheesh<.

Rock Show

2008-10-04T13:40:00.009-05:00

Woke up this morning, with a start, vaguely remembering today was the Nebraska Mineral & Gem Club's annual show in Omaha, NE. Told my kids I was going to a rock show, and realized by their expressions, 'rock show' meant different things to us...lol. Hurried and got on the road, realizing I forgot to shave, and drove the 31 miles. My purpose was two-fold. One - you can sometimes score some knappable material, which I did, picking up a boulders worth of mahogany obsidian slabs and chuncks at a great price.

My second objective was to meet up with retired physics teacher, Dennis Beckman. I met him briefly years ago, at another rock show, when he was starting knapping. He has progressed nicely and had a table of some of his handiwork-points, flutes, beading, bow & arrows. He says on his website..."So, how did this all get started for me? A few years back, I began knapping. Made some of the ugliest little points, but I thought they were nice and it was a lot of fun. As time passed the quality got better and I decided the points should be put on the end of a stick. So I started making arrows and atlatls. And, if you have arrows, you must have a bow, etc …" Check out his Native Crafts website at: http://members.cox.net/mynativecrafts/

Flintknappng 101: Platform, Cone & Ridge

2008-10-03T10:54:00.014-05:00

Flintknapping is a process of reduction. You have a large nodule. You fracture off a spall or flake. The thick parts of that flake are thinned out with percussion, then pressure flaked into a point.
I am going to try to explain a few basic concepts behind striking 'predictable' flakes off of a core with a hammerstone. Your intial core needs a flat striking surface...this is called the 'platform.' Some oval nodules would need to be broken in half, or one end knocked off, if necessary to produce a flat platform.

The angle between the striking platform and the adjacent face should be 90-degrees, or less, to successfully strike flakes off. An obtuse angle of more than 90-degrees will not work. The obsidian core pictured has a platform, and adjacent side, at slightly less than 90-degrees as an example.
The next concept is important.

If you have ever seen a BB hit a glass pane...it produces a cone of about 100-degrees. This is called the 'Hertzian cone.' It is consistant. The picture shows an obsidian core which has been struck, with insufficient force to crack the core, that left evidence of the force generated into the rock- forming the hertzian cone. Cool, huh? Early man was intelligent and took note of cause and effect to be able to develop stone working skills to high levels.

Now, in order to strike thin predictable flakes off the core, and not just make gravel, I mentally apply this concept of the hertzian cone. I judge what angle I need to strike a glancing blow, that one edge of the cone of force will intersect into the edge of the rock face. I prepare my platform, grind it some with the hammerstone, to make it more abrasive, so that it make grip a little when I make contact.

There is one more principle I can apply - energy follows ridges. You can see some of the ridges formed by the removed flakes on the next pic. My flakes will be longer if there is a ridge to follow. If there is no ridge, the flake may end up somewhat clam shell shaped. Depends on what you want. Aborigninal man at times took great care in the preparation of the core to remove specialized flakes, as in the European Levallois and Mousterian technics.

Here is a top shot of the removed flake. You can see ridges left behind, which set up for more long flake removal.

Here are several flakes, about 3 inches long, 2 inches wide. The one on the right struck a pebble and lost a section when it detached. This is how butchering flakes were made - basically one blow stone tools. The edges are very sharp. The middle and right flakes have a curled base edge. This could be retouched a little, and sides dulled, to make hide scrapers. The one on the right could have the top retouched to make a perforator/awl for making holes in a hide to run lacing.
By judiciously striking somewhat thin flakes off of the core - I have less work to thin the flake for a point, and I can remove more usable flakes and blades per pound of material (stone age economics).

Stick and Stones and Bones

2008-10-01T17:15:00.002-05:00

Finished off a few knives today. Have some more work on the ceremonial tomahawk. Needs embellishments like a scalp lock of hair, some fringes and seed beads. I am not sure what it is, but I find utter fascination sitting at a rock pile striking off flakes...sharp cutting edges, squared scraping edges for wood, chisel-like edges for graving bone. John & Geri McPherson created the "Naked into the Wilderness" series - great info. If I wrote something, it would have to be "Into the Wilderness with the Clothes on Your Back". I've seen myself naked in the mirror...it's not pretty...lol. Knapping can be dangerous enough, even taking safety precautions, without exposing other vulnerable assets. Ok, that's enough...I'm tired and HUNGRY...probably got some low blood sugar thang going.

War Clubs

2008-09-27T11:34:00.002-05:00

I came across this picture taken at a Lewis & Clark event a couple years ago. They were displaying various tools representative of the Native Americans. This is some my pieces I made years ago! From the left, a buffalo jaw bone war club. A stone tomahawk and club next to that. The longer war club, with the triagular blade was like an artifact I was shown once. There is a feather fan next to that, not mine, and then a deer toe rattle, mine. It was a nice surprise.

Flintknapping 101: Safety

2008-09-27T11:08:00.003-05:00

A word on safety. Flintknapping - you will get cuts, probably get a flake in your eye, or jam a chip or flaker into your hand...been there, done that. Take precautions to avoid injury. Wear goggles to protect your eyes. Use leather gloves when handling sharp nodules and spalls. Use a good hand pad. Do not rush as you knap. Put it down if you are tired or mentally unfocused...this is the time when you can get hurt or simply snap the piece you are working on. Work in a well ventilated area. Fracturing silica rock produces dust that is like tiny razor blades. Breathed in, they damage the lungs and produce scar tissue, in extreme cases leading to siliosis. This was the ailment of the workmen who produced strikers for flintlock guns, working long hours in closed up shops with dust filled air.

Flintknappng 101: Tools

2008-09-27T10:05:00.004-05:00

Flintknapping is a process of reduction, and different tools are needed at different stages. Hammerstones are used with large nodules of stone to fracture off spalls, or smaller flakes. They have a coarse surface and ideally are egg-shaped. The spalls can further be thinned down with hammerstones, or billets. Billets are antler of deer, moose, or elk - where the antler joins the skull. The material is denser there. Modern knappers use copper headed billets. Antler and copper are used because they give a little on impact, not putting as much shock into the stone.

Spalls and flakes are thinned down with billets till they are considered thin enough to procede to the next stage which is pressure flaking. Again, pressure flakers can be of antler or copper. In my opinion, antler might be too slick for beginners and might slip more easily leading to injury. This is usually the stage most people are introduced to flintknapping, chipping small flakes into arrowheads. Also needed are an abrading stone to grind the edges of the piece you are working. This can be a broken grinding wheel, or a stone with an abrasive surface. Edges are abraded throughout the stages to strengthen the area worked on. This strengthens the edge to be able to take more pressure, or impact, and remove better flakes. Thin weak edges crumble. During the process of knapping you will want to protect your hand, and leg during percussion, with a leather pad to avoid injury. You can find and make your own tools, or purchase them from a flintknapping supplier. The small picture is some of the tools Rick Hamilton uses to demonstrate traditional knapping - hammerstones, abrading stones, antler billets and flakers. Also, pictured is a box of bandaids. We'll talk about that next.

Knapping Glass

2008-09-24T18:35:00.003-05:00

Hmmm... here I am side tracked already. In the last post I mentioned that some knappers chip some nice points out of glass. Pictured is a drop point blade of colored glass made by Scott R. - a much better knapper than I. He does some beautiful controlled flaking. At one point, when I was first interested in flintknapping, I read in the newspaper a knapper would be demonstrating at the Ash Fall Fossil Beds, in northeastern Nebraska. I drove the hundred-plus miles to see David N. flaking some points out of pieces of red glass panels he had recovered from a filling station that was being torn down. I've done my share of dumpster diving too, at window glass shops, salvaging the thicker pieces (5/16" thick and up), when I was learning to pressure flake. And...I've tried my hand at flaking beer bottle bottoms into arrowheads, check out this site: http://www.geocities.com/knappersanonymous/bottle.html

Flintknapping 101: Material

2008-09-23T17:32:00.005-05:00

Early man searched far and wide for quality lithic (stone) material to make tools. We see evidence of its value in the extent they went to obtain it. Early archaeologists found nearly 300 excavated pits, to obtain the Nebraska nehawka flint sources, some over 10 feet deep. This was done with primitive digging implements! Good stone was a trade commodity, and carried hundreds of miles from its source. One of the qualities they looked for was that it would form a sharp edge when it fractured. Often the flake resembled a shell. We call this a 'discoidial fracture.' The dark dacite, upper left, shows where this type of flake was removed. Another aspect was that it is 'homogenious'. Basically, that it is uniformly the same material throughout. You can see this in the stone pictured. Clockwise from the upper left you have: dacite, nehawka flint, keokuk burlington, obsidian, Fort Payne chert, novaculite chert, and republican river jasper. Glass is a good example of the qualities you would like in knappable stone. In fact, some flintknappers regularly flake some fine points and blades from colored glass. Some lithic material is easier to work than others. An example of that would be obsidian, dacite, heat-treated novaculite and burlington. I mention heat treating. Some stone, to really be workable needs to be slowly heated. This changes the crystalline structure in some way as to make difficult stone glossier, fracture to a sharper edge, and require less force to knap. Early man may have done this periodically, by placing spalls in a layer of sand, under the camp fire. Nowadays kilns are used. Where can you find lithic material to knap? Probably, the easiest recommendation is to use an internet search for flintknapping suppliers, or possible upcoming Knap-In events. Vendors will have instruction material, tools, and appropriate rock. One vendor I like, in my personal opinion, is Craig Ratzat at http://www.neolithics.com/ . At local rock shops I would really only look for obsidian. If you are fortunate enough to live in area that has rock you may be able to locate outcroppings by internet searches, inquiring local rock clubs, or searching road cuts or ravines. Some archery clubs have members who knap their own stone points and would be sources of information and instruction.

Flintknapping 101: Introduction

2008-09-22T17:17:00.003-05:00

I've decided to work on a tutorial overview of flintknapping. I almost regret it as I try to envision how to illustrate some principles. Hopefully, this can be done in about a dozen installments covering topics such as materials, tools, priniciples, strategies, etc., - to give a working understanding of how it is done. The name flintknapping is believed to have orginated in Germany, in the gun flint industry. "Knapp" meaning to crack, or pinch off, as in the manufacture of gun flints. In a broader sense, it refers to the making stone tools. When you mention flintknapping, people tend to think in terms of arrowheads and stone spear points. That is common, and some consider them to be man's first art form. But, that tool list also includes drills, scrapers, choppers, handaxes, adze blades, axeheads, cutting flakes, perforators, burins, ...and the list goes on. These are probably the real work horses of daily life.

Stone Drills

2008-09-19T19:08:00.003-05:00

Before the advent of metals, stone was crucial to make the myriad of tools needed in daily life to pound, cut, scrape, abrade, pierce, and drill... Stone drills go back thousands of years and is evidenced by the artifacts of bored wood, stone, bone, and pottery. Simple drills consisted of a flake with a 'nippled' end that was twisted back and forth. Hafting a drill onto a shaft allowed the operator to spin the drill faster, increasing the efficiency. The Iroquois and Pueblo Indians were known to have used a 'pump' drill. A stone, wood, or pottery weight was attached to a shaft with a hafted drill. A wooden board, with a hole in the middle, is slid over the shaft and a cord attached at the ends of the board and top of the shaft. With this technic the operator could work the pump drill with one hand and have the other free to hold the item being worked on, spinning the drill with greater speed and less effort. This is a good example of the evolution of primitive technology. Primitive doesn't mean crude, but first...the base from which inovations grew.

Newpaper Pictures

2008-09-19T13:08:00.003-05:00

I had the day off work and decided to do some deep cleaning behind furniture...what a good hubby I am...lol. That's where everything goes when I lose it! Next time I misplace something I am going directly behind the old computer desk. Found some old newspaper articles from 2001 - 2004, and a small case of stone points I have been looking for a year >sheesh<. The top pic is from the August 2004 Lewis & Clark bicentennial event...making a stone knife. Middle pic is blowing a tinder nest to flame at 2001 city event, son Jacob in the background. The bottom pic is special. My wife, Joyce, is grinding clay to clean it for making pottery, a 2002 local event. What a good woman!

"Stone knives and Bearskins"

2008-09-11T19:02:00.002-05:00

"Don't get too used to the facilities here. Once you leave SAIL it's stone knives and bearskins as far as the eye can see." "Stone knives and bearskins" was a colorful phrase Mr. Spock used in the Star Trek episode-"The City on the Edge of Forever." He was referring to the 1930's technology he was forced to use to repair his tricorder. I've been under the weather, home sick from work the past few days, staring blankly at the tv...this phrase triggered this little knife of stone and wood and sinew.

Stone & Bone Saws

2008-09-01T18:08:00.001-05:00

Harvesting sufficient amounts of cattail and bulrush for mats is tedious by hand. Some simple time tested tools speed the process along. Large stone flakes, with serrated edges, or deer jaws serve handily to cut the stalks. Over time the serrated edges and teeth become polished from use and resemble similar artifacts.

Bulrush - 'Sistat' (Pawnee)

2008-09-01T07:47:00.000-05:00

I came across a stand of bulrush over the weekend while checking out the cattail stands. I do not see it often in this area, but seems to prefer marshy ground. It was a favorite, along with cattails, among the peoples for making mats and shelter coverings, baskets, dolls, and in some areas even boats. It has a papery sheath with a spongy interior, and a wisp of seedhead at the top. I have not eaten this plant, perhaps the next excursion, but the tender young shoots and older shoot bases can be eaten raw. The rootstock can be dried, pounded, and grounded into flour. I am not the best basket weaver, but I like it for making containers.

Cattails - 'Hawahawa' (Pawnee)

2008-08-31T18:16:00.000-05:00

Cattails are an easily recognizable plant of the waters edge, usually growing in thick patches. I remember spring hikes, coming on a stand of cattail, and grasping the center stalk and pulling out a tender white core which was eaten on the spot...refreshing. In the late fall, thru spring, I've gathered the pointy corms from the traveling rootstock and peeled and eaten them raw. The roots can be peeled and broken apart in water to harvest the starch. After it settles the excess water is poured off and starch is dried and used as flour in ashcakes. Another source of flour is the dried golden pollen that gathers on the spikes in the fall. There is a sticky substance at the base of the leaves that is reported to have antiseptic and numbing qualities for cuts and toothaches. The Dakota referred to the cattail as 'Wihuta-Hu', which means 'bottom of the tipi plant'. Leaves and stalks were gathered and woven, or sewn, into floor mats and shelter coverings, as well as backets, bags, and cordage.

Elkhorn Valley Museum - Pioneer Day

2008-08-31T17:48:00.000-05:00

Just returned after a day of sun and fun at Pioneer Day at the Elkhorn Valley Museum in Norfolk, NE. Not the best picture that I wanted to share, but once the day began with visitors I forgot to snap some shots. Some of the exhibitors included woodworking and carving, storytelling, native flute, and churning butter. I provided a display and demonstration of Native living skills - flintknapping stone blades and hafting them with natural materials as pitch/dung adhesives and sinew. Discussed the evolution of hunting weapons from thrusting spears, to darts/atlatls, to bow and arrow in Nebraska history. The "deer leg tool kit" showed the possible bone tools, sinew, and adhesive from a deer leg...wasting nothing. Of course, everyone loves seeing fire made from "rubbing two sticks together"...lol.
Everytime I get done with an event, I pull out my notebook, and answer the question, "What have I learned?" This exercise helps me to improve what I do, be better organized, and present a better display and program of instruction...and entertainment.

NAS Stone Age Fair

2008-08-23T15:44:00.000-05:00

Just got back from the 4th annual Nebraska Archaeological Society Artifact Show, held August 23rd, in Seward, NE. Collections of stone and bone points and tools were on display from Paleo, Clovis, Folsom, and historic time periods. One of my reasons for going was to see Rick Hamilton and, his wife, Doris. Mr. Hamilton is a skilled flintknapper & primitive technologist. In the picture he is demonstrating thinning a spall of novaculite chert with only hammerstone percussion. Every September they host the Beaver Creek Primitive Skills & Knap-In, near Stuart, NE...good time. Check out his website at: http://www.spiritinthewind.com/. One of his specialities is plant use, by the Native Americans, for edible, medicinal, and utilitarian (tools, dyes, firemaking, bow & arrow, etc.) purposes. He recently finished a-10 years in the making, 3 DVD set on plant identification over the seasons, and Native uses. I particularly enjoyed segments on how to extract starch from cattail roots to make a flour, and harvesting arrowhead tubers. Also, the background flute music, by Virgie Ravenhawk Villarreal, was thoroughly enjoyable and worth mentioning.

Pecking Axeheads

2008-08-22T09:41:00.000-05:00

Started another pecked celt axehead (lower middle). A celt is defined as "an ungrooved, tapered ground stone with a centered edge at one end." Doesn't look like much right now. It is wedged into a tapering slot in the handle. I've been using some Virginia greenstone I got thru Errett Callahan...this is some tuff stuff...>sheesh<. Using a hammer stone I #!#forcefully!!# knocked off some thinning flakes, the best I could. Then comes the fun part...hours of pecking, with the hammerstone, as the face of the rock s l o w l y crumbles away in a fine dust. (I read once that December, in some Native cultures, was considered the Moon of the Clacking Rocks.) The edge is then ground and honed in a slurry of fine sand and water. Some beautiful polished axeheads have been made by this method for millenia that are literally works of art. I seem to only have the patience for making functional pieces. Larry Dean Olsen, in his book Outdoor Survival Skills, said: "Shaping stones by crumbling them requires little brainpower, but a lot of perseverance and resignation to monotony." Hmmm...little brainpower, monotony...sounds like I'm the right guy for the job...lol.

Egyptian Bow Drill

2008-08-16T08:17:00.000-05:00

There was a variation of the bow drill introduced, by John Olsen to the primitive skills community, at the 2001 Winter Count rendezvous in Arizona. It was based on the bow drill set found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun, of ancient Egypt. The differences, from the standard bow drill, was that the cord was twice as long as the bow, and ran thru a hole in the center of the drill (I simply tie it on with a clove hitch). The excess cord, to one side of the drill, was wrapped around the drill till the slack was taken up. Then it was pretty much the same operation as the standard bow drill.

I've used this technic teaching Boy Scout groups-as one advantage is that the drill does not slip in the cord, as it periodically does with the standard method when the cord stretches and becomes loose. Conversely, on the standard, if the cord is really tight the drill can flip out and go flying as they learn to coordinate the pieces. Plus, it is nice to have one less loose component, because it is attached. Also, you can a weaker cord because it is not under constant tension. Is it better? I think- it is just different. I still prefer the regular bow drill, but I recognize the value of this set up to teach new practitioners who are learning to coordinate the pieces and movements to make fire.

Fire Plow

2008-08-15T08:01:00.000-05:00

Was playing around with the fireplow this morning. This was a fire-making technic used in SE Asia, some of the Pacific islands, and a historical account recorded of use by the Iroquois Indians of New York state. Basically, a wedge-pointed 'plow' is worked back & forth in a 6-inch long groove of the 'fire board.' As you 'plow', fibers build up at the end of the groove. The heat from the friction builds and ignites the fibers into a smoldering coal. This is placed into a tinder nest and blown into flame. I am using a sotol stalk and plow in the picture, but also have had success with a yucca plow on cottonwood. When the fire gods smile upon me >grin< I can usually get a hot coal in 10 -15 seconds. This is a whole new set of muscles being exercised here to do the quick, short strokes necessary with some force. Already a sheen a sweat is visible on my forearms in the heat and humidity of the morning....ahhh, "Nebraska, the good life".

Stone Knives II

2008-08-13T19:47:00.000-05:00

Stone Knives II...that makes me chuckle. Over the years that I've been knapping, I wish I had kept records of my points & blades. Every year, I know I've made 100 -150, so it may easily be over 1000 produced. Some seasons I felt like a knapping fool. I chipped constantly, and consequently paid the price in injuries and tendonitis. You learn to respect the stone. One careless move while fracturing stone could end up in a severe laceration. Though, some of my favorites were...the pressure flaker slipping off the edge and driving underneath my fingernail...or the time I buried it into the palm of my hand >ouch<. Periodically attending buckskinner rendezvous, everyone eventually gets a colorful nickname...like Flying Eagle, or Noisy Bear. Because I always was sporting several bandages...I became known as..."Cut Finger"...>sheesh<.

Stone Knives I

2008-08-09T17:37:00.001-05:00

It is the busy season at work of late, so I have not posted in a bit. Though, little by little I have knapped (recreational therapy) and assembled twenty-some knives of flint, obsidian, and novaculite. I like using antler for handles as it gives the knife a bit of rustic character. Usually, I will use deer antler, but recently I have come upon a source of elk spikes that look and work well. In the past I've tried soaking the sinew binding in water to soften it, concerned about the sanitary aspect of it, but working it in the mouth still seems to prep it the best... perhaps it is the digestive acids in the saliva that make the difference. In all, not bad but I do not think it will catch on as a new taste sensation...lol.