Asphaltum

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.

Hafting

I recognize that I like to create 'how-to' instructional displays. It wasn't long after becoming involved with primitive skills that I wanted to share how ingenious primitive technology was. I love flintknapping, making stone tools-points, blades, drills, etc. The next logical step it to attach them to a handle, or shaft, to make them more functional. The lower picture is some of the materials from my hafting display I use to illustrate how native peoples utilized natures resources to bind tools together...

A notch is made, to seat a point, by drilling a hole thru a wooden foreshaft with a simple stone drill. The remaining wood is split out forming the notch. Pine pitch is then melted on a rock over hot coals and mixed with powered charcoal, or animal dung. This is used to 'glue' the point into the notch. It is then further secured on with sinew, plant cordages, or rawhide cut into strips. Pitch is often placed over the cordage to secure and waterproof it.





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