THE PLATFORM
-a publication of the Minnesota Knappers Guild-
THE PLATFORM
-a publication of the Minnesota Knappers Guild-
Editor: Gene Altiere
4329 Peabody Lane
Duluth, MN 55804
With this
issue, "the Platform" celebrates its third birthday. Happy Birthday
to you all. Thanks to all of
you for the many positive comments about the newsletter and the Minnesota Knappers
Guild. I have committed to another year as editor (1992) and another four
issues of "the Platform". While we greatly appreciate the interest and
input from around the country, the newsletter is designed to be more regional
as to events, archaeology, and news. So, I'm asking that the Minnesota members
be particularly helpful in contributing articles and ideas because it is your
newsletter. Thanks for letting
me write it and thanks for supporting it.
Gene Altiere, editor
"the Platform"
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THOUGHTS
ON PERCUSSION FLAKING
by;
Jim Regan
Flintknapping, as most of us would agree, is an extremely
challenging endeavor. It has been so frustrating at times that I wanted
to throw all my tools into a nearby
swamp and take up a more "normal" hobby. I mean, there are so
many ways to fail: hitting too hard, not hard enough, wrong angle, hitting too
deep, not deep enough, etc., etc. But the upside of this hobby is that when you
do finally succeed in making a nice point or blade, the sense of accomplishment
is truly great. But, like most things of this nature--if it was easy then everyone
would be doing it and how satisfying would it be?
I've talked to
other knappers and most agree
than progress is not steady by any means. It is common to go through long periods
of frustration with no progress at all and then you learn something that allows
one to jump suddenly up to the next plateau. Searching for and climbing to
these next higher plateaus is what keeps me going in the flintknapping game.
Looking
back at my experiences, I can think of some definite breakthroughs
that allowed me to jump ahead. You may wish to take note of them and see if
they help you too.
Like
most knappers, I stated out all by myself, with a copy of "The Art of Flintknapping"
by D.C. Waldorf. I then began pressure flaking small flakes into
something that resembled arrowheads. Now this is fine for starters. I would
recommend this approach to anyone starting out today, but it wasn't long before
I realized that pressure flaking wasn't enough. If the flake I started with
wasn't of uniform thickness, I often had an arrowhead that was too thick at the
point, or too thick at the base
and I couldn't notch it, or it had a lump on it that I couldn't get off. This
of course is due to the fact that pressure flakes basically follow the surface
that is already there-it is very difficult to thin a piece by pressure flaking
alone. So the next logical step was to learn percussion flaking. This I found
out was easier said than done. I was now striking the piece of stone instead
of pressing flakes off, which meant a significant increase in the breakage rate.
It was frustrating at the
time but I now realize that it is part of the learning process (each time you do
break a piece, try to understand what went wrong and then learn from it.)
In
percussion thinning I soon learned that the flakes must run past the center
of the blank or the point will not get thinner--only narrower. This is just
fine if you want to make real clunkers-- the kind that are 1" wide and 1"
thick, for a width to thickness ration of 1:1, but I wasn't really looking
forward to a career of that.
Now, I had read all of this pressure flaking stuff (as you probably have too)
in Waldorf's book, but still had lots of trouble applying it. My advice here
is to keep at it. You need to develop your hand/eye coordination anyhow. There
is simply no way to become good at flintknapping without making a small mountain
of chips and broken points!
One of the breakthroughs that was most significant
to me at the time was when I discovered that I could run wider and
much longer flakes by pressing
the biface firmly into my padded thigh before attempting flake removal. What was
happening, I'm sure, was that the pressure in the area of flake removal kept
the shock wave within the stone longer, which meant it would travel further before
stopping. Like most knappers I sit on a stool which leaves my thighs approximately
horizontal and I have a leather pad on my left thigh for protection.
I prepare my platform and then position the biface on the outside of my left thigh,
in an almost vertical position.
I press firmly on the biface with the heel of my left hand and then strike
with my billet. When you try this technique be sure that you leave the edge
of your piece exposed enough so that you can hit your platform without contacting
the pad first. With this method you will consistently run flakes well past
the center and achieve good thinning results. The leg support also reduces the
breakage rate.
If you are working with a piece that is too small to work
on your thigh as described above,
you have to try something different. In such a situation I use a smaller
billet that I can "whip" with my wrist, thereby obtaining a high tip
speed. Without this high tip speed, the tendency is for your billet to push the
workpiece out of the way, rather than remove a flake. This is because your
workpiece has a relatively light mass compared to the billet. In addition, I often
rest the back of my left hand on the top of my left leg, which further prevents
the point from moving.
Another
very important element of percussion flaking is platform preparation.
Be sure to pay attention to this subject and learn how to isolate a platform,
and how to abrade your platform. Experience must come into play here--there
will be slight differences depending on the stone you are using, as well as the
tools you are using. For example, if you are using a copper billet you would
probably abrade the platform a bit more than you would with an antler billet;
or if you are working with a harder
stone, such as Knife River Flint, you would leave your platforms a bit sharper
than you would with a softer material such as heat treated Burlington chert
(the softer material crumbles easier so will need to be abraded a bit more.)
A
note on striking the platform is in order here, too. What you want to
do is barely "tic" the platform as you swing. I often miss the stone
completely for one or even two swings, before hitting it on the second or third
try. I call this "sneaking
up" on the platform, and have notice that many knappers (including some
of the very best) also use this technique. It really does save a lot of pieces
from being broken by hitting too deep into the stone.
Percussion flaking
becomes necessary sooner or later in our flintknapping careers--and it may
at first seem fairly intimidating. It is worth it however, because it expands
your capabilities so much more. If you haven't started doing percussion work
yet, give it a try; and if you
are already into it, I hope some of my thoughts will be of use to you. As always,
I would recommend that you find someone to watch and ask questions of, if
you can. Your progress will be much faster. Good luck and may all your flakes
be long & your bifaces thin.
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YOU
DON'T KNOW THE HAFT OF IT
Most
of you who have been involved in flintknapping for any period of time know that
you eventually are "discovered"
by various interest groups. So, it doesn't come as much of a surprise
when you get called on for demonstrations, reproductions, etc. Recently,
however, the editor had an experience that was somewhat new and different. A
few months ago, Tony Romano called and said he had been contacted by the curator
of the Winnabago Area Museum in southwestern Minnesota. Tony is a lifetime honorary
board member of the Institute for Minnesota Archaeology so a call from
a museum curator is not all that
unusual. Her request, however, was something new for Tony and he asked if I
would give him a hand with the project. It seems that the curator felt that school
age children would appreciate stone artifacts more if they could visualize
them in their original "hafted tool" condition. She wanted us to haft
a few of the specimens from the museum's collection for a special exhibit for
the kids.
The editor thought it was a great idea and jumped at the chance
to go to Tony's for the weekend
and participate in the fun. However, as with most of the things that Dr.
Romano gets involved in, there can be such a thing as knowing too much!. Never,
has the editor seen anyone agonize so much (and subsequently make the editor
agonize too) over questions of authenticity. What type of wood might have been
available in that region and at that time? Why would they have chosen this wood
over that? Would it have been decorated in any manner? How? Why? What kind
of feathers? Was this a knife
or an atlatl point? (magnification showing wear on only one side soon solved
that riddle)
How long were the arrow shafts used by the people of that
region with this type of point? Would they have had elk or deer sinew? What
type of nock on the shaft? Why? What? How? Why? What? How? Why? What? How?
Tony
is an excellent cook (would the people of the Yucatan use jalepeno or
habenero to flavor their sopas secas...STOP IT!!!), so the editor thoroughly
enjoyed the weekend even if his
head was spinning. Hopefully the school kids will enjoy the exhibit....hopefully
they won't ask too many questions or it's going to be a long winter....Ed.
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PATCHES
Our
Minnesota
Knapper's Guild patches are available again. This is a beautiful 3" patch
designed by Jim Regan and is the official emblem for the MKG. Patches are
$3.00 each. Make out checks to [Eugene Altiere, editor, "The Platform"]
and mail to 4329 Peabody Lane,
Duluth, MN 55804.
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