Flint Knapping: A Guide to Making Your Own Stone Age Toolkit

by Robert Turner

Overview

Flint knapping, which is the shaping of flint or other fracturing stone to manufacture tools, was one of the primary skills used for survival by our prehistoric ancestors. Early mankind once made and used these implements on a daily basis to hunt, prepare food and clothing, to farm, make shelters, and perform all the other tasks required for Stone Age existence.

A material that has been with us since earliest times, flint still plays a part in our lives today: it is used in cigarette, gas and barbeque lighters; in some parts of Britain it is a major building material; and many of our beaches have shingle which is just flint by another name.

In this informative and original guide, expert Robert Turner explains how flint was used, what tools were made and what they were made for, and provides detailed instruction of how to make them, enabling the reader to replicate their own Stone Age toolkit. Illustrated throughout, Flint Knapping is a journey of archaeological discovery through the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Ages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780752488745
Publisher:	The History Press
Publication date:	06/03/2013
Pages:	168
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

ROBERT TURNER teaches flint knapping at Sussex University, Chichester College (Brinsbury Campus), Amberley Museum and Butser Iron Age Village, as well as at shows and National Trust meetings. He lives in West Sussex.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 7

An Introduction to Knapping 9

1 Understanding Which Rocks to Use 11

2 The Conchoidal Fracture or How Knapping Works 15

3 How to Get Started and the Tools you Will Need 20

4 Making a Hand Axe 29

5 Making a Blade Core 34

6 The History of Knapping 38

7 Metal and Modern Tools 64

8 Pressure Flaking 70

9 Another Viewpoint on Starting to Flint Knap 76

10 A Further Look at How you Hit Rocks: The Levallois Reduction 80

11 A Core Tool and a Blade Tool 85

12 Let's Make a Thin Biface 92

13 Let's Make an Arrowhead 100

14 An Introduction to American Knapping 107

15 American Time Periods and Types of Points 114

16 Is There a Connection Between European and American Knapping? 124

17 UK Flint Mines and USA Flint Mines 130

18 Let's Make an American Point 134

19 Further Knapping Techniques (Heat-Treating) 138

20 Summing It All Up 141

21 Illustrating Your Flints 144

Bibliography 156

Glossary of Terms 157

Index 161

Editorial Reviews

10/15/2013
Flint knapping is the process of shaping stone by hand into an edged tool, such as an Indian arrowhead or a flint blade. Turner, flint knapping expert and instructor at Sussex University in England, introduces the creation and history of these prehistoric tools. This British import shows some general knapping techniques, but the black-and-white line drawings are small and pixelated. The organization is not linear and meanders between history and instruction. While there is a small gallery of color photos, there are none where it really matters, particularly for stone and material identification. VERDICT There are no step-by-step or detailed illustrations to assist the beginner, and the focus on history crowds out instruction. Sadly, Turner's book does not live up to its promise. For a better selection, try Monte Burch's Making Native American Hunting, Fighting, and Survival Tools.

Library Journal