The Art of Modern Flintknapping:
A Take on the Ancient Art
Flintknapping is the ancient art practice of making stone tools. Ancient peoples used round hammer stones to flake, or knapp, flint rock until a desired shape, usually a projectile point, was formed. Where this art was once reserved to Native peoples, now it has become its own nitch that one often can see at a Saturday Market. The medium of use is typically flint or obsidian rock, however, people have branched this art practice into other mediums such as glass and ceramic.
I became fascinated with the art world when I was introduced to it during my field school studies at Texas State University. One of our alumni was a master of the art of Flintknapping and came to our field school to give us a work shop. We went out into the cannons and harvested our own flint to knapp and found our own limestone hammerstones. We were provided with leather to knapp on and went to work. Once we had something that was close to a projectile point, we were provided with antlers to pressure flake the points into perfect shapes.
During the workshop, I learned about all the tools used for Flintknapping and the many different ways in which a point can be made. One can pressure flake up the blade, down the blade, into the blade and straight out of the blade. Most artist have their own unique pattern that all of their art works follow. For instance, a man out of Bend, OR flakes down the blade and then pressure flakes around the outside of the point upwards. Most of the Flintknappers I have met find their own materials and many have quarries which they keep secret from other artist. One of my classmates knapps glass and ceramic. She gets her materials from discarded glass from a local glass maker and she kilns her own ceramic.
There are multiple website that sell Flintknapped art, however most art work is sold at art fairs, markets and other events such as the Oregon State Fair. The prices vary as to the degree of difficulty, the material used and to weather the art is ‘dressed’ or ‘naked’. Naked art works would be a projectile or blade that does not have a handle or is not fashioned into a arrow, dart or spear. Also, the larger the art piece, the more the price. It is very difficult, not only to find a large medium piece to work with, but to also knapp a larger piece of material. One wrong tap could ruin the whole piece.
Most people immersed in the art of Flintknapping for profit learned from a master of the art or learned by teaching themselves. There are beginner books, brochures, articles, dvds and YouTube videos that teach one the basics of the art, however I have yet to meet someone that can Flintknapp more than a basic blade that has learned from these medias.
If one googles Flintknapping, there are multiple websites dedicated to selling, informing, and promoting Flintknapping. One of the websites I visited, www.flintknappingtools.com/, has all kinds of resources for those who would like to take up the art or those who are already practice the art. I was unaware of the resources out there for Flintknappers as well of the many different tools now used in this art world. People use diamond and copper tools to help perfect their craft now, where once it was only a hammerstone and antler billet. This particular website even had an ebook one can download onto a tablet or smartphone. I do not personally think that is a good idea since there tends to be a lot of shrapnel flying everywhere when one knapps.
The transmedia that I would like to utilize will be some of the websites that really hone in on the art of flintnapping rather than just the profit spectrum, a book, article and video (I’ll have to narrow the field in all groups) as well as a toolkit that would have some if not all resources in the Flintknapper started kit. I would like to find some local obsidian and perhaps flint for the toolkit as well as a hammerstone, a leather pad, and an antler if I can. I would love to give a demonstration, however I know how impractical it is. A link to a video or two will provide the void. I would also like to include a card of a local Flintknapper, who perhaps teaches the art.