Flint-Knapping

Over the past month I have personally gone to two flint knapping workshops and have to a few others in the past year.Flint knapping is the process of taking a core of stone and chipping away at it to make a piece of stone that resembles a blade, arrowhead, spear point, scrappers, jewelry and pieces of art. This process is not as simple as just striking rocks together to make an arrow head, it takes a lot of knowledge of the materials that is being used and and idea of how to use them. In this particular case the workshop was being held in a small teaching room that had been cleared of its desks and chairs, and now was filled with large chunks of obsidian, and blankets underneath them. The room was jam packed with mostly students and amateur archaeologists alike, and none knew what they had gotten themselves into. Much of the first hour was a lecture on the tools being used in the lecture, and the terminology, of the art making process. All of this I have already heard multiple times throughout the last year, and was eagerly waiting to create my next piece, and I could see the rest of the room anticipating the same. As people began to gather their materials, we all had to wear safety glasses and gloves, and we all looked ridiculous which in my point of view added a little fun to the experience. Once people got started hammering away at their stones in hope of creating something incredible, everybody begins to loosen up and start conversing with each other, but at the heart there is still a bit of competitiveness that is there, to see who can make the best pieces. The Instructor is also floating around the room helping people that need it or if he sees something wrong. At the end of the workshop most people are left empty handed with just a few flakes that sorta resemble arrowheads, and the feeling of accomplishment stays with them as they leave. This Workshop is not about making arrowheads its about learning how paleolithic peoples in Europe and the indigenous people in the Americas made their tools. Its also even more than that, its about "making special" and creating something that is special to you from materials like a rock.