Lately, I've been developing an interest in stone weaponry. I have a small collection of stone spear and arrow points, some I found some given to me by my father (he has a very large collection.) I'll post some photos when I get a chance to photograph them.

In the mean time, does anyone else on here have any stone weaponry?

By the way, are there any flint knappers on here? I've been reading a lot about it, I just need to find some decent quality flint or quartz and I'm going to try it myself.

I have a small stone knife made by Bill Darr of Whiperwill Archery. It has an antler handle and the blade is bound by sinew. That guy can make some really good stuff

Do you have any pictures? I'd love to see it!

I have a rock I picked up from the river. Very nice, fast especially when hurled from a sling. I have a slightly larger one from a construction site, mainly use it for dropping out of windows. Steer clear of Pumice, it tends not to have the weight to carry a punch.


In all seriousness, I don't own any personally, I have a friend with an obsidian knife which is wicked sharp, I have a glass knife that I really like though.

Karl Lee is one of the UK's leading flintknappers with over 15 years experience of teaching, lectures, demonstrations and workshops.

His website is here: [url]http://www.primitive-technology.co.uk/

I've been considering a little knapping to make the Iceman's knife and arrowheads. Got a couple little books and DC Waldorf's excellent video, and got a nice chunk of flint from a friend. Only did a couple brief sessions of banging rocks together, though, and so far have some reasonable-looking flakes and pile of sharp gravel! My daughter and I actually did a little chipping for a home-schooling project, though I expect she enjoyed "cave paintings" with my wife better. But this was all a couple years ago, so probably my skill level is still around "hominid" rather than "Stone Age".

Jeroen, you're scaring me! Band-Aids I expected, but I don't need more trips to the hospital! Gonna dig out my chainmail butcher gloves, next time...

Matthew

I understand collecting stone items, they are beautiful to hold and see.

A few years ago I bought a flint knife mounted to antler from AG Russell. I love it!!

Be warned though, their use is very limited. Even for pleasure or testing.

Mine is currently bubble-wrapped, decorating the top shelf in a safe...

I don't have any useful stone weapons, but I do have a spear or large arrow head I found in some gravel by the side of the road once (Can't say where it came from originally, since the gravel was brought in by trucks from who knows where). It was broken into several pieces, but at one time was around three inches long. Parts of it are still sharp, and it was made out of a pinkish type of stone. (Sorry, no pictures, I'm in Hawaii and it is back on the mainland.) I first thought it was a Clovis point, but looking at some pictures online said otherwise since it lacked the grooves found on Clovis points. Never did follow up on it, just left it in a Tupperware container on a shelf...

I have a solutrean spear point knapped by John Lord from flintknapping.co.uk and a beautiful little obsidian knife (ahistorical) that I picked up from ebay-- don't remember who crafted it. I'll try to get some picks at some point over the next few days.

There is quite a bit of info on flint-knapping on www.primitiveways.com, I never felt it was particularly difficult. I didn't really do much though as it is pretty far out of my interest area.
Cheers,
Hadrian

I've been lurking on this board for a little while (John Lundemo recommended I check it out after I commissioned a sword from him), but I had to register just to respond to this post. I am currently working on my PhD studying North American Paleoindian stone tool technology. I've done a decent share of flint knapping, and I can usually make dart points or the occasional lance tip/knife blade if I have some nice stone to work with.

Someone mentioned on here that glass is a useful material to work on, and that's true. But it's extremely sharp and brittle (so it has a habit of breaking in half on me just when I'm about to finish a nice piece). If you're interested in learning to flint knap, I recommend getting some old toilet porcelain. It sounds nasty, I know (some flint knappers I know refer to it as "john stone"), but it flakes well and is a bit more forgiving than glass.

Also, although there's no substitute for personal experience, I highly recommend John Whittaker's book, Flintknapping: Making and Understanding Stone Tools as an introductory reader. I read it just before I started knapping in earnest, and it helped me out a lot.

I attached a small assortment of some of the points I've made, with a pencil thrown in for scale.

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Here is a display from the Idaho Museum of Natural History in my hometown. The lower left examples are the oldest and they move chronologically toward the upper right which are the youngest displayed.

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