flintknapping
Prehistoric tool making
Flintknapping is the craft of shaping stone—typically flint, chert, or obsidian—into tools or weapons by carefully striking or pressing off flakes.
The technique produced arrowheads, spear points, and blades for most of human history.
Today flintknapping survives among archaeologists, hobbyists, and primitive skills enthusiasts: He learned flintknapping to make his own arrowheads.
Earliest archaeological era
- NeolithicFinal prehistoric stone-tool era
- MesolithicMiddle stone era
- lithicOf or relating to stone
- typologyClassification by shared traits
assemblage · scatter · midden · replication
Sound through impact
- pressureForce upon contact
- flakingShedding in layers
- reductionMaking something smaller
- retouchingPost-capture image enhancement
fluting · platform · cortex · bulb · ripple · overshot · thinning · shaping
Stone-shaping striking implement
Paleolithic
Earliest archaeological era
- NeolithicFinal prehistoric stone-tool era
- MesolithicMiddle stone era
- lithicOf or relating to stone
typology · assemblage · scatter · midden · replication
percussion
Sound through impact
retouching · fluting · platform · cortex · bulb · ripple · overshot · thinning · shaping · notching
hammerstone
Stone-shaping striking implement
chert
Fine-grained siliceous stone
- obsidianGlassy igneous rock
- quartziteMetamorphic silica-rich stone
- chalcedonyTranslucent microcrystalline silica variety
jasper · agate · rhyolite · basalt · nodule · core · cobble · conchoidal · vitreous
blade
Flat cutting edge
point · scraper · arrowhead · spearpoint · Clovis · Folsom · burin · awl · preform · blank
flintknappingmetalworking
Shaping raw ore industrially
blacksmithing · metallurgy · ironworking · bronze casting · forging
flint, flinty, flints, flintlock, flintiness, knapping, knapper, knapped