THE ELK BONE KNIFE
By Ray Harwood
 |
| Harwood's Elk leg bone knife |
This year I spent a long period of time in the forests of North Idaho, Washington and Montana,
I found that living in the woods, flintknapping has a fairly low requirement level, not a huge concern for survival, Gathering and scavenging is more effective than hunting, and never get to far from a water source.
Watching the sky for vultures or crows and follow them to the kill. This is great for sineu, bone, antler, hide and often the meat is still good. The thing is what ever killed the animal could kill you and may still be around.
 |
| bear sign |
In this case an elk cow killed by a bear. I thought it had been poached but I called Fish and game and it appeared to be a bear kill and the bear was later found to be on several game cameras in the area, a large Grizzly!
 |
| elk carcass |
In north Idaho, obsidian is very rare, I used an obsidian knife of silver sheen obsidian from Glass Buttes, OR.to help me detach the leg bones and clean the decomposed and mummified tissue off the bone, Then I cut the bone and inserted the silver sheen obsidian blade.
Extreme Flintknapping: part one – Extreme Notching
By Ray Harwood
intro photo 1, knapper Jake Webster.
One aspect of extreme flintknpping is deep notching into the body of the flint blade. Notching arrowheads is an art form in itself. Some flintknappers have perfcted notching to the extreme. The notches can be replicated by pressure flaking with a soft iron nail, horse shoe nail or small copper punch.
Photos number 2 A group Mack Tussinger’s eccentric (Photo courtesy of Peter Bostrom)
In the 1920s, a Indian named Mack Tussinger was able to formulate notching methods that allowed him to achieve extremely complex designs in the flint, these points came to be known as eccentrics . It was in 1921 that Tussinger, a Wyandotte Indian, claimed to have discovered a large cache of ancient eccentric flint points, he had sold as many as 3,500 to wealthy collectors over the fallowing decades before it was discovered he knapped the eccentrics blades himself.
Photos number 3 A group Mack Tussinger’s eccentric (Photo courtesy of Larry Kinsella).
.
Today there are several flinknappers that have mastered Tunnsinger’s eccentric notching styles, Emory Coons, a knapper whom is a local folk hero in the area of Glass Buttes, Oregon, a massive obsidian outcrop, where Emory knaps out massive blades and intricately notched obsidian eagles, he is known for knapping the sword in the movie Reddick 2015. The amazing obsidian eagles using deep notch techniques. A thin biface is knapped very thin, then a long notched ftom the top down and opened for eagle head area. Emory Coons was born in Burns Oregon in 1971 and started flintknapping at the age of five, 33 years ago. He has resided in Burns most of his life and attended Burns Union High School winning awards in the crafts department for jewlery two different years. He has been perfecting his skills as a artist ever since, flintknapping, silversmith, lapidary and teaching his craft to others. He has been on OPB on The Caveman at Glass Buttes and Channel 2 News Boise Idaho about the Nyssa rock and gem show multiple times. Several news paper articles and magazines have been written on his art from gem and dozens of rock and mineral shows he has taught classes in flintknapping at Indian Lake for the Umatilla tribe four years also the wild horse atl-atl demonstration as well as Pipestone Creek Alberta Canada and in Medicine Hat British Colombia Canada for the Jr. Forest Wardens, at Northern Lights out of Slocan Canada twice, also demonstrated flintknapping along the Oregon Wagon Train , Baker interruptive center, and Windows to the Past for the BLM and Forest Service.
Photo 4 obsidian eagles make by Emory Coons .
Ed Mosher flintknapps large intricate eccentrics similar to those found in South America, Ed is also prides himself on his beautiful Danish Daggers. Danish daggers are among the most difficult artifacts to replicate.
Photo 5 ED Mosher of Monticello, Indiana Photo above.
Both of Ed's Grandparents had an artifact collections. He found his first arrowheads when he was 5. He chipped his first arrowhead when I was in the 4th grade. Ed used a nail in a handle and a railroad spike as a hammer. He didn'tt have any knappable material where he lived, so he used small flakes that he found in the fields. When he was in high school, he found DC Wldorf's book on flintknapping. " It Took off The bug bit me hard. In 1988 I meet Jeff Pig and Dan Lincoln at a show that I was knapping at. They gave my a few pointers and some larger chert." He attended his first knapp-in in 1989 at the Jeff Pig farm. Ed has been hitting it hard ever since. "I like to swing large antler. I really like to make large percussion points. Though I love a challenge." Ed has been known to make eccentrics, fluted points, Danish daggers and now working on learning flake over grinding work. Ed was also a member of the flintknappers Halls of fame for his outstanding contributions to the craft and advancement of the art and study of flintknapping.
Photo no. 6 Ghost point by Jake Webster.
Another knapper from the Indiana area is a young and upcoming knapper that is becoming known for his extreme eccentric flint points and his well notched hunting points. His name is Jake Webster and he calls his flint points “ghost points” for he often notches arrowhead images within his arrowheads. Jake is 27 and has been knapping since he was 12 years old. He credits Ed Mosher and Aaron Lincoln as his influences.
Photo 7. of Anthony R extreme long thin notches. ( photo by Ray Harwood.).
. Another extreme notching style is known, by flintknapper,s as long notching and by archaeologists as “Calf Creek” style notching. Anthony Raimondi hails from Denard, Arkansas where he works for a local Timber Company. He and his son T.J are both flintknapping experts and have both won awards for their fantastic close entry and long notching styles. The Raimondis credit “The Art of Flintknapping” by D.C. Waldorf, as their main influence fallowed by attending local knap-ins.
The third extreme notching style is “Ishi” or close entry notching. The notch entry is very small and the notch opens into a tear drop. Steve Alley of Sisters Oregon has the current worlds record for close in notch entry at this time. Steve is a master of many styles of flintknapping, . Steve also hunts with his hand made primitive archer equipment.
Steve Allely is knapper who began breaking rocks in 1967 and hasn't slowed
down much in the last 40 plus odd years of working stone. He specializes
in beautiful high color points of the Western US although he can make many
styles of points and knives. He is also an accomplished flat work artist
in painting and illustration. Additionally, he is a bow maker specializing in the
subject of Native American archery for over 20 years and has illustrated a
number of books and written the periodic chapter on the subject in the well known s Bible book series with Jim Hamm of Bois d' Arc Press. has taken a number of deer with his sinew backed bows obsidian tipped arrows and dressed them out with obsidian knives. He also replicates various Native American material culture items for museums and interpretive exhibits.When he's not breaking rock, scraping on bows or wielding paint brushes he periodically plays Celtic music and doodles with several kinds of bagpipes. Steve andhis wife make their home in central Oregon, a "rock rich" area for a westernknapper. Steve was also a member of the flintknappers Halls of fame for his outstanding contributions to the craft and advancement of the art and study of flintknapping.
Steve Allely is also an expert on the Native Americans from the northern California area and into the entire North West coastal region. The Indian named ISHI who was the last survivor of the Yahi tribe in northern California. Steve has a collection of ISHI memorabilia that he shows and gives talks about; he has a collection Ishi related items.
Above photo 8 Ishi Point cast from Lithic Casting lap. (photo Ray Harwood)
Steve has replica items that he produces and will have seminars on the subject and will be available at his booth for questions. ISHI became a friend of Dr. Saxton Pope in San Francisco and Pope became one of the most famed archers of the early 20th Century who hunted all over the world with a Mr. Art Young and they authored some of the most famous and exciting books on archery ever, Steve can tell you all about it. Steve’s home is in Sisters, Oregon when he is not traveling the world giving talks on this subject (Jerry Dishion, Archery Expo).
Above photo 9. World’s closest entry notch by Steve Alleley (Photo by: Ray Harwood)
Interview With Steve Allely: “A few helpful hints on narrow notching is that first you have to make the area of the point you're going to notch, very thin to begin with. That will solve a number of problems before you even start and is essential. You'll need that part of your point thin so you're not fighting any thickness which is highly helpful. I use a filed down very flat and thin welding rod tip with the end having not a point but a tiny flat area as if one flattened off the end of a wooden popsicle stick but at a slight angle instead of at a 90 degree. This flat and thin tip is tiny and miniature is size and looks something like a tiny screwdriver tip for eyeglasses screws only its at a slight angle if that makes sense. You can use a horse shoe nail, regular nail or any other piece of mild steel or iron like Ishi did. I used a 7 or even a 10 power jewelers hood when doing this (its really hard to see it!) and it took several attempts as its very hard to do. I made a very tiny micro notch to start with using the flat thin flaker that I gradually went into the edge of the point a ways. Then as I got the notch started an in a ways from the edge maybe a 1/16" or so, I inserted the flat tool into the notch from the side, gently set up a little platform, and carefully pressed off a little crescent shaped notch flake to expand the notch outward and into the point but not too big, because if that flake is too large it circles back and tears open your tiny narrow notch entry and wrecks it. One has to "micro narrow notch" a little ways into the point from the edge, and then start to take off larger flakes a bit more aggressively. After you get away from the edge it gets much safer and a bit less of a risk to break it. As you notch you have to set up your platforms to the next side you take your flakes off of. I pop off a flake, very gently crunch my way in a ways but build the platform to the opposite side and very gently scrape (grind) it with my flaking tool which is setting up the platform for the next flake on the other side. Then the process repeats if all goes well. What you don't want is to get your edge to thicken up too much in the mid line of the notch and then you can start to get "stuck" and spin your wheels in taking a flake off as your platform is too far from either side stuck in the middle and it starts to get too thick so your tool keeps slipping instead of taking off a flake. You can sometimes power through and pop off a large one but you can wreck it very easily at that point and will be heard quoting Homer Simpson with a loud "D'oh!"...or worse... In short, it takes lots of practice and I've seen a number of Ishi's old points at the Hearst Museum that Ishi himself "messed up" and popped his notches out wider than he wanted or had planned. That's essentially it, its just meticulous mirco notching. Its not a deep dark secret nor rocket science, just very careful tiny flaking with lots of practice (and many failures) This is probably the smallest entry notched point I've ever managed to make with the notch openings less than
1 mm but I was pushing the envelope and it took several tries before I was successful. When I notch this way I work on my knee on an old green chain leather apron and hold the tool straight down when I get to the 'insert it into the inner notch" stage if that makes sense. The tiniest mistake of twisting your tool wrong can mess you up if you aren't super careful. Practice on glass or obsidian flakes a lot, the more you do it the better you'll get at it.”
Flintknapping can be very dangerous, if you choose to do so, seek a mentor, and use all necessary safety gear: Long pants, boots, leather lap cover, safety glasses and gloves.
 |
| Montana PSK knap-in 2015, |
www.pugetsoundknappers.com for help. and information.
Beautiful eccentric by Brian Schuch of Juneau, Alaska
rejected so I blogged it!!
After going over the article I am going to pass on it. About the only articles on flint
knapping that we publish are actual how-to types. The pieces you display in the -
article are beautiful, but making them would be well out of our readers range of
expertise. I'm sorry.
Charlie Richie, Sr.
Editor/Publisher | BACKWOODSMAN MAGAZINE"
Editor/Publisher | BACKWOODSMAN MAGAZINE"
XTRA-TERRESTRIAL EVIDENCES FOR ALIEN FLINTKNAPPING (THE ALIEN STONE-AGE)
By Ray Harwood
 |
| ALIEN, MARTIAN FLINTKNAPPER |
In 1999, to the best of my memory, I had the good fortune to be sitting by a camp fire in the woods near Portland, Oregon. There were several quite notable men of science, and an array of students. We were in sort of relaxed contemplation after a day of experimental flintknapping. Most of us had our gaze fixed upon a abnormally bright star. After a long spell we started discussing among each other which planet it mat be. Just about that time the light darted in a zig zag pattern across the cosmos. The speed was not describable as it traversed the horizon in a fraction of a second. The only word uttered was Dr, Callahan whom lightly enumerated “hmmmm” and then the group burst into laughter. Were they getting a free knapping lesson?
Two years later, in the forest above Lake Tahoe, my sons and I were camping beneath the trees but insight of the lake at dusk. My youngest son and I, alerted by a flash of light, looked up from the camp fire to see a massive ball of light travelling through the trees between us and the lake. Last year I saw a green triangle of light dashing, zig zag, over the skies of the Spokane River?? Yikes one might say.
 |
| VITRUVIAN ALIEN AFTER DA VINCI'S MAN (BY RAY) |
In 214 BC Livy recorded flying saucers in Rome, this appears to be the first of thousands of written accounts of extra-terrestrials throughout history (Wikipedia) In 1920s Nikola Tesla, super genius, was confident he had been receiving nightly radio messages from alien life forms, his laboratory assistant, Arthur Mathews, later confirmed this. Guglielmo Marconi also made similar claims a few years later (Swartz 2001). “Why should the earth be the only planet supporting life? It is not singular in any other respect” (Albert Einstein). The internet has multitudes of video and photographic evidence both fake and intriguing. Ancient artifacts and art depict what appear to be flying saucers and alien life forms.
I am not advocating alien existence one way or the other. I would be more inclined to believe there are parallel universes and these things are the result of bleeding through from one to another. In any event these mysterious technologies are very advanced, but all technologies have to develop one step at a time over long periods of time. At some point in the technical development there would have to be a cultural, technical evolution. In other words …Aliens were once stone tool makers, and if they were at some point from another time, another dimension or Mars, then they were most likely flintknappers at one point in their development.
 |
| Ray Harwood with natural glass alien like points he made. Montana PSK knap-in 2015, |
Obsidian and flint are very common raw material for flintknapping:
“Is there Obsidian on other planets? The only way to get a dacite or a rhyolite (rock that melts into obsidian) is to re-melt rocks, usually in the presence of water. We get that on Earth because we have continental crust and plate tectonics that recycle the basalt on Earth. Mars has a chance, but we don’t get felsic rocks like we find in Earth’s continental crust really anywhere else in the solar system, and therefore most of the solar system is obsidian-free” (September 19, 2014 The Earth Story Blog).
 |
| Alien Point of Flint: made by Ed Mosher |
Is there flint on other planets? On planets like Mars, that show that there was once some sort of water, flint may be possible. If you think about what flint is, a type of chert that forms in pressurized Sedimentary limestone. Chambers in the stone get filled with a gelatinous mixture of organic silica from aquatic life, this fills the rock chambers like a mold, and forms nodules. Mars has much evidence of water, in the form of dry river beds meandering on its’ surface. Furthermore, evidence like the Sri Lanka Meteorite show signs of life from outer space in the form of primitive life form fossils.
What flintknapping tools would have been employed by stoneage Alien? On earth it is known that knappers now, and in ancient times, relied on sand stone cobbles as hammer stones and copper tipped pressure flakers. We do know that rocks that look like hammer stones exist on Mars. Studies have shown that there are sedimentary rocks and forms of copper in Shalbatana paleo -lake sediments on Mars (Various: Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. 2014).
 |
| PETER BOSTROM PHOTO, TUSSINGER POINTS. LITHIC CASTING LAB. |
What type of lithic tools and weapons would have been made by stone age aliens? It is unknown what aliens to me eat or ate. Do they eat chemicals, do they get nutrients through photosynthesis or like us do they harvest plant and other biologics for food? The type of tool required would depend on the necessity of food acquisition and or clothing. shelter needs or digging mines and caves for their survival needs.
In conclusion; it appears there is a good possibility that there is amble raw lithic material and knapping tool material to facilitate flintknapping on Mars and similar planets. Was it done? If there are, or was, truly Martians or aliens and they went through a cultural evolution sequence similar to humans, including extra-terrestrial stone age, then yes! If Mars was once flourishing and some sort of horror transpired upon them, and the aliens abandoned ship, perhaps we are they and the ancient astronaut theories can be contemplated and here comes a new Clovis theory!
No comments:
Post a Comment