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Flintknapping John C. Whittaker

Flintknapping By John C. Whittaker

Flintknapping by John C. Whittaker


Condition - Very Good
Out of stock

Summary

The most detailed handbook on flintknapping currently available, and the only one written from the archaeological perspective of interpreting stone tools as well as making them.

Flintknapping Summary

Flintknapping: Making and Understanding Stone Tools by John C. Whittaker

Flintknapping is an ancient craft enjoying a resurgence of interest among both amateur and professional students of prehistoric cultures. In this new guide, John C. Whittaker offers the most detailed handbook on flintknapping currently available and the only one written from the archaeological perspective of interpreting stone tools as well as making them.

Flintknapping contains detailed, practical information on making stone tools. Whittaker starts at the beginner level and progresses to discussion of a wide range of techniques. He includes information on necessary tools and materials, as well as step-by-step instructions for making several basic stone tool types. Numerous diagrams allow the reader to visualize the flintknapping process, and drawings of many stone tools illustrate the discussions and serve as models for beginning knappers.

Written for a wide amateur and professional audience, Flintknapping will be essential for practicing knappers as well as for teachers of the history of technology, experimental archaeology, and stone tool analysis.

Flintknapping Reviews

A mid-range user's guide to flintknapping is long overdue. There have been some admirable attempts to produce such a volume, but these have been targeted at specific, fairly narrow audiences. Not so with Flintknapping.... [Whittaker's] clear aim is to reach professional archaeologists as well as hobbyists. I believe he achieves this goal with incredible skill and humor.... I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in flintknapping. * Plains Anthropologist *

About John C. Whittaker

John C. Whittaker is an assistant professor of anthropology at Grinnell College.

Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgments
  • 1. Introduction
    • Using This Book
    • Learning to Knap
  • 2. Flintknapping: Basic Principles
    • Flintknapping
    • Conchoidal Fracture
    • Properties of Material
    • Flakes and Cores
  • 3. A Brief History of Flintknapping
    • Prehistory of Stone Tools
    • Recent Stone-Age People
    • Modern Knapping
    • Further Readings
    • Other Resources: Finding Other Knappers
  • 4. Raw Materials
    • Stone Quality
    • Stone Materials
    • Heat-Treating
    • Collecting Material: Ethical and Practical Considerations
  • 5. Safety
    • Proper Technique
    • Eyes
    • Hands
    • Other Body Parts
    • Lungs
    • Waste Disposal
    • Benefits
  • 6. Hard-Hammer Percussion
    • Material and Equipment
    • Percussion-Flaking Principles: An Experiment
    • Percussion Flaking
    • Platforms
    • The Face of the Core
    • Terminations
    • Curvature
    • Starting a Core
    • Summary: Nine Essentials
    • Examples
  • 7. Pressure Flaking
    • Tools
    • Raw Material
    • First Principles
    • Working Position
    • Beginning
    • Platform Preparation
    • Thinning
    • Notching
    • Other Pressure-Flaking Techniques
    • Summary: Six Essentials
    • Application: Small Triangular Points from the Southwest
    • Pressure-Flaking Problems
    • Patterned Pressure Flaking
  • 8. Soft-Hammer Percussion and Bifaces
    • Definitions
    • Tools
    • Beginning
    • Soft-Hammer Principles and Results
    • Biface Thinning Flakes
    • Fracture Theories
    • The Blow Platforms
    • Biface Stages
    • Knapping Strategy and Other Considerations
    • Example: A Basic Biface
    • Biface Problems: Prehistoric Mistakes
    • Summary
  • 9. Blades and Fluting
    • Blades
    • Platforms
    • Holding
    • Punches
    • The Blow
    • Fluting
    • Example: Fluted Point
  • 10. Using Stone Tools
    • Stone vs. Steel
    • Edges and Cutting
    • Making a Projectile Foreshaft
    • Going On
  • 11. Archaeological Analysis of Stone Tools
    • Typology
    • Stone Tool Types and Change through Time
    • What People Did with Stones
    • Sources of Variation: Why Stone Tools Are Not All Alike
    • Analyzing Stone Tool Materials
    • Technology and What It Tells Us
    • Figuring Out Function
    • Questions of Style
    • Conclusions
  • Appendix: Resources for Knappers
  • References
  • Index

Additional information

CIN029279083XVG
9780292790834
029279083X
Flintknapping: Making and Understanding Stone Tools by John C. Whittaker
Used - Very Good
Paperback
University of Texas Press
19940501
352
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - Flintknapping