Ancient Pressure Flaking Tools

[Ron Kelley]

I am interested to learn more about the ancient tools used to pressure flake small arrowheads. I have used the deer antler and bones to do some pressure flaking. The tools I have used would not be what was used to knap the very small arrow points. I am wondering what tool was used to pressure flake those micro flakes that I use a magnifying glass to see. Do you have any info or guesses?

[Lindenmeier-Man]

Dr Brown told me they would use a animal fang tooth on the really small points Ron. I’ve never tried , not gonna try.
( People can barely read my hand writing) I’ve got no eye to hand coordination . For what it’s worth Sir.

[Ron Kelley]

Thanks JJ, Using the teeth of a predator makes good sense. Teeth are very hard. I think I will take a tooth and haft it to a wooden handle. I bet that will work.

[SurfaceHunter]

Beaver and muskrat teeth.

[Ron Kelley]

Thanks Glen, They have to have tough teeth to chew all that wood.

[Garguy]

Gar scales too

[Ron Kelley]

Thanks Steve, I have never seen a gar except in pictures. I knew they used the scales for points. It must be some very tough material.

[Hal Gorges]

Shell ground to the intended shape?

[Ron Kelley]

Thanks Hal, I have drilled some quahog shell so I know that material is very hard.

[LongStride]

Ground bone to small point for those deeeep andice notches, like the idea of a hafted tooth

[Ron Kelley]

Thanks LongStride, I have done some pressure flaking with ground bone. The tools I used broke fairly easy.

[LongStride]

Yep, me too, was thinking a certain bone part and treated some how, or maybe green, I've also tried to figure out what they used that works as good as my copper pressure flaker , figure certain antler or bone that was a high maintenance tool, maybe only one or two flakes and reworking or replacing the tool

[Ron Kelley]

Thanks Guys: I think a tooth is harder than other bones and antler.

[Garguy]

Another thing Ron, I have found hundreds of deer ulna bones ground down as pressure flakes in late archaic and woodland levels.

[Ron Kelley]

Thanks Steve, I have saved hundreds of deer bones but never thought to save the ulna bones. Next fall I will keep this in mind for sure.

[Quartzite Keith]

I know what you mean. I've had similar questions, but to date, haven't pursued them. I believe the answer can only be found experimentally.

Antler: I agree with your findings. It very simply is not hard enough. If a point or chisel like end is made small enough to do the kind of work you seek, the antler is simply not strong enough to hold up to the pressure.

Teeth: An idea that has been bandied about for a long time. Almost always as a theoretical construct. Those that have actually tried it report, at best, lukewarm results. I think if that was really the answer, we would have figured it out by now.

Bone: Hampered by the vast assortment of bone types and how the bone is prepared. Cooked bone tends to be too weak. Cured bone is sufficiently hard, but also brittle. As I'm sure you've noticed with all knapping tools, you need to find that right balance between hardness and elasticity.

If you want to try an experiment: I wonder if the answer doesn't lie in a tool made from "green" bone. I would start with a fresh piece of bone from the leg of any large animal. For example, a fresh deer leg, or if you can't find one, perhaps a pork butt from the grocery store. Manually clean the bone (cutting and scraping only, no heat) as best you can, then shatter into as many awl-like pieces as you can make. Abrade the working end to whatever shape you think will work, haft into a handle and try it out. Let the remaining pieces air dry and about once a week haft up another one and try again. See if you can find a magical "sweet spot" where the bone is dry enough to be sufficiently hard while still retaining enough moisture to not be too brittle.

If you try it, let me know how it goes. Otherwise, I may try it myself at some point in the future...

[clovisoid]

Great observations!

[Ron Kelley]

Thanks Keith, I have done some experimenting but have had limited success.

[SGT.Digger]

The broken antlers I’ve found in a few shelters here in TN are ground for finer flaking . Ever consider harder knife edge flint tools as being used to knap or razor edges to fine tune another point . Or utilized flakes ect.

[Ron Kelley]

Thanks Aaron, I have not tried using flint but certainly will have to try that.

[Hoss]

Great question Ron and some outstanding answers as well. Makes me wonder about points like the Steiner from Texas. How did they pressure flake those tiny critters.

[clovisoid]

And some of the Steiners I have look to be from relatively hard looking materials.

[Ron Kelley]

Thanks Matt, I would have trouble holding some of the small ancient points let alone knap them. I have used a magnifying glass to see the work on some of my little points and wondered, "How did he do that?"

[clovisoid]

Personal thoughts-

I have hundreds of copper awls and needles from the Midwest, I don't doubt that people tried notching with copper well before modern knappers started using it. That said, none of them look like a modern notching tool or have wear like a modern tool. They are all very needle like, and unless they are found with metal detectors in the right kind of soil, they wouldn't survive in a normal plowed field or a creek where many of us find relics.

Some materials and set ups flake better than others, Folsom micro edge flaking (20-25 flakes per inch on many examples) is crazy impressive but I've seen knappers who can do that with prepped bone tools. Usually brittle materials and thin edges. The same with Agee points, you could probably flake one with your fingernail if you aren't careful, a couple of the ones I have were broken by Kizzia when he excavated them with a pocket knife. (Someone told me he thought they use fish bones to flake them.)

The ones I don't get are fine flaking on tough (less brittle) materials. Steiners, some quartzites, etc.

[Ron Kelley]

Thanks Joshua, That copper came from close to home. I have found natural plates and nuggets. Tons of copper were mined by the ancient people in the Keweenaw. I think they probably did use some of it for knapping.

[Garguy]

Stuff like these... paper thin. I don't know how they did it. ol FogMan, Jim Hopper lived with me for quite a while . He could flake like that all day with copper. We talked a lot about micro flaking before copper. I gave him free pick from a bunch of my deer antlers and he quickly made tools that he could do the job with.

The 30 Per inch stuff on folsom seemed impossible to me. He grinned and started on an edge. He punched little serrations with the sharpened antler. I mean tiny little nicks very evenly separated. Next he took a curved antler off a spike buck. Lay the point on a leather pad, and rolled the antler along the edge. Hard to explain but picture a rocking chair rocker. He rolled it right down those serrations. When he turned the point over, every one of the serrations had taken a perfect micro flake that looked exactly folsom. Took 5 seconds once tge platforms were set up.

[Ron Kelley]

Thanks Steve, There you go: That's what we need.

[Garguy]

Fyi....the points above are authentic from the Brazos site

[UpNorth]

This guy looks like it could do the job.
found this in a field littered in flint… perhaps it once did….. rule 3b, leave nothing behind

[Ron Kelley]

Hey Brad, That's a good one. It even has its own handle.