More stuff that I have made.

 Spring seems like it may come, but it isn't getting much warmer the forty on most days still. This means that I still have to knap in the basement, for the most part. Here are a few of the things I have been able to finish.

This is a Gibson-Hopewell point. It is made from tough, raw Pedernales river flint. It was ABO except for the notches which were assisted by a copper flaker. The Hopewell culture did have some copper for pressure flaking, as has been found at archaeological sites. Here is a link to a prehistoric Hopewell copper flaker that was recovered: "Hacker Flaker"

This little goober is called a "Homan" arrowhead. This would have been used to hunt any game available to native Americans. This is made from heat-treated Arkansas novaculite.

This style of blade is called an Evans point. The stem (the contracted area at the base) is the main hafting area while the notches in the blade portion where either decorative or assisted the hafting. It is also made from heat-treated Arkansas novaculite.

A Gibson point from novaculite. This is one of my favorite points now.

A basal notch point made from black butter dacite.

A nice walk...... several hundred yards out on Lake Michigan!

 When it is winter in Michigan the Great Lakes freeze. This winter has been extremely cold and windy for weeks at a time. The result, a lot of thick ice with ice bergs on the Great Lakes! The five lakes are all at least 90% frozen. Seizing the opportunity, my family and I went out to take pictures as celebration for my birthday. We were quite surprised at what we saw. The ice was at least three feet thick. I had to take a picture of the arrowhead in my pocket on the ice.

Michigan Flintknappers meet at the Kalamazoo Traditional Archery Expo 2014

The Kalamazoo Traditional Archery Expo is a huge show for those interested in traditional archery. This category includes all natural, primitive bows but mostly "longbows" (fiberglass backed). This expo is meant for people all ages and experience levels. You can buy bows and other archery equipment, tools and materials to make your own archery equipment, and hunting gear. But such a show would not be complete without stone arrowheads and flintknapping. In order to accommodate this, the Michigan Flintknappers set up a booth there to demonstrate flintknapping and sell their work. I have came to knap there for four years; it is a special event for me because it is where I received my first hands-on instruction. This booth is put on by Don Gilson, Dan Belknap, Clay Wykes, and Greg Bennick. Other members of the Michigan Flintknappers filtered in and out of the booth to talk and observe. I had a great time and made a few decent points as well.

Here Don is demonstrating how to spall a nodule of Sonora hornstone. He is using a basalt hammerstone.

In mid-strike.

Here Don has set all of the usable flakes back where they came off

A close-up of the nodule.

Here Dan shows a point he just finished.

Here is a close-up of the same point. It is called a Thebes and is made from heat-treated pedernales flint. It is a very nice points and good replica of the style.

Here is Clay focused on making a point.

A case of Don Gilson's work. All of these points are large and very-well done. The "flint Ulus" are not replications but a unique, modern style that I have not seen elsewhere.

Here is my display

More of Don's points.

A four-sided arrowhead by Don.

Dan's beautiful display.

Arrows by Dan.

Arrowheads for sale made by Greg.

Greg's keeper case.

A Burn's green obsidian knife with ivory inlays by Clay.

A few large points by Clay.

A large Snyders point made from Keokuk chert, by me.

A Hopewell point from gray novaculite, also by me.

Point-In-the-Hat trade, Winter Soltice

Being a flintknapper, I am not only interested in collecting the points that I make but those of other flintknappers. This is shared by many of those who create stone tools. For this reason many knap-ins (gatherings of flintknappers) and flintknapping web sites have events in which people trade with each other. I happen to currently host one of these events on Paleoplanet. Here's how it works: two weeks before every solstice or equinox, I post a sign-up topic so that people can have their name included. On the solstice/equinox I randomly pair the names by drawing them out of a hat. The pairs then exchange points by sending them through the mail. Pictured below is the point I received from the gentleman who goes by "Pebblepimp" on Paleoplanet. His real name is Tom and he is a very good flintknapper. I will enjoy having this beautiful point in my case.

Another pic to show of the flake pattern.

These are the points that I sent him.

Wrapping up 2013 arrowhead video!

In order to show off my favorite points of last year I decided to make a video. The sound is really quiet and the picture is crappy but you should still be able to watch it.

I also have included pictures of the points featured in the video. They are in the order in which they are shown in the video.

This Hopewell-Gibson point is my favorite because of its nice workmanship without any major flaws in it.

I like this Flint Ridge Snyders point because of its good workmanship and beautiful notches.

The workmanship and thinness of this point are the reasons it is one of my favorites.

And I like this one mainly for the beautiful material it is made of. It is still a pretty nice point.

Winter knapping

It has been a while since my last post , so here is what I have been up to. This point is called a Scottsbluff and is made of mahogany obsidian with tiny inclusions of volcanic ash in it. Scottsbluff points are projectile points that were made by the Cody complex, who were known for making points (such as mine) that had a diamond or convex cross-section and knives that were thin, flat, and had one working edge.

Some recent Hopewell culture points

Well, all from Ohio Hopewell culture except for the Adena, which I made at the Flint Ridge knap-in. These points represent three variants of this type: "normal", Snyders, and Gibson. Although the "normal" Hopewell point certainly falls into this category, it does not represent the "classic" form, which would have deeper notches and would be a little more rectangular in shape. The Snyders variant is little more angular in shape and was most prolific in the Illinois area. Finally, the Gibson variant is a narrow blade with notches that come in more from the side than the corners.This is now my favorite point, it is symmetrical, cleanly flaked, and a good replica. Also, these are technically knife blades, not projectile points.

From left to right: hornstone Adena, burlington chert Hopewell, hornstone Snyders, and the burlington Gibson.

A close up of the heated burlington chert Gibson point.

A close up of the heat treated burlington chert Hopewell point.

Fall Equinox PITH

The PITH, or point-in-the-hat, is a knapped art trading event hosted on Paleoplanet. On every solstice and equinox (for a total of four) the flintknappers on Paleoplanet can choose to participate in the PITH. I have been the organizer of this event since the winter solstice  of 2012. A notice is given two weeks in advance of the drawing date for people to sign up. The names are then randomly drawn and paired.
 These are the gorgeous points I received by the user "Flatland Knapper". For the sake of his privacy I will not reveal his name

This  is an obsidian basal-notched point.

This style is called a Ross Hopewell point. This is the same mid-western culture that made beautiful corner notched points. They traded obsidian from the Yellowstone area to make these ceremonial blades. I think I will make a post about these people sometime soon.

This is a picture of the unfinished point. When held at an angle to the sunlight, the beautiful sheen becomes apparent.

 

Here are the points that I sent. Left to right: obsidian side-notch, hornstone dalton, flint ridge gibson. 

To see the other beautiful trades go to:http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/57326/Fall-Equinox-Trades#.Ula3c0rD_cs

Late Summer/Fall Work

Here is some of my recent work all the way from vacation, at the Flint Ridge knap-in, and after the knap-in. Most are all abo but I did use a metal pressure flaker for the notches on the obsidian corner notch.

Here is an Adena point out of super nice hornstone. This is one of the two points that I made at the Flint Ridge knap-in.

Although I have posted this hornstone Snyders point already, I re-worked the tip to improve the symmetry.

This corner notch point is made from pumpkin-seed obsidian. I used a steel flaker to do the notches.

Made of burlington chert, this style is called a Fishspear point.

This is called a Heavy Duty point. It is made from a slab of colorful flintridge flint.