Flintknapping: Making and Understanding Stone Tools

This book is the best I've seen on the subject. I've had some experience finding arrowheads "back in the day", later as a self taught knapper, then watching a family member who knapped, sometimes making a hand ax of my own out in the field when I needed one but had no metal tools. So it was very refreshing to find this book which starts with some good writing on the history of stone tools then builds on the subject with more chapters about the process itself. I've read it once and my knapping skill has progressed from that of an Homo erectus to where I'm close to making my first modern points.We "civilized" folk look at stone tools as being heirlooms, expensive works of art to keep safe forever up on a high shelf or case away from the children. In actuality they were the disposable razors and beer cans of the paleolithic, used once or twice then thrown away or recycled when they were broken. And making them was not rocket science. I've made hand axes using nothing but a limestone cobble hammer I picked up next to the chert nodule to form the ax.The bare truth of the matter is that knapping is in our blood. A conservative calculation is that there were a hundred thousand unbroken generations of our ancestors who made, on a daily basis, stone hand axes. They were followed by ten thousand generations of ancestors who made progressively more elegant tools, starting from second generation hand axes and ending with the pistol flints that Andy Jackson and his contemporaries used to eliminate the competition.For those interested in actually knapping rather than theory, Whittaker recommends reading through the book to get an overview, then concentrating on details. He gives the recommendation that the knapper should master the hard hammer techniques then go on to other techniques. There are numerous detailed explanations about why one technique or another works or fails, numerous illustrations.Theory is of a practical nature and he clearly labels things that he knows versus suspects versus speculates. It is kind of creepy, but once you read it and look at the illustrations you can get into the head of knappers who've been dead for hundreds of years. I have a bowl of points that I've kept for decades and now I can look at them and see, "oh yes, he used an antler to push that way then he tapped here and..."This book is expensive, hard to find, primarily uses metric measures with English conversions, but is still the best I've found on the subject.

I've always had a fascination with primitive technology, and my recent return to archery had me thinking about perhaps building a self bow and using stone tipped arrows. There are a lot of good books on flintknapping in print right now, but after reading several reviews this one stood out as the only one that combined a really exhaustive treatment of the techniques of flintknapping with a complete historical treatment. That's not surprising, as the author is in fact an archeologist, and wrote this book both for amateur flintknappers and for professional archeologists and students of archeology. Using this book and a few homemade tools (a couple of copper boppers and a pressure flaker) I was able to get right into shaping and forming pieces of glass and chert.One piece of advice to prospective flintknappers: Flintknapping is not unlike playing with tiny bits of broken glass. In fact, if you're knapping obsidian, it is precisely that- playing with tiny shards of broken glass. It's very easy to cut yourself if you don't use protective gear, and the author tells how, early in his knapping experiments, he painlessly severed a tendon in one of his fingers. Knapping generates a lot of very hazardous waste material, too; every spear point or arrowhead you make will also result in at least an equal amount of tiny, razor-sharp, chips. Make sure you have somewhere to dispose of these before you begin.

This is an excellent source, explained simply so that concepts are understood. This book has inspired me to start back at flintknapping again. Anyone interested in doing lithic analysis would be much aided by reading this.

This book is really what caused a spark in my interest in flintknapping. Not just that, but all the characteristics of lithic fragments and terms mentioned by Whittaker helped me better describe lithic objects in the museum setting, where I work. When pursuing my degree in Anthropology a big part of my research was on experimental archaeology from a local lithic resource of chert - I like how the author covers even the ethical consideration in flintknapping. I should say, I especially like this book because Whittaker presents an illustration of an arrowhead that my geology professor had given to him years back. That professor was like my mentor in flintknapping, and is very skilled, so I know Whittaker uses credible examples in his book. This book is one that can stimulate growth not only in a hobby, but even as far as education.

Very interesting reading. I found some of my own arrow heads and always wondered how this was done.

This a definitive guide to the world of making sharp-edged, stoneage tools for hobbyists, students of archeology and anthropology, and primitive hunters . It provides the background, including who used these tools and how they were made from the very beginning. The book looks at how ancient tools were made, what they were made of and why. It is the best description of the several methods to make these tools I have read.I think the sections on anthropology could be updated to reflect the latest thinking.

Good start to finish treatise on knapping. And the drawings are great...perfect in fact. No BS, no bragging or chest pounding, just practical objective information. I looked at quite a few flint knapping books, happy with this one.

This is a book for the student of Stone Age Tools or most Archaeologists. Good instructions on how to prepare a core of flint and then how to create knives, spear and arrow points from stones. This book was very helpful to me as a aide after I had completed my work with a flintknapper. The writing is good and easy to follow and understand.

I bought this book because everyone I know in Archaeology says it is very good and it is. The text is clear. The diagrams are good and the explanatory diagrams are helpful. The cases are mostly US ones. That's not a criticism but an important fact if the reader is interested in prehistoric archaeological finds from other parts of the world which I suspect is the case for most readers. On techniques of knapping it is excellent so it US focus should not deter anyone from buying it..

Explains what you should be doing and why - but unless you have years to spend working out how to apply the advice in the book my view is that you need to have someone show you what to do as well

A very well put together and well researched manual and text book. The ideal book to learn flint knapping from the basics to the complex with a lot of very interesting anthropology

I would say this book is aimed at the accademic/ archeologist .Quite technical and very indepth ,but once you aquaint yourself with the language you can follow instructions ,and attempt to make tools ,with vairying results ``not all bad ``.All in all a very intresting book.

A wonderful book, covers everything I needed to know. Obviously written by someone who has in depth knowledge on the subject and great practical know how. It is easy to read and easy to understand. Flintknapping is not easy, but this book can put you right when you go wrong and help you understand why. All I need now is more time to practice and would just like to say thank you to Mr John C Whittaker, or is it Prof, Sorry..