Flintknapping in Scotland

[pinerevolver]

I am very intrested in learning the traditional way of Flintknapping,
but i live in Scotland and i dont see very many courses or related things to Flintknapping in Scotland.
Im Wondering if you guys could help me out please that would be great.

 

[stuart f]

Hi Pinerevolver,i don't now of any off hand,but it might be worthwhile getting along to a meet up and speaking to a few folk.I have done a wee bit knapping but nothing worth showing,and Josh(Grooveski on this site) does a bit also.I just read books,watched dvds and had a go,i managed to make a couple of arrow heads,they are fairly poor compared to some peoples work but then again i'm not after show pieces,i just want them to work as arrows.

Oh i just had a thought,i know John lord does demos at this place http://www.kilmartin.org/ it may be an idea to contact them and ask if he's demo'ing this year.

Anyway i hope this helps.

Cheers Stuart.

 

[Chance]

(more demos: http://www.archaeolink.co.uk/Mesolithic-Age.html)

 

[pinerevolver]

Thanks for your help guys,
I did'nt ever hear of theese places ill go in the summer/spring for sure.
Terrific Help i could'nt have asked for more

 

[pinerevolver]

By the way, While we're discussing the topic of Flintknapping in Scotland
Are there any native flint to Scotland ? Iv'e heard Quartz and Bloodstone are knappable but are any else ?

 

[Toddy]

Josh is definitely the person to talk to about this, but.....there are only three ways flint appears in Scotland.
*There's a source near Boddam in Aberdeenshire but since its a scheduled site it's not available. I'm told that further down the burn there are sometimes pebbles though.
*Occasionally seawashed pebbles come across from Antrim and are found down the Clyde coast.
*Someone brought it here.
That's it for flint really.

However, we do have loads of chert and good chert is as good a middling stuff flint
Arran pitchstone, Rum bloodstone and the like are also sources of knappable rocks.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[pinerevolver]

Thanks for that terrific info ! Hopefully Josh will post a thing or two on this thread to help out

 

[Everything Mac]

Josh is definitely the person to talk to about this, but.....there are only three ways flint appears in Scotland.
*There's a source near Boddam in Aberdeenshire but since its a scheduled site it's not available. I'm told that further down the burn there are sometimes pebbles though.
*Occasionally seawashed pebbles come across from Antrim and are found down the Clyde coast.
*Someone brought it here.
That's it for flint really.

However, we do have loads of chert and good chert is as good a middling stuff flint
Arran pitchstone, Rum bloodstone and the like are also sources of knappable rocks.

cheers,
Toddy

Plenty of chert about Scotland. The geology is not favourable for Flint unfortunately.

might be lucky in the south west.

 

[pinerevolver]

Are there any websites or refrence to flintknapping in Scotland,
my books only give me a little info not everything i would like to know im just relying on books and information that people give me .

 

[pinerevolver]

http://www.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-100-032-412-C -
http://www.encyclopedia.com/video/kHNea6pf2aE-spalling-raw-chunk-of-chert.aspx

it seems chert is knappable

 

[Toddy]

Some of the archaeology sites and the heritage centres have bits and pieces.

To be honest though, the only way to learn to do it, is to do it.

We can get you flint to play around with, we can recommend places relatively nearby where you can get chert, we can suggest courses, or if you can get to a meet there may well be someone there who has done a bit before.

There's an excellent book by John Lord, it's called, " The nature and subsequent uses of flint"
http://www.flintknapping.co.uk/shop.html

John and Val also now have DVD's of their work and teaching

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Grooveski]

Here's some reading material. The first two links are the most useful in general for finding knappables anywhere in the UK. The others are more scotland specific.

http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/
http://www.soton.ac.uk/~imw/Geology-Britain.htm
http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_109/109_007_021.pdf
http://www.biggararchaeology.org.uk/pdf_reports/SR_PITCHSTONE_REP_08.pdf
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16315

You'd likely have to dig for chert. It doesn't weather very well, any I've found on the surface has been riddled with hairline cracks.

 

[pinerevolver]

Thanks for they great informative links !!