had a thought.

[_scorpio_]

while smashing some flint up with a big hammer onto an anvil i wondered how people from thousands of years ago managed to do this easily, if at all especially in a place with only flint pebbles. i then started thinking about what i would do to break them if i was on a beach covered in unbroken flint and no large rocks. then i remembered a thread a while back saying dont put damp stones in the fire because they crack and dont put hot stones in water for the same reason...
well that seems like a nice easy way to cheat at breaking the flint up if you cant smash it with a hammer or big rock and for people back in the days when they used flint and needed to save energy it seems a good idea.

why wouldn't this work? there is always a reason, or we would be doing it now...

 

[Toddy]

Because a skilled flint knapper can break up those big lumps with just one well placed blow, and in doing so create exactly the flake/ shard or piece he wants.
It's not brute force, it's skilled application of just the right pressure in just the right place

See if you can get hold of a copy of John Lord's small paperback, it's not expensive but it's worth every penny. Better yet if you can get on a course with someone like him

cheers,
Toddy

 

[_scorpio_]

.....really?! i need to watch some youtube videos....

 

[Toddy]

I've watched the man take a lump of flint the size of a 5kg bag of spuds and turn it into the most amazing handaxes, flint scrapers, knife blades, arrow heads, spear points, and all he used was a bit of antler and a rounded flint fist sized lump.

Incredible skill, but we find identical pieces to these in the archaeological record. People in the past weren't stupid or clumsy or unskillful, indeed their survival was dependant on being exactly the opposite and that undeniable fact that we are here means they succeeded

cheers,
M

 

[_scorpio_]

wow. where did you see that?

 

[Toddy]

He came down to the Mooit

cheers,
M

 

[Mr Cake]

what i would do to break them if i was on a beach covered in unbroken flint and no large rocks.

I'd either take the most promising flints to where I had some rocks or more likely I'd bring some suitable rocks with me to the flints to knap them down to a more portable size (actually if it was me I'd probably turn those lovely flints mainly into dangerous gravel). Making anything other than a random sharp edge from flint takes technique and practice and the more you have of both the more control you'll have over how your flint breaks. I'll second Toddy's estimation of John Lord's skill - amazing to watch what he can do. If you've got the cash I'd recommend you get on a course with him (there are other excellent knappers out there but I've had no personal experience with them).

There's some good stuff on flintknapping on youtube, including this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsGx1bX5Xw4

and you might find the following link interesting if a bit technical:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...gbs_similarbooks_s&cad=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false