STOP! - Arrowhead Collecting On The Web

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Arrowhead Collecting On The Web
Arrowhead Collecting On The Web
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A Close-Up Look At The Edge Treatment Of A Modern-Made
Stone Blade, Knapped From A Cut Slab Of Jasper, Ground To A
Pre-Form Shape To Minimize The Pressure Flaking Finish Work.
This Bullseye Jasper knife blade or
spear point was made by my
friend, Clifford Carney, of
Las Vegas, Nevada. The
jasper is from out in the
desert north of Las Vegas a
couple of hundred miles.
I am showing this blade to
illustrate the technique
which you will often see in
modern knapped pieces.
You see, this was made from
a ground pre-form. Cliff cuts
the jasper into slabs, then he
cuts the slabs into the rough
outline of the piece he intends
to pressure flake. However,
before the pressure flaking
stage, he grinds the piece close
to the desired lens-shaped cross
section. It is also heat treated, to
make the jasper a little easier to
work; this also gives it the glossy
surface which you can see.
After the pressure flaking, he
trims the “deltas”, the high spots
remaining at the edge, between
each large pressure flake. Using a
smaller tool, he removes 3 or 4
small flakes to eliminate the high
spots and leave a sharpened edge.
The small flakes which are visible
are typical of this finishing step
for what knappers call “flake over
ground” preforms.
Cliff sells his knapped pieces on
eBay, and always identifies his
artwork as modern. His eBay ID
is “Stonefusion.”
If you are looking at a piece which
someone is telling you is ancient
and authentic, and it looks glossy
and perfect like this, with this
style of edge treatment and
uniform large pressure flaking
like this, you should definitely
consider that it is possibly a piece
of modern flintknapper’s art, and
that probably it is not ancient.
Volume I, Number 7 14
November 2009