MASTER KNAPPER'S GUIDE TO FLUTED POINTS OF NORTH AMERICA

$20.00

A MASTER KNAPPER'S GUIDE TO THE FLUTED POINT TRADITIONS OF NORTH AMERICA. About 25 years ago I mentioned to Valerie that some time in the future I wanted to do a book on fluted points. She thought it was a great idea and started collecting high quality copies of all the drawings of Paleo pieces she did. Along with these she also collected illustrations of artifacts from later periods as we discussed ideas for a possible series of guide booklets for knappers. Therefore, I was left with hundreds of excellent copies of her work to which I am now adding text and this first book was finished just before the tenth anniversary of her death. Though late, a promise kept. The goal of this book is to present illustrations of specimens that would be useful as guides and templates for modern flint workers and to surround them with an informative text that draws attention to the details that are of most interest to knappers. Along with this I have added a little background information on the cultures and sites that produced the artifacts. I believe this information is necessary for a deeper understanding, it helps to try and get inside the ancient’s head and put oneself in the mood to make good replicas. The first chapter may come as a surprise, putting Cumberland ahead of Clovis breaks with old theories that Cumberland was a late development in the fluted point series, now we have two radiocarbon dated sites and a new way to directly date flint artifacts that are showing just the opposite. Dates, as early as 16,000 years before present, along with new finds have forced a re-examination of the knapping strategies used for Cumberland points as in running single channel flakes along the pronounced median ridge of a rather thick preform as opposed to single and/or multiples being run on a much thinner one with a low convex cross section like we see on Clovis points. In this chapter Cumberland points from the Phil Stratton and Trinity sites are featured along with others. In the next section we find what was originally lumped under the simple Clovis heading has now been divided into at least two periods with the changes in technology used to make Early Clovis points, 13,050 – 12,800 BP, differing from that used to make Late or Post Clovis points passed 12,800 to about 12,000 years BP. Points from some famous sites are examined in detail; the Richey Cache, Lamb, Vail, Sugarloaf and others. Folsom points have long been considered the gold standard of fluted points and early modern knappers strove to discover the secrets of making these thin and delicate pieces. In this section the secrets are revealed which leads into the last chapter which is an overview of fluting techniques, jigs and fixtures that are used by today’s knappers. 8 1/2 x 11, comb bound, 64 pages, with 140 figures, over 100 of which are Val’s magnificent line drawings. Price, $20.