Book Description
"...very attractive to readers interested in ancient crafts, survival skills, or the history of technology.... far superior to anything currently available."
—James C. Woods, director, The Herrett Museum, College of Southern Idaho
"A mid-range user's guide to flintknapping is long overdue. There have been some admirable attempts to produce such a volume, but these have been targeted at specific, fairly narrow audiences. Not so with
Flintknapping.... [Whittaker's] clear aim is to reach professional archaeologists as well as hobbyists. I believe he achieves this goal with incredible skill and humor.... I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in flintknapping."
—Plains Anthropologist
Flintknapping is an ancient craft enjoying a resurgence of interest among both amateur and professional students of prehistoric cultures. In this new guide, John C. Whittaker offers the most detailed handbook on flintknapping currently available and the only one written from the archaeological perspective of interpreting stone tools as well as making them.
Flintknapping contains detailed, practical information on making stone tools. Whittaker starts at the beginner level and progresses to discussion of a wide range of techniques. He includes information on necessary tools and materials, as well as step-by-step instructions for making several basic stone tool types. Numerous diagrams allow the reader to visualize the flintknapping process, and drawings of many stone tools illustrate the discussions and serve as models for beginning knappers.
Written for a wide amateur and professional audience,
Flintknapping will be essential for practicing knappers as well as for teachers of the history of technology, experimental archaeology, and stone tool analysis.
Customer Reviews:
Maybe the most complete book on the subject of Flintknapping!.......2007-08-23
This is another five star pick, a must have if you are learning to flintknap or just studying primitive skills. Full of information for the beginner to expert.
Introductory Flintknapping.......2007-04-04
Pick this book up and you'll be able to start flintknapping immediately. This guide is entertaining while being informative.
A solid learning reference.......2007-03-27
I found some artifacts as a boy and have always wanted to learn flintknapping. My archaeologist girlfriend's collection rekindled the interest. I selected the book only based on the Amazon reviews and am well pleased at how the book has helped me learn all the basics needed to start flintknapping right from ground zero. I can now find and select good flint, prepare blanks and demonstrate the basics of hard and soft hammer flaking, pressure flaking, indirect pressure flaking and retouching to sharpen. I believe that within a few months I will be able to create a Clovis spear point of pleasing quality, but the small arrow points and pattern flaking look pretty challenging at this point. Thankfully, I have the knowledge to try now. Good book.
Excellent text!!.......2007-02-23
I love this book! It's very readable and accessible to people without a lithics background. It has a very good introduction to the subject, both in regards to make stone tools and understanding production processes from debitage.
Excellent Reference.......2007-01-19
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It takes you logically through the entire process of flintknapping in an entertaining format. I would recommend it to anyone interested in having multiple lacerations to the hands or to those who just want to understand the science behind creating the flint point types. Good Book. The only thing that might have made it better would have been an attached DVD demonstrating many of the methods described.
Book Description
Archaeologist Faye Longchamp and her friend, Joe Wolf Mantooth, have traveled to Neshoba County, Mississippi, to help excavate a site near Nanih Waiya, the sacred mound where tradition says the Choctaw nation was born. When farmer Carroll Calhoun refuses their request to investigate an ancient Native American mound, Faye and her colleagues are disappointed, but his next action breaks their hearts: he tries to bulldoze the huge relic to the ground.
Faye and Joe rush to protect history--with their bodies, if necessary. Soon the Choctaws arrive to defend the mound and the farmer's white and black neighbors come to defend his property rights. Though a popular young sheriff is able to defuse the situation, tempers are short.
That night, Calhoun is found dead, his throat sliced with a handmade stone blade. Was he killed by an archaeologist, angered by his wanton destruction of history? Neshoba County farmers have been plowing up stone tools like the murder weapon for centuries. Did one of them take this chance to even the score with an old rival?
The sheriff is well-aware that Faye and Joe were near the spot where Calhoun's body was found and their combined knowledge of stone tools is impressive. They had motive, means, and opportunity....but so does almost everyone in Neshoba County.
Customer Reviews:
Entertaining but unrealistic.......2007-04-28
Faye Longchamp is on another archeological dig with her faithful friend Joe Wolf Mantooth in tow. I don't know why Joe tags along after her, especially when Faye starts dating a slick political lobbyist. I guess following Faye is Joe's unfortunate lot in life.
The archeology team hasn't been on site for a day before they instigate a confrontation that alienates both the local farmers and the indigenous Choctaw. Later that confrontation results in murder. As in Evan's previous books, Joe tops the list of likely murder suspects.
The story revolves around a new road, a pot field, an Indian mound, a county fair, cultural disagreements, a recent murder, and an old hate crime. Mary Anna Evans had to do a lot of complicated plotting to mix all those diverse things into one cohesive storyline. I'm not altogether sure she succeeded. Several portions of the book lagged seriously as the author tried to introduce new elements into the story. The county fair was a complete waste of time as was Evan's rewriting of old Indian legend. These old stories require a lot of detail and atmosphere, both are absent in this emotionless retelling.
The greatest flaw in the book was that the killer was obvious very early on. Sometimes knowing who the killer is doesn't matter, but in this case knowing is fatal to the enjoyment of the book. Another serious flaw; Evans has never been on an actual dig. She has Faye doing things with a trowel that a backhoe would struggle to accomplish.
The reason for the questions at the book's end escaped me. It seemed almost as though the author was trying to pass fiction off as serious research.
MUST READ MYSTERY.......2007-03-29
I've just finished the second reading of this third installment, which only happens with books I truly enjoy, and it was as entertaining as a the first. This is one of my favorite mystery series' because I get so caught up in the story that I don't spend a lot of time trying to think ahead of the author's vision and simply let the story unfold naturally. The characters are so thoroughly developed that I never find myself questioning their actions, as I often do with most mystery series. I don't feel that the protagonist or sidekick is ever doing something completely out of character; instead, I find myself understanding them more clearly, which is thoroughly refreshing.
Fay's honest objectivity and Joe's quiet strength and complete loyalty makes this duo irresistible and endearing, although it's obvious to everyone but herself that no one else will ever "get" Fay the way Joe does.
Mary Anna Evans, I admire your work - keep them coming!
another deep dig!.......2007-03-01
In this third mystery of this series, we are in the world of archeology with Faye Longchamp and her yummy sidekick Joe Wolf Mantooth. They have, once again, left their comfort zone of Joyeuse Island in north Florida to excavate a site for a company building a highway in Neshoba County, Mississippi. The site happens to be very close to Nanih Waiya, a mound considered sacred by the Choctaws. When the archeologists, one of them local to the area, see another `mound' across the street from where they are digging, they ask for permission to excavate it, as well. The owner, Carroll Calhoun, a local man of many years, runs them off the property and then tries to destroy the mound with a bulldozer. A community uprising ensues, with many different tensions causing it. The local sheriff is able to control the crowd and protect the mound until the laws are interpreted, but that didn't stop someone from deciding that Calhoun should die. When Joe and Faye find his body, throat slit, in a grove of marijuana plants, suspicions abound, especially on Joe because of his flint-knapping abilities. As Faye is trying to protect Joe from the outside world, she is trying to work on her assignment while also attempting to save a possible effigy, not to mention her own life and the lives of her friends. While it appears like there are many characters and stories to follow, the plot is sound, as well as the research that went into the story. There is definitely a lot of character development, and some of the descriptions make you want to go out and sift through the dirt with them.
A must read for mystery fans.......2007-02-23
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (10/06)
"Effigies" has it all. Mary Anna Evans manages to incorporate romance, archeological information, Native American history, and issues with racial prejudice in to her mystery. I loved reading this fiction novel. At the end of the book, the author has a section that discusses aspects of her story that are actually true. This made "Effigies" much more enjoyable because as she slips the well-researched information into her story, she also slips this knowledge into our minds.
The tale takes place in Mississippi. Faye and her friend Joe are excavating a Choctaw Indian site that sites near Naih Waiha which is a sacred mound. This mound sits on private property. The owner, Carroll Calhoun, is a farmer that does not want his land touched. He is afraid that he will lose the right to farm on his land if it is discovered how important this site actually is. This problem creates an interesting dilemma for the local people. The farmers want to support this farmer because they are also in danger of having to go through the same experience. The local Indians do not want the site disturbed at all. They see the archeologists as grave robbers. This creates an additional problem for one of the Choctaw Indians on the team. This matter becomes really serious when Calhoun tries to tear the mound down. He ends up getting murdered.
Before Calhoun's murder, a black politician steps forward to tell a story about an attempt that was made on his life when he was a young man in this town. He would like the people who attacked him to step forward, and to learn the identity of the man who helped rescue him. The question arises as to whether or not Calhoun was involved with this, and if his murder was related to this or to his attempted destruction of the mound. The plot thickens as certain people try to cover up the past.
"Effigies" is a story that should not be missed. I really enjoyed how well the characters are developed. It is really easy to visualize them. The descriptions of the surrounding area are vivid. I also enjoyed the Indian folklore stories that area put in between some of the chapters. It enriched my experience as a reader. I felt more in touch with the Choctaw tribe. The twists and turns of the plot kept me on the edge of my seat guessing. This story is third in the Faye Longchamp archaeological series. It was the first one for me to read and now I cannot wait to go back and read her earlier stories.
fun romantic amateur sleuth thriller.......2007-01-28
In Mississippi, archaeologist Faye Longchamp and her live-in lover Joe Wolf Mantooth lead a dig on sacred Choctaw property. Nearby is a better mound on the farm of Carroll Calhoun, who could not care less about someone else's heritage. When asked if an archeological dig could occur, Carroll says no and remarks he will bulldoze the mound before he allows the State to apply historical preservation rules and impound his property.
Nashoba County Sheriff Neely Rutland calms everyone down before a confrontation occurs. He agrees to obtain a legal opinion on the ownership and disposition of the mound. At the same time, former Congressman Lawrence Johnson Judd gives a talk about almost dying at the hands of a mob until some unknown person saved his life. Soon afterward, someone slashes Calhoun's throat and Judd is hospitalized from a near fatal drug overdose. Unable to mind her business and let Neely handle matters, Faye investigates but is unaware that she places Joe and herself in danger from a killer with motive entrenched in the county's past.
The archeology combined with Native-American lore enhances a fun romantic amateur sleuth thriller though why Faye needs to sleuth remains a question even with her work requiring plenty of clues gathering. The story line is action-packed even before the corpse is found as the audience will feel the enthusiasm of the team as they uncover their findings. The whodunit is delightfully disguised so that like the sheriff and the archeologist, readers will struggle to solve it. This is a superb murder mystery as the sum of the parts make for a fantastic whole.
Harriet Klausner
Book Description
This is the first comprehensive manual on stone artifact analysis. Logically ordered, clearly written and well illustrated, it is designed for students and professional archaeologists. It introduces the reader to lithic raw materials, and the classification of stone artifacts, basic terminology and concepts, and explains the various methods and techniques of analysis. The final section illustrates their application through detailed case studies of lithic analysis from different parts of the world.
Customer Reviews:
Andrefsky is a lithics god.......2005-10-22
This book explains the lithic forms and reduction seqences as clearly as anyone, and better than most. Definitely one for the archaeologists reference shelf, and good for students.
one of the best for lithic analysis.......2004-02-04
This is a must have primer for anyone learning about stone tool manufacture. Andrefsky adeptly informs the reader of all the major aspects of non-micro lithic analysis, and I plan to require this book if when I teach lithics in the future.
Simply the Best.......2002-12-16
The best book on the authentication and dating of stone items I have ever seen. A complete guide suitable for study or browsing. I even read mine in bed!!!
Essential reader for any archaeologist.......2002-11-27
Andrefsky, pulls together great narration and drawings that make complex physics look easy. This book will help any one understand what is involved in lithic tool production, and shed some light and interesting insight for those that consider themselves advanced in lithic tool study. This is a great addition to the cambridge books on archaeology.
Customer Reviews:
Debitage basics.......2004-04-07
This volume contains a set of essential articles by well known analysts in the field of lithic debitage analysis. These papers consider the strengths and weaknesses of the various common approaches (e.g. debitage size distribution, flake attributes, etc.) to lithic debitage analysis current in the field today. The volume is a very useful reference.
Customer Reviews:
Best book on Flintknapping Available.......2005-03-08
I believe this is the best book I have yet found on flintknapping. Full of information the other authors never touch, full of illustrations and very usefull information. I tell you the truth, when I say I highly recommend this book to all new knappers! Well written in an easy to understand way that flows from one area to next smoothly. This is an outstanding book on flintknapping!!!
Talking of rocks.......2003-03-05
This book is a well written, but rather thin discussion of the methods and art flintknapping. Some of the author's observations, such as the problems of making sense of older illustrations and photographs of knappers making chipped stone tools are well taken.
The book falls short for a serious knapper or lithic technologist in several ways. First, the book is personal in tone. While this is not a problem normally, in this instance it relfects a highly subjective, personal approach and understanding of flint knapping. Second, there are references to sites the author has studied, but there are no citations for further reading about these places. There IS a brief bibliography that can help a budding knapper learn more. Third, there are limited discussion of alternatives for many technological decisions made by knappers, and little discussion of the actual degree of uncertainty we have regarding the techniques employed prehistorically in manufacturing a Folsom point for instance, or how such an artifact may have been used. Last, the illustrations are beautiful art, but there are far too few of them, and I at least prefer more detail.
The book does offer a very readable starting point for anyone interested in learning to work chipped stone. The brief bibliography will provide an entry into the relevant literature. There are also starting points for the internet and for acquiring casts of original artifacts and replicas.
Great Book.......2001-01-04
This book is one of the best that I have read. While not as hands on (technical) as some, it goes into great depth in many areas of interest and takes an approach much different than other authors. Complete with many unique pictures, all in all, this book lacks nothing and is highly reccomended for anyones library collection. Travis....
Book Description
Early hunters and gatherers made knives, spear points, and arrowheads from glassy rocks such as flint and obsidian. Stones were pounded and chipped away, leaving a tool with a very sharp edge. Learn about the materials, methods, and products involved in flintknapping.
Customer Reviews:
Flintknapping "The art of Making Stone Tools" By Paul Hellweg.......2007-01-19
My son already had this book and showed my husband and I some of the arrowheads he had made from raw Obsidian. He gave my husband some of the raw glass-like stones and loaned him the book. That's when I found the book on-line at Amazon. I ordered the book for him and one for myself. It is the most informative compilation of this art that i've ever seen.
Of course it has other tools you can make, stone knives with antler handles, rawhide wrapped axes, spearheads, hammers etc. It gives you pride to make tools yourself that you can use and show to your friends and family. I have seen arrowheads in museums that were found by archaeologists, and often wondered how they had been made. This book has all the answers for a beginner to get started and more. How to do the flaking, and the safety aspects of the glass shards from the flaking.
There is so much to learn from the pages of this book. It is also very reasonably priced, but worth so much more. We want to thank the author for this amazing book and also many thanks to Amazon for having the book available and all the other books i've ordered from you.
Sincerely, Judy Collins.
Book Description
"Whittaker's
American Flintknappers will be an important resource for students of modern replication studies. This publication not only presents information on modern non-academic flintknappers, it also addresses issues of interest to anyone studying folk technologies in general."
—
The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
"This is a superb book, authored by one of the only people with both the anthropological background and the connections in the world of contemporary flintknapping to write it. It really is unlike any work I'm aware of in lithics studies."
—Michael Stafford, Director, Cranbrook Institute of Science
Making arrowheads, blades, and other stone tools was once a survival skill and is still a craft practiced by thousands of flintknappers around the world. In the United States, knappers gather at regional "knap-ins" to socialize, exchange ideas and material, buy and sell both equipment and knapped art, and make stone tools in the company of others. In between these gatherings, the knapping community stays connected through newsletters and the Internet.
In this book, avid knapper and professional anthropologist John Whittaker offers an insider's view of the knapping community. He explores why stone tools attract modern people and what making them means to those who pursue this art. He describes how new members are incorporated into the knapping community, how novices learn the techniques of knapping and find their roles within the group, how the community is structured, and how ethics, rules, and beliefs about knapping are developed and transmitted. He also explains how the practice of knapping relates to professional archaeology, the trade in modern replicas of stone tools, and the forgery of artifacts. Whittaker's book thus documents a fascinating subculture of American life and introduces the wider public to an ancient and still rewarding craft.
Customer Reviews:
Not what I expected.......2007-05-12
After reading the book, I was disapointed that it did not contain more "how to" flintknapping info.The author has written an excellent book on flint knapping methods.This book was very ' folksy' With too many anecdotal stories about knap-ins, and the modern flint knapping world,with almost no methods on flintknapping.Again ,not what I expected, and I wish I could have read my own review, as I would not have purchased the book.I gave the book a two star rating only for the photos of knapped peices.
American Flintknappers is an American classic. .......2007-02-17
American Flintknappers is an American classic. This book is an amazing journey through the strange subculture of American Flintknappers. From an
anthropologists set of eyes. A journey through the past, of men who followed the way of the stone. From Ishi to flake over grinding, the whole experience is here and when you read it you will be there too. Ray Harwood, Western Lithics.
Great Info.......2004-12-16
Very interesting view of the "inside" of the knapping circles..including knap-in's ...lots of great color photographs of beautifully knapped points in exotic materials, as well as close reproductions of American Indian points. Lots of photos of well known knappers, interesting statistics on knapping. Lots of really neat stuff if you are interested in knapping at all, you should buy this one.
American Flintknappers.......2004-06-08
John C. Whittaker never fails to capture the essence of scientifically studying modern day flint-knapping. This new book is a progression from his 1994 work on how to make stone tools. It is a leap forward in a fascinating area of archaeology and anthropology, especially when there is a growing concern for the depletion of silicate resources. Dr. Whittaker is a pure scientist who is always thinking of how stone tools can be scientifically studied, and is always innovative in his research approach, rendering his work successful and resourceful. It is also nice to see that Dr. Michael Stafford is well represented, a master flint-knapper whom I`ve had an opportunity to study under. Dr. Whittaker also has in his new book, raw demographic data from sociological surveys, continuing a tradition that he and Dr. Stafford started in 1998 with their research on Fakes. This sociological approach reveals a great deal of important data for student researchers, and should not be overlooked when writing on the subject of stone tools. This book has wonderful color pages in its' center and shows an amazing variety of raw materials commonly used by knappers. John C. Whittaker is fast becoming the leading professor on this subject, and deserves all the attention he receives. Great work John!
Book Description
In this dramatic reconstruction of the daily lives of the earliest tool-making humans, two leading anthropologists reveal how the first technologies-- stone, wood, and bone tools-- forever changed the course of human evolution.
Drawing on two decades of fieldwork around the world, authors Kathy Schick and Nicholas Toth take readers on an eye-opening journey into humankind's distant past-- traveling from the savannahs of East Africa to the plains of northern China and the mountains of New Guinea-- offering a behind-the-scenes look at the discovery, excavation, and interpretation of early prehistoric sites.
Based on the authors' unique mix of archaeology and practical experiments, ranging from making their own stone tools to theorizing about the origins of human intelligence, "Making Silent Stones Speak" brings the latest ideas about human evolution to life.
Customer Reviews:
Origins of many things.......2003-12-19
This book is about the beginnings of technology, an almost exclusively human trait. The idea of using materials in such a way as to benefit daily life or perform task that we, as individuals, are unable to do is a giant step into the unknown. The author discusses tool-making in all its many facets. It is now considered very possible that tool-making contributed to an exapansion of brain possibilities but in fact made us into something different that the surrounding creatures with whom we fought and lived.
The idea of artificial means toward an end catapulted mankind and gave us control of our surroundings. No longer were large beasts from out of our grasp. The type and variation of the various stone blades is mind-boggling but the interpretation is just about as creative. The sharing of this technology with other humans started a process of spreading knowledge that has continued up to this day.
The author's hands-on experience was also an additional aid to her findings. She is in no sense an "ivory towered" scholar but actively explores and examines the subjects in her book. Best of all are her conjectures concerning the origins and more importantly, the "why" of technology.
Average customer rating:
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Aggregate Analysis in Chipped Stone
Manufacturer: University of Utah Press
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