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Flint knapping

Stone Conversations : Archive 5 : Message 00856

From: "George Graham" <georgergraham@zzzzzzzzzzz>
Date: Sat, 22 May 2004 20:08:29 -0400
Subject: Flint knapping


Well,
My eyes have been opened today. I never thought that flint nodules would be
plentiful enough to be used for building. When you are building with what's
available then you make do.

There is lots of flint where I live, but its tied up in the hard dense
limestone that is common here. Its presence ruins much of the limestone for
carving. I've tried to use the local stone, but even when I'm using a 20
grit carborundum grinding wheel to smooth off an area, it barely touches the
flint. Of course a point is just ruined if you run into a chunk.

The subject of flint has always interested me. I've visited a national park
in southern Ohio called Flint Ridge, ( I think ) The park preserves an
ancient flint quarry used by native americans more then 500 years ago. Its
on a limestone ridge that is full of many pits where the indians dug out
large deposits, and then worked the stone down to usable tools. The park is
laced with trails, and the ground is covered with flint flakes that look
like they were put there yesterday.

Maybe I should start saving all my stone chips for posterity!
George

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