Copper pressure flaker - first experiment - 50% primitive

[2011-08-07]
I'm a complete beginner in flint knapping. Actually, not exactly ... :-) ... I've accumulated hours of genuine "armchair experience" by viewing videos from paleomanjim, lwnrm8, FlintknapperJimmy, EDBO23, LamokaGhost, ... Armchair experience is not all, as shows this experiment. At least, about pressure flaking, I should read the 60 pages document edited (internet) by Michael Lynn : seems pretty clear.

I just started knapping small flakes of flint (don't want to waste the few flint nodules I've found so far) and I couldn't get much result with a deer antler pressure flaker. So, I wanted to try a copper pressure flaker; one that would be "prehisto compatible". Making the tip of a pressure flaker by pounding native copper nuggets with rocks would be perfectly "prehistoric". As I couldn't find around here a native copper nugget, I traded a copper tubing against a few digits of electronic fiat currency in the nearest store (doesn't sound very different from trading with shell money ; that would also be fairly "prehisto compatible" !?).

Pounding a piece of copper tubing with rocks is rather easy. But what is the secret technique that would give a beautiful, compact, pounded piece of copper ???
Would it be easy with a real copper nugget ?
Is some heat treatment necessary ?

Anyone knows ?

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• flintknapping
• pressure
• flaker
• native
• copper
• nugget
• tubing
• rocks
• Talla
• lítica
• Scheggiatura
• 打製石器
• presión
• pressione
• percussore
• compresor

[TheTribeOfBenjamin]

nice work man! happy knapping !

[freejutube]

@TheTribeOfBenjamin

thanks,

[touchnova]

Your first looked better than my first....! :) It's a great art, look forward to future vids. Thanks for sharing.

[freejutube]

@touchnova

thank you !

you seem to exagerate a lot :-)

It is only by chance that this flint flake ended up looking like an "arrowhead". As I was trying to shape it, it was shrinking always more, without thinning. And during this process, I was so astonished to see that pressure flaking (with a copper flaker) really works, even for a beginner. [haven't got any (ugly) results yet, when trying a deer antler pressure flaker or trying to shape a piece of flint with a hammerstone].

[luth47]

Je n'y connais pas grand chose mais je pencherai pour le traitement thermique.

Sinon je la trouve plutôt cool pour une première, bravo!

[freejutube]

@luth47

merci,

la taille du silex, je m'en faisait une montagne, mais débuter est nettement plus facile que prévu ; je n'en reviens toujours pas ! ça marche vraiment la taille par pression !

[cjoIIProductionz]

The problem i have with knapping is findign the rocks lol

[luth47]

@freejutube

C'est encouragent! Je vais essayer prochainement.

J'ai pu voir Bernard Ginelli tailler un biface en direct il n'y a pas si longtemps, j'ai tout de même trouvé tout ça assez technique, mais lui travaillait en percussion...pas mal de déchets aussi, il semble falloir de la matière...

Espérons que la chasse au silex sera bonne!

[freejutube]

@luth47

persee, oui, j'espère toujours y trouver des infos oubliées depuis longtemps sur les sites intéressants ; j'envisage de faire un tour dans la zone du Grand Pressigny , zéro espoir de trouver encore des outils, mais peut-être du silex de bonne qualité (et encore il faut bien choisir).

[luth47]

sur persee.fr on trouve pas mal d'infos très intéressantes mais vous connaissez sans doute déjà...