Flint Working by Ishi 



By Nels C. Nelson 



INTRODUCTORY 



HE very ancient art of producing implements from flint and 



allied stone substances by means of a fracturing process, 

 though practised almost the world over, seems to have 

 reached a really high state of perfection in only three 

 localities, namely, Egypt, Denmark with adjoining parts 

 of Scandinavia, and the Pacific coast of the United States. To be 

 sure, choice bits of workmanship are to be found elsewhere, as for 

 example in France and in Mexico, but these appear to be exceptions 

 rather than the rule. 



Just why these seemingly sporadic occurrences of excelling tech- 

 nique should be localized as they are is an interesting question 

 because the manual dexterity implied might with reason have been 

 looked for elsewhere, unless we at once yield the point that such 

 dexterity is not a gift peculiar to any branch of mankind or, in other 

 words, that the human factor is not the only factor concerned. For 

 the present therefore the archeologist in attempting to explain these 

 isolated appearances of highly cultivated flint technique can do little 

 more than suggest that they were conditioned to some extent at 

 least by two interdependent factors, the first being the presence of 

 unlimited amounts of raw material and the other a grand scale 

 of manufacture. The larger the output and the larger the number of 

 artisans at work the greater the possibility of an expert — an artist— 

 whose technique, once perfected, stood some chance of being copied 

 and handed down. 



If the archeologist is asked about the elements of the technique 

 itself he is somewhat better informed. It is true he cannot state 

 precisely how the exquisite knife-blades of early predynastic Egypt 

 or the shapely daggers of Scandinavia were produced, but the methods 

 involved in the making of a "Stockton curve" or any other delicately 

 worked object to be found in the Pacific states is fairly well known. 

 Methods of flint chipping have been observed and recorded in many 

 places, especially in America, from the days of John Smith and 

 Torquemada down to Catlin, Schumacher, and still others of recent 

 date. In addition to these observations and based partly on them 

 there has been done an immense amount of study and experimental 



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