Post 1 -- Thoughts on Making Your Own Arrowhead

How To Make Your Own Arrowhead.

"It's so easy the cavemen did it ... for thousands of years" ... and so can you, with practice.

Actually, ancestors of all of us used stone for hunting weapons for a very long time. The use of metal only replaced sharpened stone, bone and wood in the last few thousands of years. And then, in most of the world, the knowledge of "flint knapping" became a lost art. It wasn't until the Europeans came to the Americas that Old World eyes once again realized the efficiency of stone arrow heads and knife blades.

Making Your Own Stone Arrowhead.

All knapping begins with a piece of stone. Then you break away the parts of the stone which do not fit the idea you have in mind for the final product. This process is called reduction. The thing is, that once you break a piece off of a stone, you can not put it back. Unlike clay or metal, which can be reshaped, a stone tool is not moldable or bendable or malleable. You break it to change its shape.

To break stone you must obey the laws of physics. I think that observant flint knappers were the ones who first codified knowledge of the physical laws which provide order and predictability to the world around us. Much was discovered by trial and error, and then passed on to students from the masters of stone craft.

... coming next ... Step One in the Process of Making Your Own Stone Arrowhead

You are invited to visit my web site for more background information and photographs related to the making of arrowheads: http://www.arrowhead-makeyourown.com/

For fully photo-illustrated process information related to the making of an obsidian Gunther style arrowhead, plus photographs of a number of ancient and authentic Gunther type arrowheads, you are invited to visit my other web site: http://www.arrowhead-maker.com/