Debunked - Flintknapping and Stone Tool Myths  

As a flintknapper and primative hunter of forty years I agree with most everything you said, except for the poison on the so called "bird points." I live in Montana and have been to many "buffalo jumps" (pishkun) and have found a lot of these small points there. Some people say they are "stingers," used above the cliffs to direct buffalo toward the edge and over the cliffs. I believe that to be total B.S.! The reason these small points were used, is because of conservation of energy and material! A small point penetrates an animal (no matter the size) much easier than a large projectile point does. This allows for less powerful and shorter bows that were used by the native of our area, and less work napping and using less of the prized knapping material. I'm not sure that these small bird points were ever used much on the atlatls. A small point, driven in even the biggest game, in the heart, lungs or through an artery will bring the animal down as fast as a large point will (I've experienced and proven that). A small point will penetrate farther into the animal than a large point will, increasing the chance of cutting more arteries and veins in its path! There is really no benefit to using poison on the point or shaft, that only makes for more time consuming work (finding, isolating, and formulating a material to bind the poison to the point and shaft. I also adds to the possibility of accidently cutting and poisoning the hunter, or anyone handling the poisoned shafts and points. As much work as it takes to find and gather good quality chert, knapp projectile points, build Atlatls, shafts, for-shafts, bows and arrows, plus fletching the shafts, I don't think ancient people would add poison to the equation unless there was a great benefit to doing so! I always mount my projectile points on the wood shafts using sinew from the backstrap of animals. The one thing I have found doing this, is Every Time I have recovered a animal in witch the arrow was still lodged in the animal body (not passed cleanly through) the projectile point is NEVER recovered with the arrow, no matter weather it is pulled out or pushed through the animal! I believe this to be because of the enzyme action in the warm blood dissolves the hide glue and softens the sinew (like being in very warm water for several minutes) very quickly! I still recovered the points, but only after a long and very messy search inside the body of the harvested animal. These are just a few small things I have observed and learned over the years of hunting, using primative weapons and tools that I have made myself. There is still so much, yet to learn....

I've argued for years with people that the main purpose for the so-called bird points was not to hunt birds. It is easier to take small game, including birds, with nets and traps than by bow and arrow. After making that assertion I usually get a 'you obviously don't know what you're talking about look' from the person.

I do so believe we as a society do not give our ancestors enough credit for survival of mankind with just bones , stones , and sticks ...it's only been a few hundred years since the invention of gun powder..we survived hundreds of thousands of years without it ...to think all it took was opposing thumbs ...Thank you for all your work info was spot on ...

Flint is a type of chert (cryptocrystalline or polycrystalline quartz), they are technically the same rock, flint forms in chalk or marl where as chert forms usually form as nodules in limestone. You are correct there are also crystalline differences but that really comes into play if you are a geologist.

I had always assumed bird points were used for fish - less deflection from water with a smaller edge cutting through it. I think poison sounds much more plausible.

Man please keep making video with this much info, I sleep better at night knowing that I don't need to depend on the modern world, really want to live off grid.

I had a prof who was an archaeologist - he worked at sites like Çatalhöyük and absolutely loved lithics analysis - and he made the exact same distinction that you did. Essentially anything coming from the Americas is most likely chert, whereas flint tends to come form the old world.

14:30 There was a prehistoric man now called Otzi who had died in the Alps nearly 5,500 year ago. His body and his gear was in extremely good condition giving archaeologists a near perfect snapshot of the moment humanity stepped from the stone age into the copper age as he was found to have a copper axe and stone tools on him. Of those tools was one that could be described as a wooden dowel with a long sliver of fire hardened antler inset into it, it had also been sharpened in a manner similar to a pencil. The dimensions are nearly identical to one of those copper knapping tools you had shown and infact many of the wear marks in the tool indicated it had seen use as a knapping tool. More then likely the modern copper tipped knapping tools are just a replacement for the antler tipped ones. Basically the tools had probably been used since fine quality flint knapping existed but the antler was swapped out for copper once copper because less expensive and rare.

Have any of the "Bird-Point" people ever hit a bird with such a small point ? And I think the "Female-Knapper" question is the same as today. If a girl hung out with daddy and wanted to learn he would proudly teach her, whether it was fishing, knapping, etc. The more things change the more they stay the same. Great video as always.

Very well done. As a Lithic Technologist/Researcher involved in reconstructive archaeology I thank you for sharing your knowledge. Especially your explanation of the use of organic materials and neolithic use of copper.

I blacksmith and make stone tools and I can tell you 100% stone is a more effective point than steel for a few reasons. You are right on point with the durability aspect. Obsidian is one of the best points I have ever hunted or processed animals with. When I get a wild goat I use a bone draw knife to knock the fat off. These tools are so specialized by job and equally diverse in their composition. In my mind we had so much more time to develop stone tools they are more advanced in a lot of ways.

Great video as always! And I entirely agree about carrying a cutting tool versus a killing tool. And multiples depending on the situation. God bless you!

I have been a knapper for almost thirty years. Thank you for your video and your ideas. I think it’s very important to teach the ancient history as honest as possible after all the past is sacred. That being said as a modern knapper I do two things, I’m an artist so the chipping I do in that light isn’t as concerned about being historically correct, I’m after top material and aesthetics. Second I’m a teacher, so when I’m teaching history of the Stone Age I try to follow truth to the best of my knowledge. At some point down the road the two will meet. What we create today will be the history for tomorrow. I agree with what you’re teaching as there are many out there teaching bold lies.The only thing I dispute is that water treatment will greatly improve orthoquartzite or as we call it here, sugar quartz, that’s a truth. Blessings from Wyoming🙏🏻

Hi Donnie, I believe you’re correct. The reason I say this is. Your experience and techniques you have. You prove that man has been knapping for millennia. Thanks for disproving the myths ! Thanks again Donnie !

I have seen native arrows used specifically for birds--they were tipped with several spaced long wooden hardwood prongs, and used at fairly close range. These particular ones were used in New Guinea.

Im certain that the stone age had all kinds of wood,rope,and hide things that we have no record of. It's comical to imagine a society that only used items with good preservation over ten thousand years or more.

Nice discussion! I am a beginner knapper, but studied North American Archaeology as part of my degree. The satisfaction of shaping stone is akin to making any hand tool-very validating!

You talk sense. You make an excellent point about the roles of Women and Children regarding stone tool production. We don't know how these skills were taught, amongst the various groups, there was no University of Flintknapping, there was only your local group(s.) I think these skills were taught to Children, starting in "Kindergarten", same like we all start learning about our language, the alphabet, the instruments used to write the letters of the alphabet, remember those big fat pencils we used, and how proud we were when we graduated to using the same pencils as adults ? It is not beyond reason, to wonder if Women first introduced the Children to the principles and practices of making stone, bone, and wooden tools. Cordage too. 15,000 years ago, in the Western Hemisphere. It's a hypothetical question, because with our present knowledge, this postulation cannot be proven, or disproven. Maybe with a closer look, a theoretical question can be asked, a theory can be proven or disproven. Anyway.... I like your attitude towards this subject.

Today I learned very early stone tools have been used for over 2 million years, and more complicated stone tools came into use just under 2million years ago. Donny kept saying "millions of years" and it confused the crap out of me.

I absolutely love your dedication to archeology and historical accuracy. Subscribed!

Possible explanation of the wetting of the rock idea. It is common practice and documented that wetting glass makes it easier to break after scoring. Glass and rock are kinda similar so i imagine it might have an effect for certain types of rock under certain conditions.

*THANK YOU* 🤗💖 for taking the time & energy to share what you've come to KNOW through your own experience! ...& another *THANK YOU* 🤗💖 for the Intention & clarity with which you're sharing!🎯

I am impressed with the level of your knowledge and your demonstrated skill. I think your on the mark with every “myth” you discussed. You had several I’d not heard of. Fox out

Great content as always! I always learn something new from your videos which is hard to do since I have been watching other channels and yours like this since I was like 10. Your channel is still the best and you keep proving it with every video. Have a good one Donnie👍

Ive tried to explain the bird point argument before but people dont believe it. I killed a 120 pound sow hog with a 40 lb bow and a small cane arrow with a point about a half inch wide and 3/4 inch long. It was a very closr shot but still was very effective

Good stuff! I've certainly had some discussion on the method of fluting and I'm of exactly the same opinion as you on the matter. The Paleo people were nomadic, they carried everything they owned and I'm thinking each item better be essential and a hammer stone is all they needed to flute. When you develop a working knowledge of lithics, their manufacturing methods and their uses many things become clear that someone without that hands on experience can't see. Then as you said the most logical answer is usually the correct one

Regarding the "stone tools are fragile" myth there's a new video on the Meat eater channel where the MeatEater guys along with some archaeologists processed an entire buffalo using just stone tools. Really fascinating episode and they only broke a couple of tools when trying to separate the cartilage holding the ribs to the spine. Everything else, including the hand held stone pieces without a handle made it through the pricess, most with only a little minor resharpening.

Thank you for your service ❤️ many blessings your way Gbu always 🤗

Great presentation, thanks for your hard work. Chris

Love the information and the knowledge you give in your videos keep up the awesome work

Brother.....this was a fantastic video. Thank you for proving me right on so many things that I've argued with friends about regarding stone tools and their fabrication. Appreciate your work and your insights! Cheers!

Donny, thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience with everyone. You are wise about your trade. I've been watching your videos for a couple of years now, and l am developing an interest in flint knapping because of your confidence and clarity when sharing your skills to I novices such as myself. So, thank you again.🙏👍

Regarding use of foreshafts for butchering… I don’t know a single modern bow hunter who would opt for a modern broadhead over their knife to field dress game. Why wouldn’t you opt for the tool that was purpose built for the task at hand? Love your videos! Keep ‘em coming!

I believe that we are learning everyday how little we really know of Prehistoric man and hunting. great job brother sharing your years of expertise to educate.

This vid was a nice random surprise from youtube. Informative and just flat out interesting.

Great video. One thing i will say is the "water theory"is I am a borosilicate lampworker(glassblower). To snap a tube of glass I will make a small scratch on said tube place my thumbs on either side of scratch ,while pulling outward and using downpressure with my elbows snap a tube. My experience is if I lick the scratch first the break is flat 99/100 times as opposed to jagged. I do not know why but it does..The only other time I've heard of water use is in some of the very elaborate sculpture knappings from central and south america were submerged to lessen the shockwave. I

I have watched so many more shorts. I’m a today subscriber and a days ago fan. My POV on the bird point. I was always told it fits between ribs easier, not just game either.

Nice info, thanks for putting this channel together. Your awesome!

Love this knowledge! I've thrown a atlatl before and I was amazed how powerful it was. Amazing technology.

Makes sense, glad I listen to you for some real information

Great informative video - as always, chief I think there's also that missconception about stone tools, that every rock is knappable. From my own experience, lots of people think that you can smash 2 rocks of literally any kind, and you'll get either stone tool or fire Peace 🤙

Man I absolutely loved that video. Keep up these vids bro this kind of stuff is my jam. Keep it up bro

I’ve been Knapping 40 years and this gentleman is absolutely amazing! And it’s very truthful. I use raspberry stouts to make my arrows which are very light and make small stone heads . And edges being weak never have I had a point break or chip when shot into a animal as large as a white deer . Flutes I can do it without any bar or hydrology jack of sorts . My son that knapps can make them better then I . I know it’ll never happen but if TSHTF . We’re ready from tools too a underground home dug out of a lime stone that’s big enough for two families to live in easy to warm and cook foods and store water . My tools are worth to me more then any 100s of guns lol could I reload sure could use a muzzle loader sure but I’ll bet you I can put six arrows in someone try to reload … your mind is your only limit on what you can make outta stone .

You were already my favorite knapper but this video , truly good content, perfectly informative.

I'm so happy you put this video out!!! Lol I commented on a video "not intending to hurt this guy's feelings" that the use of a jig for knapping is really kinda cheating and wasn't used in the ancient world! Oh man did he let me have it! 😂 I've been knapping for around the same time you started and have been around 53 years so far. I'm not the smartest monkey in the tree but I know a thing or three 😏 knapp on bro

As an indigenous person,also flint knap from time to time. I agree with you 1000% on certain tools are for certain things. This concept splits over into our spirituality also. We don’t mix things together. When it comes to important object , special specific items. So it’s a very simple this is for this that is for that when it comes to tools baskets weapons exc….

Thank you for bringing us this information.

I can't say that "water knapping" was ever a thing... However, materials react very differently when held under water. e.g. you can use a punch to punch a hole through glass under water. If you try the same thing above water, the glass shatters. Water DOES have an impact on fracturing/breaking hard materials. That cannot be disputed. If this was done in the past, "evidence" of it would be hard to find. We'll never know either way if that was done.

Man I started knapping January 2023 using rock and antler. It has been a pain and I have thought about quiting at times but I keep at and and every once in awhile I'll produce a point. It may be thick but I got there. I'll learn everyday and get better is just takes time. Best hobby to have ever started

I agree with most of these except two. 1 being the Clovis fluting method and 2 being the water knapping. I believe the only form of indirect percussion in the early archeological data base is punches. If you have a study im not aware of that supports your theory I would love to read it. As for the water, look up Scientific American 1987 for an article named “The Fracturing of Glass” by Terry Michalske and Bruce Bunker. It describes how water molecules aid in the fracturing of silica. I have also noticed a difference in ‘knapability’ when soaking certain stones like agate for 60+ days. However I think you’re right in that simply wetting the surface will not help much. Thanks for the content, keep it up 👍

Love the vids, found your channel thru someone’s instagram years ago, cannot remember the account but you make me wanna attempt knapping. But so many “tutorials” are so strict about how to do things and it’s hard to learn. Gotta remember it’s not gonna be great at first

Thanks for a really interesting session. I am lucky to be doing a Masters in Archaeology Practice and have Prof who is a very practical archaeologist who is heavily into lithics and knapping and I promotes the same very practical and logical stance. Thanks

Love your content bro! Love watching your videos man! Thanks for your work brother!

Funny how firsthand experience can debunk myths, l learned this by woodworking. I appreciate your insights.

Hi Donny, I'm not a knapper but I think the water maybe can have an effect on how material splits under instant energy appliance. Please look at videos on youtube where people drive a nail through a cup under water. There are several explanations how this works, but the one that makes most sense to me is, that the water has a higher density than air and thereby hinders the material from resonating after the strike or in other words it absorbs the energy that would otherwise stress the material in its weakest points were it normally breaks.

Elly knows Rocks is a badass!! I'm nothing close to a professional but in my experience I have to agree with you on pretty much every topic. My theory is that they were people, just like us. They didn't like working harder than they had to and they didn't need to re-invent the wheel either. I've also heard and believe that people didn't keep making tools and points when they weren't needed, if there was debitage and points just laying around everywhere I'm sure they just picked them up, refurbished them, and re-used them. I also heard rumor that this is also how the art was somewhat lost, between the use of modern technology and the repurposing of used tools they didn't need to practice flint napping as much.

It's always a good day when I wake up and see a new video from Donny

Love the channel. I spend a lot of time here learning.

Good job Mr, I'm glad I've stuck with you over the years. Very interesting ty

Donny, My interest in the Paleo/lithic culture was ignited by reading all the Jean Auel books almost 50 years ago. I didn't begin to attempt knapping until after I visited the Mound Museum in Coshocton Ohio soon after finding a very crude point at the corner of my house. Flint knapping persists as a hobby, but non-lithic, i.e., wood, bone, antler, and other paleo tech is still new ground for archaeologists and enthusiasts. I still haven't seen a video that adequately explains what are popularly known as atlatl weights. I think there is more to them than we understand. I agree that women and children practiced and used knapping and other paleo tech. Otherwise, how would the best knappers learn? Not everybody was an expert knappers. I've seen many (most?) authentic relics that were not as symmetrical and flaw free as the expert hobby knappers of today. There was a learning curve thousands of years ago.

Well said I was trained by a archeologist from OSU 30 years ago. My stuff is functional not pretty. Some stone such as agate seam to work better if they are heated then allowed to cool.

I have been Flint knapping for 40 years and pretty much agree with everything you said. When I was in elementary school I made my first Clovis point, flaking the flutes by direct percussion, so jigs are certainly not needed. Based on what we know about roles in Stone age societies, I think it is reasonable to suppose that the majority of animal processing tools, including the big, beautiful bifacial knives, were made by women. The only thing I would quibble on would be use of copper Flint-knapping tools. 99.99 percent of stone tools were of course not made using copper tools, but some were, including early Bronze Age Scandinavian daggers and tools made in a few scattered places in the New World, such as the Great Lakes area and California.

Donny, wow alot of info all good, what some myths about dropping water on heated material is really fire pocked. And i agree tools were made for what they needed at the time. Greg Perino taught us alot about uses of blades vs. Points for projectiles. For years people found huge platter bifaces that until recently were not identifed or asossiated with Paleo period, these were a mobile tool kit to produce what was needed for the task at hand. Thanks to guys like yourself and Ryan Gill we have a good handle on a better understanding.

I really enjoyed this video. It was very informative and educational. Please keep up the great work that you do. I would love to get 4 of your arrow heads. 1 for each of my grandsons so they could see and have a piece of history.

Very good video very informative always great information thank you so much😊

Awesome info 👍 Thank you ❤

Outstanding information thank you 👍

Nice Cahokia point! I used to have a channel, CGK flintknapping I believe, but I got a new phone and couldn't switch it over. Gonna start a new one, great content you make!

This man uses his brain to understand how things were done instead of trying to come up with a modern way that things were done. He seems to have a way to think outside the proverbial academic box. He tends to think the way our ancestors thought. I find him to be a very good teacher of the past !!

Dang been watching you for a long time now and WOW 1 million subscribers 🤙🏼 great work Donny keep up the amazing videos and thanks for all you knowledge

I think Archaeologists like myself forget that the only things left behind were trash, broken or lost stone points and tools. Just going on that logic maybe you find a bunch of broken and some in tact points on a hunt but you are not going to find a stone knife because the person would have brought that with them and maybe handed it down if it still worked. You would probally find the more personal items at "home" than on a kill site.

This was really informative. I've watched shorts here and there, and always have been interested in making stone tools. Where can I find a good flintknapping kit to begin with?

Awesome channel mate I find your videos very educational and interesting especially how to make certain tools with what nature provides thanks for the knowledge stay well 👍🦘🇦🇺

Truth allways in your teachings thank you peace be upon the path

Interesting crossover on the crescent blades. Tod from Tod's Workshop mate a video about various known arrow head shapes and their uses. There are examples of crescent shaped metallic arrow heads, so there must have been a use case for a crescent shaped arrow head. He had some good thoughts on what they would have been used for but I can't remember what his final thoughts were. Worth going through his videos to see what his opinions were.

0:03:00 no, fish. Tiny point on a thrusting stick with a cord worked great for fishing. Since you're skewering the fish you want as small a point as possible to minimize polluting the fish while still leading the poke through.

Totally excellent vid. Been making stone knives or 20 years. With purchased blades. I just put cool handles and cool sheaths on them. I am not a very good knapper, too many crushed fingertips and bleeding involved.

Great video. I think your rejection of the throwing speartip to process a large animal is 99.999% correct. I am not a survival expert., but some would say that there is no probable proof that it didn't happen. However, there is that .001%. So possible yes, probably not very likely as you soo stated. A modern analog would be using a replacement broadhead arrow blade to process your 2000-pound elk. Yes, you could do that, however, they're much more efficient and effective tools to accomplish the goal.

For the water one, if you turn a mug upside down and fill the base with water, you can hammer a nail through it. Water does change the way hard objects break

Very interesting, thanks 😊

The only reason I could think for getting the stone wet would to make the platforms stand out and possibly show future stress points. Maybe?

Bravo bout time someone cleard all this up .thanks

Congrats on one mill subs!

Thank you!

The size of an arrow point is also related to the amount of weight that you need to put on the end of your shaft, due to the size/flexibility of your arrow shaft, in order to make it fly straight; due to archers paradox your arrow can fly crooked - as the arrow goes around the bow, a heavier arrow point can help correct back. But if you are firing smaller or thinner, lighter or more flexible arrows, you don't need so much weight. The length of an arrow shaft can allso be used to correct for this.

Just found your channel and am totally fascinated. As a modern bow hunter I wouldn't pull my arrow out of an animal and start dressing it with my broad head unless I absolutely had to. I don't see why early man would think any differently. Maybe if you needed a long sharp point of some specific task but even then I find that fore shaft theory to be impractical.

Well done!!! Great video!! And thanks for the shout out!!

As an archaeologist, knapper, and geoarchaeologist, the issue about "flint" and "chert" is too involved to really explain. Literally, books have been written. Long ago (decades at least) flint was a mineral found in chalk. The dark English flints are from chalk. Visually no archaeologist, knapper, or geologist can differentiate chert and flint, unless there is chalk cortex remaining. Silica - silicon dioxide, is _the_ mineral (SiO2) what we make glass from. It is also the same mineral that composes quartz, quartzite, cherts, flints, agates, jaspers, etc. The pretty patterns and colors are due to minor accessory minerals and trace impurities, and crystalline habits that derive from how the silica came to form into a mass. Opal is also silica, with no significant crystalline lattice (it's amorphous), and a measurable amount of water. You will often see archaeologists code silicates as CCS - cryptocrystalline silicate - as a gloss they hope will be less controversial. The trouble is that cherts and flints tend to be a mix of microcrystalline and cryptocrystalline silica and without an electron microscope, you can't tell the difference. The simplest way to handle this is to leave the issue to people who can legitimately care. As long as you can't see individual grains without a microscope, call it chert or flint, or whatever seems best. If you can see grains with a handlens then call it quartzite. It is all the same mineral.

Brother I never new there was so many myths about napping thank you for debunking them six stars

I had heard about the underwater thing was actually to protect your eyes from the debitage made in the initial flaking process.

Crescent points are found next to water because in the process of processing game it’s nice to have water around to wash the gore from your body and and clean the meat.

As someone getting their bachelors in geology can confirm flint is a type of chert

Reminds me of the idea of quenching with magnetic north.

Enjoyed the video, been a while since I saw/read anything about lithic tech, is it true that Clovis points had the fluting done last?

I think most small points were nap sharpened regular points until they got to this size, and would not be able to sharpen further. Also, for fine effect practicing and teaching.

women absolutely knapped,as far as the crescents ,here in nevada ,as you said were usually almost always found by lakes here in the great basin,personally i agree with you ,but i also believe they were also used to descale certain fish.....carp,chubs suckers etc.your work was very nice i loved your clovis great job,weve found many bird points in the cracks in the rim rocks ,i was told they would use them on sticks to fish out lizards and snakes and the variety of rodents that they couldn't reach...once again its here say but it does actually make sense,although as you said these points and tools had many uses,thanks for the video i truly liked the content...

Fabio Caveman here is making some great points. Really common sense stuff which in today's world is just mind blowing info to our modern day Neanderthals.

Great video. As regards the foreshafts being used to butcher animals, I believe the idea that they were used for butchery comes from the identification of specific use wear patterns. Also, experiments have shown that the addition of a wooden handle of some sort makes some elements of the butchery process more efficient than using blades and flakes alone despite the fact that the flakes and blades are generally sharper

I agree with the bird point argument. I'm of the opinion they used blunt tips or even just the shaft of the arrow sharpened to a point and fire hardened.

I agree totally about the Atalatal fore shaft you would not have the cutting control of the blade.