Flintknapping: Making and Understanding Stone Tools (Paperback)

by John C. Whittaker (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"...very attractive to readers interested in ancient crafts, survival skills, or the history of technology... far superior to anything currently available." James C. Woods, director, The Herrett Museum, College of Southern Idaho "A mid-range user's guide to flintknapping is long overdue. There have been some admirable attempts to produce such a volume, but these have been targeted at specific, fairly narrow audiences. Not so with Flintknapping... [Whittaker's] clear aim is to reach professional archaeologists as well as hobbyists. I believe he achieves this goal with incredible skill and humor... I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in flintknapping." Plains Anthropologist "This great new publication is the new 'bible' on the subject of knapping." ATLATL "This is the best, most thorough summary available on flaked stone technology. The book skillfully blends instruction on how to make stone tools with information on how top interpret flaked stone artifacts." Northern Arizona Archaeology Society Newsletter "Whittaker presents this information at a level that will be readable by non-anthropologists as well as specialists in the field." James C. Woods, director, The Herrett Museum, College of Southern Idaho --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
A mid-range user's guide to flintknapping is long overdue. There have been some admirable attempts to produce such a volume, but these have been targeted at specific, fairly narrow audiences. Not so with Flintknapping. . . . [Whittaker's] clear aim is to reach professional archaeologists as well as hobbyists. I believe he achieves this goal with incredible skill and humor. . . . I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in flintknapping. (Plains Anthropologist )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 351 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press; 1 edition (1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 029279083X
• ISBN-13: 978-0292790834
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #37,450 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From rough rock to finished points, May 18, 2001

By	Tom harvey (Des Moines, IA United States) - See all my reviews

Doctor Whittaker, currently teaching at Grinnell College in Central Iowa, is a passionate advocate of stone tool technology methods. He tries to spend each Friday afternnon working with interested students of the flintknapping craft, has a very active role in atl-atl manufacture and contests, and Lord only knows what else! But more important to me, he is a real person, not a glory-hound or scholarly intellectual snob. He is willing to share patiently with his students not just his experience and knowledge, but the tact that allows them to learn flintknapping at their own pace until they recognize their own need for his further tutelage...rare attributes for this day and mind-set. After receiving the book for a Christmas gift,Iwas fortunate enough to witness a demonstration by one of his students held at the Des Moines Lapidary Society Meeting that led me to Professor Whittaker's Friday "knap-ins". Within a few weeks I too was capable of smacking rocks together then poking at them with pieces of deer antler and producing a serviceable facsimile of a stone dart or arrow point. As I continue to observe Dr. Whittaker and several of his more proficient flintknapping guests and students, I am encouraged to keep improving my skill and knowledge, not just about stone toolmaking, but of the early peoples who mastered that and other survival skills thousands of years ago. It is also a link to the field of archaeology/anthropology that has always fascinated me.

The book was well-researched, edited to be easily understood by a larger audience than most of the pedantic, overly technical works of similar nature, and contains little nuggets of wisdom that, upon review, hold the keys to successful flintknapping. I would recommend this work to teachers, students, others of similar interests.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A complete guide to the processes of flintknapping, May 28, 1999

By A Customer

This book is useful in that it teaches you about modern and ancient flintknapping. It helps the reader to understand how flintknapping works and how to do it yourself. It also demonstrates how to identify lithic flakes from an archaeological deposit. A must have for flintknappers and archaeology students interested in the study of ancient lithics.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A ten star book, December 15, 2002

By	Lawrence Lockyear JP (Gooseberry Hill, WA Australia) - See all my reviews

Fantastic book for a beginer or advanced person in this craft. It has much information on all aspects of stone tools. If you only buy one book on the subject this should be the one.