Minnesota Knappers Guild crest THE PLATFORM
-a publication of the Minnesota Knappers Guild-

Editor: Gene Altiere
4329 Peabody Lane
Duluth, MN 55804


VOLUME 3, NO. 4
November, 1991

NEW MEMBERS

We forgot to mention two new members who joined MKG at the Knap-in this summer. They were: Katheryn C. Luther, P.O. BOX 873, MANDAN, ND 58554 and Joe Neubauer, RR 2 BOX 244, PINE CITY, MN 55063. Kathy runs SAGE JUNCTION and is a good source for Knife River Flint. Joe is very knowledgeable in the study of stone artifacts and can ask enough questions to keep the most experienced knappers scratching their heads for hours! We welcome both of you.

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WE'RE HISTORY !

Don't let the caption throw you. "The Platform" and the MKG are alive and well. What we are referring to is an article which appeared in the latest edition of "Chips" (Vol. 3, No. 4). Ray Harwood of Van Nuys, California has a piece in that issue titled "The History of 20th Century Flintknapping in North America". In his article, Mr Harwood lists various events, which have occurred since 1900, which he feels have had an impact on the history of flint-knapping in this century. You'll all be proud to know that the MKG and "the Platform" were mentioned!


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DUES

THIS IS THE LAST ISSUE FOR 1991. MKG DUES, INCLUDING A SUBSCRIPTION TO THE NEWSLETTER, "THE PLATFORM", (4 ISSUES) WILL BE $6.00 FOR 1992. MANY OF YOU HAVE ALREADY SENT IN YOUR PAYMENT FOR 1992. IF YOU HAVE PAID YOUR DUES, THE NUMBER "92" WILL APPEAR ON YOUR MAILING LABEL. IF YOUR LABEL DOES NOT HAVE A "92" ON IT, THIS IS THE LAST NEWSLETTER YOU WILL RECEIVE UNTIL YOUR DUES ARE PAID. PLEASE MAKE ALL CHECKS PAYABLE TO "GENE ALTIERE, EDITOR, "THE PLATFORM". DUES SENT AFTER DECEMBER 31, 1991 WILL HAVE TO INCLUDE A $1.00 LATE PAYMENT FEE (TOTAL $7.00). PLEASE DO NOT SEND IN PAYMENT FOR DUES BEYOND 1992. THE EDITOR COMMITS HIMSELF TO ONLY ONE YEAR AT A TIME!


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NORTHERN LITHICS - PART IV

by Anthony Romano

Jaspilite

The term "Jaspilite" has been used incorrectly by archaeologists for several decades when describing Taconite Jasper. They are not the same. Jaspilite comes from the Soudan Iron Formation on the Vermillion Range which is considerably older than any previously mentioned rocks. It is found in association with the Ely Greenstone once thought to be Minnesota's oldest rock at around 3 billion years of age. It can contain an occasional Taconite Jasper-like grain of iron oxide, but it is found mostly as a strikingly banded, contorted, bent, and convoluted mass of jasper, quartz, blue-black hematite and rose-like quartz. This rock is best described in "Minnesota Underfoot", Sansome, Voyager Press. Archaeologists Gordon Peters and Bill Ross along with this author have never seen an artifact made of it. However, if it was exposed and available before mining operations, I feel certain it would have been used ....somehow. For me, it is impossible to work and heat treating does not improve it.

Hudson's Bay Lowland Chert, Lake of the Woods Chert,
Lake of the Woods Rhyolite, and Vein Quartz

Jon Nelson, Thunder Bay, Ontario, who was previously mentioned is writing a thesis for a Master's Degree in Anthropology. The thesis deals with the Knife Lake metasediments (sedimentary rock that has been somehow changed by later geological events) and other lithic materials, their distribution and their quarry sites. He has been kind enough to share some of his information with us regarding the materials mentioned below.

He states that "Hudson Bay Lowland Chert" is a homogeneous, inclusion free, fine grained cherty material. It is found in regional moraines (extended ridge of glacial deposit) in shades of yellow, black and red. Its source is thought to be Paleozoic limestone deposits south of Hudson's Bay. However, Jon believes it is a poorly defined category and acts as a "catch-all" for other rock types.

"Lake of the Woods Chert" is visually and petrographicaly (magnified and polarized examination of rock components) very close to Knife Lake Siltstone varying in color from green to almost black. Quarry sites for this material have been reported on the northern edge of Lake of the Woods and at nearby Stevens Lake.

"Lake of the Woods Rhyolite" also referred to as "Recrystallized Rhyolite" is a grey to greenish, poor quality chert with darker amorphous inclusions. I do have a small spokeshave of this material from Grand Rapids, MN and several specimens sent to me by Bill Ross. A source has been reported associated with Lake of the Woods Chert. Artifacts of this material appear to be of a more crude nature perhaps because of its poor workability. Interestingly, it does not physically resemble the igneous ryholites in any manner. To this observer, "rhyolite" is a geological misnomer. Additional study will eventually lead us to a better understanding of this material.

"Vein Quartz" or "Bull Quartz" or "Milk Quartz" occurs in northern regions as outcroppings in the local area rock. Even though it is a very difficult material to knap, it was extensively used, especially by later cultures. I have observed and reported what appears to be a large quarrying activity on the Darky River portage on Minn Lake nea Lac La Croix, Ontario. In the Pine City, Minnesota area, it appears to have been used extensively by Woodland groups for small, triangular projectile points and scrappers.

(This segment concludes Dr. Romano's article dealing with native Northern Minnesota lithic materials used to produce artifacts left by prehistoric peoples of this region. Leroy Gonsior is a MKG member and an archaeologist familiar with much of the Southern Minnesota lithic material. We saw Leroy at the Knap-in at Pine City this year and asked him if he would write an article on Southern Minnesota lithics. He promised to do so if he could find the time. Hopefully we'll see an article in the future that will give us "the rest of the story"....Ed.)


LEATHER HAND PADS

by Vern Lauer

A good source of leather for leg and hand pads are yard sales, flea markets, shoe repair shops and second hand stores. Look for leather coats, jackets and cowhide purses. Usually you can find these articles for minimal prices and they can be cut up to make hand pads like the one illustrated. You may have to try several different types of leather if you are using copper pressure flaking tools as the oils used in some tanning processes tend to "clog" the rough surface of the copper.

Old rubber soles and heels can also be used to produce a thicker pad. The thickness helps you to grip the piece better and will lessen the muscle strain that often occurs when clenching a thinner object between your finger tips and your palm.


image of hand pad

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !


With this issue, "the Platform" celebrates its third birthday. Happy Birthday to you all. Thanks to all of you for the many positive comments about the newsletter and the Minnesota Knappers Guild. I have committed to another year as editor (1992) and another four issues of "the Platform". While we greatly appreciate the interest and input from around the country, the newsletter is designed to be more regional as to events, archaeology, and news. So, I'm asking that the Minnesota members be particularly helpful in contributing articles and ideas because it is your newsletter. Thanks for letting me write it and thanks for supporting it.


Gene Altiere, editor
"the Platform"

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THOUGHTS ON PERCUSSION FLAKING

by; Jim Regan


Flintknapping, as most of us would agree, is an extremely challenging endeavor. It has been so frustrating at times that I wanted to throw all my tools into a nearby swamp and take up a more "normal" hobby. I mean, there are so many ways to fail: hitting too hard, not hard enough, wrong angle, hitting too deep, not deep enough, etc., etc. But the upside of this hobby is that when you do finally succeed in making a nice point or blade, the sense of accomplishment is truly great. But, like most things of this nature--if it was easy then everyone would be doing it and how satisfying would it be?

I've talked to other knappers and most agree than progress is not steady by any means. It is common to go through long periods of frustration with no progress at all and then you learn something that allows one to jump suddenly up to the next plateau. Searching for and climbing to these next higher plateaus is what keeps me going in the flintknapping game.

Looking back at my experiences, I can think of some definite breakthroughs that allowed me to jump ahead. You may wish to take note of them and see if they help you too.

Like most knappers, I stated out all by myself, with a copy of "The Art of Flintknapping" by D.C. Waldorf. I then began pressure flaking small flakes into something that resembled arrowheads. Now this is fine for starters. I would recommend this approach to anyone starting out today, but it wasn't long before I realized that pressure flaking wasn't enough. If the flake I started with wasn't of uniform thickness, I often had an arrowhead that was too thick at the point, or too thick at the base and I couldn't notch it, or it had a lump on it that I couldn't get off. This of course is due to the fact that pressure flakes basically follow the surface that is already there-it is very difficult to thin a piece by pressure flaking alone. So the next logical step was to learn percussion flaking. This I found out was easier said than done. I was now striking the piece of stone instead of pressing flakes off, which meant a significant increase in the breakage rate. It was frustrating at the time but I now realize that it is part of the learning process (each time you do break a piece, try to understand what went wrong and then learn from it.)

In percussion thinning I soon learned that the flakes must run past the center of the blank or the point will not get thinner--only narrower. This is just fine if you want to make real clunkers-- the kind that are 1" wide and 1" thick, for a width to thickness ration of 1:1, but I wasn't really looking forward to a career of that. Now, I had read all of this pressure flaking stuff (as you probably have too) in Waldorf's book, but still had lots of trouble applying it. My advice here is to keep at it. You need to develop your hand/eye coordination anyhow. There is simply no way to become good at flintknapping without making a small mountain of chips and broken points!

One of the breakthroughs that was most significant to me at the time was when I discovered that I could run wider and much longer flakes by pressing the biface firmly into my padded thigh before attempting flake removal. What was happening, I'm sure, was that the pressure in the area of flake removal kept the shock wave within the stone longer, which meant it would travel further before stopping. Like most knappers I sit on a stool which leaves my thighs approximately horizontal and I have a leather pad on my left thigh for protection. I prepare my platform and then position the biface on the outside of my left thigh, in an almost vertical position. I press firmly on the biface with the heel of my left hand and then strike with my billet. When you try this technique be sure that you leave the edge of your piece exposed enough so that you can hit your platform without contacting the pad first. With this method you will consistently run flakes well past the center and achieve good thinning results. The leg support also reduces the breakage rate.

If you are working with a piece that is too small to work on your thigh as described above, you have to try something different. In such a situation I use a smaller billet that I can "whip" with my wrist, thereby obtaining a high tip speed. Without this high tip speed, the tendency is for your billet to push the workpiece out of the way, rather than remove a flake. This is because your workpiece has a relatively light mass compared to the billet. In addition, I often rest the back of my left hand on the top of my left leg, which further prevents the point from moving.

Another very important element of percussion flaking is platform preparation. Be sure to pay attention to this subject and learn how to isolate a platform, and how to abrade your platform. Experience must come into play here--there will be slight differences depending on the stone you are using, as well as the tools you are using. For example, if you are using a copper billet you would probably abrade the platform a bit more than you would with an antler billet; or if you are working with a harder stone, such as Knife River Flint, you would leave your platforms a bit sharper than you would with a softer material such as heat treated Burlington chert (the softer material crumbles easier so will need to be abraded a bit more.)

A note on striking the platform is in order here, too. What you want to do is barely "tic" the platform as you swing. I often miss the stone completely for one or even two swings, before hitting it on the second or third try. I call this "sneaking up" on the platform, and have notice that many knappers (including some of the very best) also use this technique. It really does save a lot of pieces from being broken by hitting too deep into the stone.

Percussion flaking becomes necessary sooner or later in our flintknapping careers--and it may at first seem fairly intimidating. It is worth it however, because it expands your capabilities so much more. If you haven't started doing percussion work yet, give it a try; and if you are already into it, I hope some of my thoughts will be of use to you. As always, I would recommend that you find someone to watch and ask questions of, if you can. Your progress will be much faster. Good luck and may all your flakes be long & your bifaces thin.


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YOU DON'T KNOW THE HAFT OF IT
Most of you who have been involved in flintknapping for any period of time know that you eventually are "discovered" by various interest groups. So, it doesn't come as much of a surprise when you get called on for demonstrations, reproductions, etc. Recently, however, the editor had an experience that was somewhat new and different. A few months ago, Tony Romano called and said he had been contacted by the curator of the Winnabago Area Museum in southwestern Minnesota. Tony is a lifetime honorary board member of the Institute for Minnesota Archaeology so a call from a museum curator is not all that unusual. Her request, however, was something new for Tony and he asked if I would give him a hand with the project. It seems that the curator felt that school age children would appreciate stone artifacts more if they could visualize them in their original "hafted tool" condition. She wanted us to haft a few of the specimens from the museum's collection for a special exhibit for the kids.

The editor thought it was a great idea and jumped at the chance to go to Tony's for the weekend and participate in the fun. However, as with most of the things that Dr. Romano gets involved in, there can be such a thing as knowing too much!. Never, has the editor seen anyone agonize so much (and subsequently make the editor agonize too) over questions of authenticity. What type of wood might have been available in that region and at that time? Why would they have chosen this wood over that? Would it have been decorated in any manner? How? Why? What kind of feathers? Was this a knife or an atlatl point? (magnification showing wear on only one side soon solved that riddle)

How long were the arrow shafts used by the people of that region with this type of point? Would they have had elk or deer sinew? What type of nock on the shaft? Why? What? How? Why? What? How? Why? What? How?

Tony is an excellent cook (would the people of the Yucatan use jalepeno or habenero to flavor their sopas secas...STOP IT!!!), so the editor thoroughly enjoyed the weekend even if his head was spinning. Hopefully the school kids will enjoy the exhibit....hopefully they won't ask too many questions or it's going to be a long winter....Ed.


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PATCHES

Our Minnesota Knapper's Guild patches are available again. This is a beautiful 3" patch designed by Jim Regan and is the official emblem for the MKG. Patches are $3.00 each. Make out checks to [Eugene Altiere, editor, "The Platform"] and mail to 4329 Peabody Lane, Duluth, MN 55804.


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