Preforms or finished tools?

I've done a lot of surface collecting of Native American artifacts over the years. One of my most exciting finds was on a friend's property in western Colorado. I was walking the area and found a lot of chips scattered about. I discovered two that were very similar in style within inches of each other. I scratched the surface where I found them and the result is the photo below. It was my first cache. These were all together in a 6" by 6" area. All of them are made from some form of chalcedony, "silicafied ash" and possibly petrified wood. There were no other chips or flakes, proving to me it was a cache of blades buried there on purpose. The only other artifacts I found at this site were a few broken projectile points, some scrappers, and a very nice knife. One very interesting piece I found at this site is a large piece of petrified wood that clearly shows knots and growth rings. It appears that an edge was used to hammer something. I wonder what they thought of this rock? I've found a few of these types of blades all over the country and often thought they were preforms. In some areas they're called "microblades". This cache aroused my suspicions and I performed an experiment.

The blades in the next picture are from a cobble of raw, red agate/chalcedony from Indian Springs, Nevada; it is not heat treated. To begin my experiment, I spalled these off and used all of them, as is, in various chores to see how they would hold up. I cut rawhide, carved and debarked wood, worked bone and antler, and cut meat with them. They were used for everything from heavy cutting to fine detail graving. There was very little change other than some polishing and micro edge flaking from use. They all stayed very sharp and did remarkably good work on the various tasks. I favored the large blade (bottom row, second from left). The top surface started to show a bit of polishing from handling and use. The only polish on the other blades are on the working edges.

The reason for this experiment was to prove to myself that the cache of genuine blades was not for future knapping but a group of tools to be used as is. I examined all of them. Several show signs of wear and polishing like the experimental ones; some had no wear at all. I believe these were both old and new tools buried together at the same time. Also, the shape and size of some of them negate their being made into anything else. There just isn't enough material to knap something further. As to size, the largest one in each photo is 3" long.

Antler Needles & Gorges

Here are a few photos of some antler needles and gorges I made. They were made from a section of elk antler. The first photo is of a piece of antler showing the outside. This piece is about 3" long by 3/8" wide and 1/4" thick. This made the two large needles shown below.

This photo shows the inside of the antler piece. The spongy inner core has been removed by grinding or filing until the white solid material shows. Removal of a section of antler from the main piece was accomplished in different ways. Sometimes an antler was smashed with a rock and the resulting pieces were worked. Another way is to use a modern hacksaw with a fine blade ( I prefer the mini hacksaw as it wastes less material and makes finer cuts). Yet another primitive technique was to use a stone graver to slowly score the outline in the antler and carefully break it free. This is a long, tedious process.

After much stock removal and careful drilling I end up with these. I use natural abrasive stones or metal files to do the shaping. The holes can be made with modern drill bits or by using a piece of flint with a sharp projection called a burrin or graver. With the flint tool, a hole is started and the burrin is twisted back and forth till the hole is halfway through. Then the same procedure is started on the opposite side. Here are some needles after they have been soaked in strong coffee. This gives them a nice brown tint. Notice how shiny the two on the left are. These have been burnished by rubbing a piece of antler against them. The two on the right haven't been burnished yet.

This photo shows the same needles with a burnished and an unburnished gorge at the bottom.

The gorge is a primitive fish hook. It is pushed into the bait (parallel with the line) which is tied to the middle. When the fish swallows the bait the line is given a brisk pull and the gorge turns (hopefully!) sideways in the fishes throat. As you can see, a grove has been abraded around the middle of the gorge. This is where the line is attached and the groove keeps it from sliding loose. These gorges are about 3/4" long.


These and many other different tools can be made from antler and bone. Antler needles are used for sewing leather and in basketry, such as with the pine needle technique. The only difference from modern needles is the technique used for sewing. They are not forced through the material like a steel needle, as they would likely break. You must first use an awl to make the holes for the needles to pass through. Making these needles using primitive techniques is a long process and early humans were very careful to treat them gently. By the way, bone needles are a lot tougher but a bit more brittle.

First Post

This should be interesting. I plan on posting pictures and posts of my journey through the world of primitive skills. I am a generalist, that is, I like to try my hand at a little bit of everything primitive. Basketry, flint knapping, cordage, traps, leather, wood work, metal work, weapons, etc. I don't consider myself a master at any of these, just a student. But, aren't we all? I'll also throw in a lot of survival skills info, too. Tomorrow I'll do a post about some of my flint knapping.