Missouri State University’s Anthropology Club held its first interactive meeting for the 2024-25 academic year Sept. 9 in Strong 405.
The topic? Flintknapping, a term used by anthropologists to describe different methods to make stone tools.
On hand to demonstrate the ancient technique were Professor Elizabeth Sobel and Associate Professor Scott Worman from the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Gerontology (SAG). Both professors regularly participate in archaeology-related sessions with the club.
Things looked a little different this time, though.
Club officers Kyra Uphoff, president, and Erin Ashford, secretary, watched as students kept filing into the small lab room. Ashford started looking for more chairs.
By the time the meeting started, attendees were spilling out into the hallway.
Ashford later said that roughly 30 people attended the meeting, breaking previous attendance numbers. Typical attendance is 15-20, according to Uphoff.
What is flintknapping?
“‘Flintknapping’ refers to making flaked stone tools, essentially making tools by breaking small pieces of rock – flakes – off of a larger piece – a core,” Worman said. “It is the process used to make things like spear points, arrowheads, knives, scrapers and similar tools.”
Worman and Sobel demonstrated three general flintknapping techniques to the group: bipolar, percussion flaking and pressure flaking.
“We like to incorporate all three flintknapping techniques into our hands-on experience so that the students understand all three approaches,” Sobel said. “Some students discover that they enjoy or have a knack for one technique more than the others.”
According to Worman, using the bipolar method requires placing a small core on a large stone, called an anvil, and striking it with another large stone, called a hammerstone.
“It is relatively easy and was often used when the rocks used to produce tools were too small to hold easily,” Worman explained.
Percussion flaking requires holding the core in one hand and striking it with an implement held in the other hand, Worman said. Pressure flaking is similar, but instead requires the individual, called a “knapper” to hold the core while applying steady force to the edge with a rod-shaped object, usually made of antler. Pressure flaking is often used to put “finishing touches” on tools made by percussion flaking, he added.
After finishing the demonstration, Worman, Sobel and club officers handed out rocks, protective gloves, lap cloths and goggles so attendees could practice.
[Read more…] about Anthropology Club kicks off academic year with increased membership numbers
