Knapper's Gallery
Updated: 25 July 1999
Beginner's points. Materials include obsidian, glass, porcelain from toilet tanks and high voltage insulators, quartz, agate, jasper, and chalcedony. Scale is inches.
Points and other bifaces, mostly obsidian. Scale is inches.
Eared Elko replica, obsidian, 1.8 inches long. Narrow dart point, obsidian, 1.7 inches long. Medium size eared points were used on atlatl darts, not on arrows. The centered basal notch aids hafting stability, particularly in the manufacturing stage, but this may not explain why they were made this way. The shape of the ears is culturally determined; functional differences are minimal. Eared Elko made for museum display to illustrate typical point types that could be found in the western Mojave desert and Owens valley, the area where the museum is located. Now in the collection of the Eastern California Museum of Inyo County in Independence, California.
Fluted point, obsidian, 2.8 inches long. Fluted points are commonly called Clovis points after the town of Clovis, New Mexico. They have been found at butchering sites associated with the bones of extinct North American mammals including mammoths, mastadons, bison, horses and camels. They were certainly used as knives on a short handle; the fluting aided secure hafting by both thinning the blade in the hafting area and by providing a concave area that helped lock it to the shaft. The short handles were probably also attached to longer shafts to make a spear. Although rare, they are the most widely distributed point type in North America, found in 49 states, Canada and Mexico. They are among the oldest too, ranging in age from at least 13,500 to about 13,000 years old. They range in size from 1 1/2 inches to over 6 inches. This replica is close to the average size. It was made for museum display to illustrate typical point types that could be found in the western Mojave desert and Owens valley, the area where the museum is located. Now in the collection of the Eastern California Museum of Inyo County in Independence, California.
Ishi points, clear glass, 1.6 inches and 2.0 inches. Ishi was the last surviving Yana Indian who, in 1911, stepped out of living a painstakingly hidden existence in the rugged canyons of his ancestral land. He subsequently lived and worked at the University of California's Museum of Anthropology. Ishi was a skilled knapper and often gave demonstrations of flintknapping. He preferred obsidian and glass as raw materials and used a long handled stick with an iron nail on the end (now called an Ishi stick by knappers) for pressure flaking.
Hell's Canyon Corner Notched point, obsidian, 1.9 inches. Hell's Canyon points were first found and named for Hells Canyon Reservoir in Idaho. They are found from the Great Basin to the west coast and are of relativley recent origin, 1200 to 200 years ago. Too large for arrow points, yet made after the bow was in use in this area, they may represent a continued parallel use of the atlatl. Possibly they were used as small knives.
Scottsbluff point, obsidian, 2.7 inches. Scottsbluff points were made from 9500 to 7000 years ago. They are found from the Midwestern to the Northwestern states. These are typically thick ( 3:1 width:thickness), robust, well made points and have been found in association with the bones of extinct bison.
Five obsidian points.