Hello Mr. Nissly,
The flutes are back at the factory awaiting thicker points.
Making the points, or even improving the point making process, is relatively easy. The hard part was the four to five years it took to unravel enough historical records, in order to understand how a simple tool like a "flaker" could be used.
I am sure you realize that when simple paradigms like "percussion flaking", "pressure flaking", etc, were first erected, it became possible to come up with nice, neat, clean cut studies of "flake attributes". Thus, we have attributes of pressure flaking, "bulbs of percussion", etc, etc. With nice neat paradigms, it is easy to isolate said attributes in a straightforward, and systematic manner.
But, what about processes that involve combinations of multiple types of flintknapping processes, that all interact with each other in a single process? In such cases, what are the "attributes" of the process? What are the "attributes" of a single process that incorporates multiple pressures, percussion, compressive/rebounding forces, indirect percussion, torqueing, reverse pressure, vibrational forces, etc. What are the attributes, and signatures, of such a process? Beyond that, what if the support side of the process is also included? What if a flaking process, and a support process, cannot fit into any clean cut paradigm? What if a process fits into all of them? What if all of the flaking processes, and all of the support processes ping pong off of each other in sequential order? What are the attributes of the process? What paradigm do we apply? Percussion? Pressure(s)? Torque? Bending? Vibrational force? Reverse pressure? Indirect Percussion? What happens if the nice clean cut paradigms that were systematically erected cannot be reconciled with the reality of a more sophisticated type of flaking? Someone must have an answer, right? Who is the person that has the answer to all of these questions? My guess is that someone had the answers a long time ago.
I did reply to your other response regarding the antler artifacts that are alleged to be antler flintknapping "batons/billets". Due to an objection, I have quietly removed the response, as I will continue to do with any other response that is objected to. But, the antler "baton" artifacts that you have cited is something worth addressing. I will probably address the subject in another thread, in the coming days.
Ancient Tech
