Laminar Core Technology - Making Flint Blades for

Knap along with experimental archaeologist, Dr. James Dilley, for #KnapTime to learn how to setup a laminar blade core and detach blade using in-direct percussion. This type of stone tool technology became widespread during the Upper Palaeolithic with the appearance of anatomically modern humans (us!). Blade cores take a little effort to create and maintain, but offer a variety of options for producing different tools such as scrapers, projectile points, knives and more!
Before you join in and have a go yourself, be sure to watch the all important Flintknapping Health & Safety video: • Health & Safety while ...
Filmed & Edited by Emma Jones of ELWJ Media - www.elwjmedia.co.uk
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To find out more about my flintknapping and experimental archaeology visit my website or follow me on social media!
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[@blessings2you435]

As a spinner & knitter I've spent decades of happy hours - hunched over, doing intensely detailed work. Now at 71, the collective damage I've done to my upper spine (T11- C3) is not good. Yikes! Kyphoplasty, anyone? I'm concerned about the possible stress your spine may be experiencing via the knapping you do. Yes... I'm trying to gently share my experiential history as a decades-long "lap worker" (if you will). Puleeze, Dr. Dilley, please be cognizant of the potential stress of ANY repetative, life-long, kinetic activity. As you know, spines are very resilient. Yet, as time & aging grinds into our bones 🤔 we DO experience the effects of our beloved repetitive activities. So, from an elder's experience, I hope to delicately suggest that you consider how important the prevention of damage IS in our long term activities. Perhaps it's worth a look? 😉 Anyways... take good care of your body. And... THANK YOU for the fascinating videos you create. They're incredible! 🏆!

[@Litt-10]

I've only just found this channel and I love it... But Doc, I can't stop laughing at your facial expression when that nodule broke in half. Hang on... I'm gonna rewind it.

[@ancientcraftUK]

Haha I'm glad you can appreciate this channel for it's educational and entertainment value!

[@oisinnewport8668]

*angry pause* certainly this would have happened in the past. Ah yes the soothing mantra of any experimental archaeologists 😂😂

[@csluau5913]

I used to live in Essex England years ago and I would find affluent artifacts and flakes and Deb Ataage in different places when they would be moving the earth to build things etc. I went to one site where they had done excavation trenches and they found a literally thousands of pieces. Some of them were quite nice. I think they found a few polished pieces as well. It was clear from all the remains of things left behind that that particular place had been used for hundreds of years, possibly thousands of years by wave after wave of settlers and hunters for sourcing flint nodules. A lot of the nodules have been washed down the river basin and into the valley floor. Some of the things were dated anywhere from Lake Paleolithic all the way down to measure lithic and neolithic and even the bronze age. It was amazing what I learned about knapping from all the things that we found. We even found what looked like an attempt at making a flint auger for drilling into wood presumably. I haven’t done Flint napping in a number of years. I still have a few pieces that I made and one or two pieces that I found but all the rest I ended up giving to a museum for people to learn from. There is still so much people don’t know about how people made an adapted tools all those years ago. I haven’t watched anybody making blades or flakes in a long time. I’ve enjoyed this video. I still remember the sore fingers :-)

[@eilerz]

This is one of my favourites because I’m just starting out flint knapping, and my goodness I’ve pretty much only had flawed badly behaved flint so far! It’s been very disheartening and I thought I was just utterly terrible at it, so it’s good to see that even a pro can have difficult flint that acts the way mine does. Gives me the motivation to continue but just to find better flint :)

[@johnseals4900]

Your videos are fantastic!!

[@derrickduncan3495]

I've done a fair amount knapping, mostly bifaces using materials such as obsidian sourced from North American west coast and chert from Oklahoma as these materials are relatively plentiful on this side of the Atlantic. Never really tried a core and blade technique before so I really enjoyed watching this video as there isn't many showing off this methodology.

[@seansullivan8083]

Thank you for this fantastic series of videos! You have really helped me improve my blade core knapping.

[@limoucheu8522]

well demonstrate on a gnarly nodule. I prefer to take a crest blade in every case before debitage. Creswell point may have been produce by the micro burin technique I tough? For the problem of snapping your blades of course it arrives but there is a method to minimize it, it is to cover your anvil with a piece of leather (method of Tixier) and it is better to have an anvil with a sharp angle. I learn this because I should have produce more than 130 gravettes for experimentation. All the best.

[@KelvynTaylor]

Marvellous. Roll on Season 2! :-)

[@andreaandrews4277]

Thank you James. Very enjoyable

[@pathwaysofthepast]

Cool stuff man! Blade-making is one aspect of flintknapping I need to invest more time into learning.

[@williamkimzey7879]

Appreciate the honest persistence! Multiple approaches and techniques.

[@piggyslayer1999]

The core you have in the thumbnail looks SO close to the 2 clovis cores i have, i always wondered how they did it, thank you for enlightening me!

[@uglyfrog7263]

Great video Dr. Dilley, I really appreciate your work.

[@dartmoorsheepskins8249]

Loving these videos, can't wait for season 2!

[@dwightehowell8179]

A lot of the scrap flakes had nice sharp edges that could be used for cutting purposes even though they might not work in a composite tool like a sickle. Waste not want not.

[@johnseals4900]

Do you know Peter Viking in Norway? His blade cores are the best Ive ever seen.

[@peterwiking7899]

Thank you John but I actually from sweden

[@ancientcraftUK]

Peter is certainly one of the best, someone for me (and anyone interested) to try and aspire to in knapping skill

[@johnseals4900]

Well thank you both for allowing us just catching the knapping bug to gain so much useful ancient technology and skills. We really appreciate you both!!!

[@rohraspy1590]

'even the Mesolithic fans would appreciate this" hahaha really got me with that one xD

[@LeMayJoseph]

Also, to my recollection, the UK doesn’t have any native moose. Would you happen to remember where you acquired moose antler?

[@csluau5913]

Bloomin’ awkward flint... 😂

[@QuantumPyrite_88.9]

I wonder if heat treating / stress relieving is used for flint in the UK . Another excellent video and Thanks .

[@ancientcraftUK]

Heat treatment does have an advantageous effect on UK flint, particularly the poorer quality grey flint. It results in a glassy sheen and colour change to pink or even red sometimes

[@QuantumPyrite_88.9]

@@ancientcraftUK Thanks for your reply . Heat treating is time consuming , but heat treating large flakes causes them to fracture along lines which they would fracture during knapping and pressure flaking . Time saving in the long run and particularly when using our chert . The flint you use is awesome and I found quite a bit in the Dover area while living in Kent . I sent about 200 pounds back home to New Mexico . All the best and Thanks again .

[@thewalruswasjason101]

My wife also says a slight curve helps…

[@trevorgosling]

Brilliant. Really informative and very well presented. Just a quick question. I live in east Devon and amongst my many flint finds I have a few blade cores. The ridges are quite narrow on some so does this imply they might be mesolithic not neolithic? Also was this technique used in the bronze age? Many thanks

[@LeMayJoseph]

Would you say that there is any advantage to a large copper spalling hammer for spalling nodes over a large hammer stone?

[@JanStokholm-ms5wq]

Fantastik wow👍👍🦌🦌🦌

[@vapomaster6967]

Making Flint Blades with Geralt of Rivia.

[@greenjack1959l]

Can I ask where you source your flint? All I can find in my area is building flint, which is better than nothing, but you can't produce decent size blades for making, say, an axe or Clovis type points. And most of what you produce is waste.

[@ancientcraftUK]

I get my flint from variety of quarries in East Anglia but equally I fortunately find pieces in the local area when I'm out walking.

[@SDRFAB98]

Doctor Doctor the other leg! Lol. I love your videos. Carry on. Sorry the look on your face.

[@manizhehnazarpour676]

where are you from?

[@manizhehnazarpour676]

hiiiii

[@EokaBeamer69]

.