Knapping flake
Native Americans made arrowheads, spearheads, knives and scrapers from agate. Sculpting a point from a hunk of agate left numerous knapping flakes.
I was taking macros of desert crust and lichens for friends, when I noticed a knapping flake beneath the lichens.
When did this flake hit the ground? Where did the agate come from?
Hunter-gatherers moved into the area about 10,000 years ago, and around present day Arches National Park they found pockets of chert and chalcedony that could be fashioned into points and cutting edges, leaving piles of knapping flakes on the ground.
Knapping flake
Native Americans made arrowheads, spearheads, knives and scrapers from agate. Sculpting a point from a hunk of agate left numerous knapping flakes.
I was taking macros of desert crust and lichens for friends, when I noticed a knapping flake beneath the lichens.
When did this flake hit the ground? Where did the agate come from?
Hunter-gatherers moved into the area about 10,000 years ago, and around present day Arches National Park they found pockets of chert and chalcedony that could be fashioned into points and cutting edges, leaving piles of knapping flakes on the ground.