Professor told me my flint knapping was 'too clean' - he was right

I was making these perfect arrowheads but an old archaeologist at a dig site in New Mexico told me real prehistoric points have hinge fractures and step fractures from mistakes. Now I actually break a few on purpose and they look way more authentic, has anyone else gotten this critique?

3 comments

3 Comments

abby_cooper12d ago

Whoa, yeah, @the_wesley, real knappers just accept the flaws, lol.

baker.christopher12d ago

... and my buddy Dave tried that once with a point he'd been working on for a couple hours. He was so mad about a tiny step fracture he just grabbed a rock and smacked the tip clean off, trying to make it look like a snap from use. Thing is, he smacked it a little too hard and the whole piece split in half right down the middle. So now he's just got two broken rocks instead of one flawed one. I guess it's a gamble either way, you know? You really think faking it takes more skill or just different luck?

the_wesley12d ago

Wait, wouldn't breaking them on purpose just be making fake "mistakes" though? I feel like the real skill is learning to work the stone so you don't get those flaws in the first place, not faking it after.