Cutting Edge 10,000 BC by PSDuck
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Description
There was a time when our forebears lived on the edge of existance itself. Every whim of Nature could spell disaster, starvation or feast. From those dark days of pre-history, here is one tool that helped Humanity to survive.
This is a knife those ancestors would have used. It was made by an artisan who specializes in Neolithic objects. He built it by hand, using materials that would have been found in our far past.
The knife is 9.5 inches (245mm) overall, with a 3.75 inch blade (about 97mm). The obsidian was obtained from Glass Buttes, Oregon. The handle is driftwood, thought to be from a fir tree. It is finished with rendered deer fat. The blade is halfted with tree pitch and American Bison sinew. It is very sharp!
Photo and text © 2009 Allen P. Mixson
Thank you for looking.
Any comments you leave will be welcome.
Comments (24)
shadownet
Impressive looking tool. The craftsmanship alone that went into making such tools should cause us to see these prehistoric ancestors as being much skilled and intelligent than we often wish to give them credit for being.
babuci
I have to say, he did a brilliant craftmenship on the weapon and you did a marvelous capture to show it to us.
danapommet
Wonderful capture Allen. A lot of work by a true craftsman. I enjoy military history and this is a great example of ancient history. Dana
NoelCan
A wonderful Piece of craftsmanship. Imagine trying to make one of these in those early days..
kbrog
Great shot! The artisan did a fantastic work on this reporduction. :)
IO4
Amazing artefact. Thanks for sharing that:)
mininessie
wow...fantastic!! a beautiful and surely effective knife!
Mondwin
Splendid capture my Friend!!!! bravissimo!:DDD.Hugsxx Whylma
NetWorthy
Wonderful job. Only by recreating objects such as this one can we have full appreciation for the skill and cunning of our ancestors!
DarkStormCrow
Excellent shot and subject, well done...
mariogiannecchini
a beautiful and surely effective knife!
junilau
une trés belle photographie, j'aime bien le theme
UOja
Very effective looking knife!
anitalee
Cool
debbielove
Impressive workmanship...Intresting information... Thanks for showing... Rob..
azoohouse
Amazing reproduction, thanks for the knowledge.
sandra46
EXCELLENT WEAPON, AND BEAUTIFULLY CHIPPED
bmac62
Being retired military, I have an intrinsic interest in all weapons. This is certainly the oldest design I've seen. Quite a special item. I never realized we had a weapons genre here:)
Elcet
Very nice neolithic knife replica. Similar knives also existed in pre-dynastic Egypt. I did some prehistoric replicas myself years ago (in flint, in sandstone and in bottle glass), but I was unable to go beyond the Neanderthal (Mousterian) stage except crude arrow points.
plasmid
We used to call those "shanks" when I was growing up, or when the warden came through the area, we called it a "letter opener". Haha. That is really cool Allen. That's something I would love to learn to do. Thanks for sharing this. Your friend is very talented.
junge1
Great shot!
chaylastorm
It's amazing what some people can do. Putting it on fur to photograph was a touch of genus.
Lotus253
This caught my eye. I had to build all of the tools I am writing about in my book, which takes place around 4500-5000 BC. This is of much better design than the tools I made. I like the use of the Deer fat to sea the weapon too. I found napping the obsidian to be very dangerous. I slit my fingers open a few times. Ouch! Obsidian is easy to break and can fracture on impact. I learned this from arrow heads I made from the stuff. Luckily it makes up for this by being sharper than a razer and decently light. I still prefer flint though. Wonderful work! 100 times better than the crud I made. Good job.
gemb1
Very nice In california they used Asphaltum sometimes mixing it with sulfur.I need to start Knapping again.