Critique about my flint knapping technique changed how I work

A guy at a local archaeology meetup in Austin told me my arrowheads looked 'too perfect' and not authentic enough. He pointed out that real ancient knappers in the Paleo period left distinct platform remnants and hinge fractures that I was grinding away. I started leaving more of those features on the last 12 points I made and now they actually look like the ones at the Gault site. Has anyone else gotten feedback that totally shifted their approach?

3 comments

3 Comments

kim.nina1mo ago

Is it really that deep though? Like who's gonna notice those tiny details unless they're holding your arrowhead under a microscope at a museum exhibit. Sounds like overthinking a hobby to me.

sethfoster1mo ago

kim.nina I get where you're coming from honestly, nobody's inspecting your stuff under a microscope lol. But for some of us, the little stuff matters not because someone else will notice, but because it makes the whole thing feel more real to us. Like when you're putting in the work on a point and you know the flaking pattern is right or the material was chosen for a reason, it just hits different. Plus there's a whole community of people who geek out over that stuff and it's fun to nerd out together without worrying if a random person will spot it.

felix4141mo agoMost Upvoted

@kim.nina totally feel that, same here with my flintknapping setup.