The flint knapping video that made me question a museum display

I always figured ancient arrowheads took hours of careful chipping, but then I watched a 12 minute video of a guy in Ohio rough one out in five. He used a simple antler tine and a rock, nothing fancy, and his finished point looked just like the ones in the exhibit case at our local history center. That got me thinking about how much we overstate the "master craft" part of prehistoric tool making. Has anyone else seen a demo that made you rethink what you learned from a display or textbook?

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felixh451mo ago

And here I was thinking ancient folks had some secret sacred technique passed down through generations, turns out it's basically just whacking rocks together until they look right. Museum displays really have a way of making the most down to earth stuff look like rocket science. Next thing you'll tell me the wheel was just a flat rock someone got tired of dragging.

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