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Making a Spearpoint Once he chose a rock to make into a spearpoint, the prehistoric hunter used another rock called a hammerstone to help in the initial shaping. Archeologist Tom Gresham duplicates the steps in the photographs to the right. The hammerstone, a round piece of granite or other hard mineral that fit easily into the hand, served as his hammer, shown in Figure 8 (a). With pounding strokes, he reduced the spearpoint rock until the rough outer edges and impurities were detached. What was left, called the core, was a manageable chunk that could be carried back to camp for the next steps. There he used the hammerstone again or a wooden or bone baton to chip away more until the rock was roughly the size of a spearpoint (b). Called a preform, this piece now became the focus of an intricate, and to the unpracticed or careless, hazardous refinement. Using the sharp tip of a deer antler, he forced away many small, thin pieces called flakes, gradually sculpting the rock (c). Because the spearpoint was small, only a few inches at most, and sharp as glass, cut fingers could easily result during this flaking. Hunters sometimes used fire to temper chert and to help form it into spearpoints. Archeologists think the process involved burying the rock, then building a fire on top, which often changed the chert's color. The heat also made the chert more pliable and susceptible to the final delicate flaking. Satisfied with a spearpoint's shape and sharpness, the hunter added it to his arsenal. |
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