Getting Ready for the Knap-In!

One thing you have to have for a knap-in is plenty of rock to bust.
So I've been preparing some of our local rhyolite from the slate
belt of Chatham County for next weekend.

Thought I would start "spalling" with this rock and those are my
tools sitting on top of it.



The bottom side of this rock looks better than the top. There
are those lines or striations running straight across the top and
I don't know if those are hairline fractures or not.



Well the first spall came off nicely!



Here I tipped the rock up so you can see the bottom where the
spall came off.



So I tried taking a spall off right next to it and ran into a seam.
I hope you can see it running straight up into the rock.



And the next spall stopped at the seam too. You can see the
white powdered area where I struck the rock in the middle of
the edge of each piece. Archaeologist call this the "point of
percussion". God bless them.



And here's a spall with the rind or oxidized outer edge of the
rock on it. Arch's call this a "decortication flake" or a " primary
reduction flake". (Like you really wanted to know that!)



Well, it looks like the only way to get around that seam..........



is going to be a good well placed WHACK!



There. Two nice pieces to finish spalling at the Knap-In.



If you think that edge looks sharp, you're right!



Another piece split.



And this is good quality knapping material for around here.



Thanks for looking, and if you want to see these pieces reduced
even more, and possibly even made into some sort of projectile
point, you're just going to have to come on out to the KNAP!
Hope to see some of you there, Joe.