FIRE-AND-WATER KNAPPING: ORIGINS OF A LITHIC FOLK TALE

Abstract

Anthropology is not immune to the processes of folklore, and some “old wives' tales” have surprising endurance, especially in popular culture. The belief that arrowheads were made by dripping cold water on heated stone is a good example. Searching early references shows that this story probably originated in the early years of the last century and was popularized by Edgar Rice Burroughs, but its ultimate origins are obscure. The enduring popularity of this misinformation probably results from widespread ignorance of real knapping processes, and a certain plausibility in the minds of non-knappers.

Keywords:

• Flintknapping
• Experiment
• Arrowhead
• Heat treatment
• Folklore

Acknowledgments

Quite a number of colleagues and knapping friends over the years have contributed to my thinking; most recently, David Valentine, Mark Moore, and Metin Eren provided sources and most importantly, the stimulus of ideas and criticism for this paper.

Notes

1 I was surprised to learn how difficult it is to research old Sports Afield, which commenced publication in 1887. As a popular magazine, it is not indexed, and held in few libraries, none close enough for me to browse through them, even assuming they have early issues. The current company charges heavily to do any research in its files. Only one issue, January 1898, is available as a reprint.

2 The modern electronic world allows me to learn that there are archive collections relating to all three men. Some bits and related articles are available online. It is possible that some of the correspondence cited above exists in an archive, but all are too far away for me to search them on this slim chance. Nagle and Godsal archives are at the Glenbow Museum, Alberta. Eames left a collection of books and writings, now in the possession of Susan Smith, [email protected].

Additional information

Notes on contributors

John C. Whittaker

John C. Whittaker teaches at Grinnell College. He works with prehistoric societies in the SW, and with all sorts of prehistoric technologies, especially stone tools and spearthrowers.Correspondence to: John C. Whittaker, Department of Anthropolgy, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA 50112, USA. E-mail: [email protected]