Susquehanna Woodland Designs

Cool Pictures

Last Updated 11/2/07

Take a look at some of the neat pictures I've taken that relate to flintknapping, artifacts, and Indian related things. Some of the pictures, while modern, I set the "stage" to apply it to the ancient scene I envisioned when I shot the photo. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

I imagined that this was the view of a Paleo hunter some 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. It's very possible that this hunter's other hunting partners are distracting this young mammoth while he sneaks up from behind and downwind. Since the temperature has been getting warmer and the great ice has gone north, this is one of the few mammoth's this hunter has seen in months. His heart is beating fast, because he could die if he makes one wrong move and the mammoth turns to see him. If he's swift and quiet he can thrust the spear through the ribs of the mammoth and he will be looked up to as one of the last of the mighty hunters to kill one of these scarce great beasts. If he makes a mistake, it could be his last. His hands sweat as he stalks closer and closer..........

There I was, spear in hand, and what came crashing out of the woods, but a mastodon. So I decided to try out my newly made 8 1/2 foot spear, tipped with a 3 1/2 inch Barnes Cumberland fluted point hafted to a foreshaft with sinew and pine pitch. One of these guys hasn't been roaming upstate New York in thousands of years, but fortune would have that I got a chance to hunt one. Yes, they taste a lot like chicken

Ok, this was some truly tough Texas Chert so I called a friend of mine to bring his special billet over to biface this piece down. I wanted desperately to give this billet a try, but I didn't want to be associated with those knappers on the dark side of knapping.

When I took this picture, I imagined a Woodland Period hunter making his way along a thick hedge of bushes as he stalks this big male elk. He knew the elk was aware of some kind of presence, but could not smell him as he had carefully worked himself downwind of this popular glacial pond watering hole. When the elk looked toward the water, this experienced hunter readied his dart shaft onto the atlatl antler hook without ever taking his eyes of the elk. He'd walked many miles just to be in the right position to take an elk at this place. He sees his carefully crafted dart and remembered the hours of time he'd invested to make it straight over the fire, and he remembered knapping the 3 1/2 inch Susquehanna point out of Onondaga chert that he'd traded his northern brother for in exchange for some fine Esopus chert he'd collected this Spring. The Susquehanna point was straight and sharp and he knew that if his shot was on target that this elk would not live long or run far. He slowly raised up from his concealed position in the brush, his thighs burning from raising in such a slow disciplined manner. With his arm now in the ready position, he waited........and then when the elk turned broadside and began to walk he released his dart as he stepped forward slightly. He watched as the dart impacted the elk, but had already made his only other dart ready to cast should he need to. He lowered his arm as he watched the running elk crash 100 yards from where he shot it. Walking down to the edge of the pound, he picked up his dart shaft that had fallen loose from the foreshaft as the mighty elk ran. He instinctively reached in a leather pouch attached to his belt and refitted another foreshaft into the bloody dart. Today his village would eat well, and he would have a nice hide that would be made into a badly needed new top and pants for him for the winter. He'd done well, and the time spent on the dart shaft was well worth it, and now as he approached the expired elk, he hoped that his sharp point was also able to be recovered within the chest cavity of the mighty elk.

I know they said that knap-in was around here some place

This poor flintknapper heard from another knapper who was told by two other knappers that there was a small gathering of knappers some place in this neighborhood. When he asked for directions, his friend the knapper said take this road off of highway (fill in the blank) and look for all the cars parked along the road. I think the guy on the lawnmower in the background is getting ready to call the police on his cell phone.

His blood froze and his knees began to shake as the sod busting settler from New Hampshire looked to his right to see exactly what he didn't want to ever lay his eyes upon. He was hunting for buffalo to feed his own family, but his eyes now were fixed on the ring of teepees on the hill. Certainly the occupants of this village knew he was coming and he knew that it was only a matter of minutes before he felt the sharp arrow pierce his chest. Just standing there a million thoughts flashed through his mind......."Should I run?"......"Should I hold up my hands and walk toward the village in hopes that they are friendly?"........."Should I fight?"....."I don't want to die this kind of death"....."What will become of my wife and two boys?"......."How could I be so stupid?"........."I should have stayed back east where at least I could have kept my own scalp".......... He knew he'd entered their lands and he knew he might die a horrible death or make some new friends. Which would it be, he will find out in the next few steps he took.

There's no short story with this one, but it does have some story to it. This large 4 3/4 inc Genesee Point lays right in the place where I took the spall out that it was made from. I made this point at the 2007 Letchworth, N.Y. knap-in. When I finished it I noticed the "mother" piece of rock laying there so I laid the finished point in there and it looked so neat I just had to keep both pieces. I did take some secondary flakes off the larger piece of rock after taking the spall off, but rest assured, that Genesee point was made from the spall taken right off that larger piece of Esopus chert. It's a nice example of what could be made from any piece of knappable rock. It also brings to mind just how many points, knife blades and tools the ancient ones could have made from one single piece of stone. It's a fine example and I'm glad it kept the two together. I had a lot of offers to buy the two pieces together, but I'm not ready to sell it yet.

'Ello Mate. I'm here to save you a ton of money on your next bucket of Mook Jasper.

Word has it on the street that a new dude is in control of all the Mook Jasper coming from Australia. He's a bit of a slimy fellow, but every once in a while he'll cut you a break. In talking with him the other day at a knap-in he said he used to be in the car insurance business, but he got bored and took up flintknapping after hanging out for a whole weekend with Dane Martin, Jim Redfearn, and D.C. Waldorf. I guess anyone truly can learn how to knap!!