How did people make arrowheads in the Stone Age?

A flake of stone would be trimmed, then have hundreds of tiny flakes detached using an antler point. The knapper would put pressure on the flaker tool from their abdomen while the flake was braced again a leg.

🎥 @emlouwynjones.bsky.social

I have good days and bad (the bad days I go back to bronze casting 🙄)

Well, it’s finally happened, one for the bucket list.

This week I found a flint handaxe at Happisburgh while walking with friends. Their shared concern was due to my delighted dancing looking like I was having a funny turn!

Handaxes on the move!

We’ve been busy making lots of replica prehistoric goodies for Christmas presents. But a couple found themselves on a plane with @profaliceroberts.bsky.social heading to Australia for her Cells to Civilisation tour!

Here’s one of Palaeolithic handaxes being made:
🏺 🦣 🧪

I am often asked what I do with the flakes from flintknapping when making a large tool (and am occasionally accused of being wasteful). But many are saved for arrowheads or other tools, while others are saved for workshops so students can practice making scrapers and flake tools.

Making a Bronze Age axe…

A few years ago @emlouwynjones.bsky.social and I made a film for Kings Lynn museum showing the heating, casting and finishing involved in making the kind of axes used to make Seahenge.

Here is a shortened version:

What’s under this flake?

While I was working on this flint I discovered this little fellow who had been trapped in flint for 90 million years. Fossils like this can make flintknapping tricky as they can divert or stop the plane of fracture which forms a flake. But what did I make in the end?

How were handaxes made in the Stone Age?

They were made & used by several different hominin species in the Palaeolithic from just under 2 million years ago up until the last Neanderthal ~ 40,000 yrs ago.

I make these for our prehistoric replicas shop (link in bio)

🎥 @emmalouwynjones.bsky.social

Our replica Bronze Age Basal looped spears are back in stock!

3300-3125 years ago, these spears would have been the primary weapon of a warrior while swords were still developing. They were effective for slashing & thrusting.

www.ancientcraft.co.uk/product-page...

🎥 @emmalouwynjones.bsky.social