Nathan Martinez

Hardcore Nathan Martinez

This detailed but concise little guide introduces new knappers to percussion flaking and the reproduction of the most iconic stone tools of the Paleolithic: the chopper, handaxe, Levallois flake, bifacial knife and prismatic blade. While there are many knapping tutorials available, many of these focus on manufacturing aesthetic projectile points and non-functional art pieces using sawn slabs, heat treating, pressure flakers and copper billets (hammers) that were not available to our earliest ancestors. On the other hand, while academic literature focuses on utilitarian stone tools and techniques, these are often shrouded in technical terminology and abstract geometry. In this manual, an attempt has been made to avoid this kind of language in favor of easily-understood descriptions and diagrams with a focus on the production of basic functional tools.