Civilization manualBook 1: From Bare Hands to Steam and Electricity765 entries · 23 phases · 100 years
The Island
Phase 02 — Stone, bone, wood and fibre toolkit  /  About year 1
02.01

Knapping kit

hard and soft hammers and a pressure flaker for controlled stone work

MakingYear 1Story day 8Stands on 2 earlier

AWhat it needs

Needs 2 other products.

View

Open a box to see what it needs. A dashed box is a product already drawn in full: click it to jump there. In the org chart, drag to move around.

BWhy

A hard hammerstone only knocks off thick flakes. To make thin blades, shaped points and true edges, the stone worker needs softer hammers, a pusher for tiny flakes, and something to roughen an edge before striking it.

CYou need

  • The three hammerstones (01.02) and a supply of stone flakes (01.03)
  • A shed deer antler, or the antlers of the first deer killed
  • A long bone or a piece of very hard wood
  • A lump of coarse sandstone the size of a fist
  • A pad of raw hide or several layers of bark, as big as two hands

DSteps

  1. Soft hammer: cut the thick base off the antler, a hand's length long. Saw a groove all round with a flake and snap it. Round the heavy end on sandstone. This hammer gives a little when it strikes, and takes off long thin flakes.
  2. Pusher: cut off one antler point as long as a finger. Grind its tip to a blunt point. It can be held in the fist as it is, or wedged tightly into the split end of a short stick for a better grip.
  3. Edge rubber: the sandstone lump. Rub it along an edge before striking, to grind off the weak thin lip so the blow does not crush it.
  4. Pads: one for the thigh, one folded in the palm.
  5. To thin a piece: rub the edge, then strike it with the soft hammer in a sweeping blow that just clips the edge. The flake runs far across the face.
  6. To finish an edge: hold the piece in the padded palm, set the pusher on the very edge, and press in and down until a small flake snaps off the underside. Work along the edge, one flake beside the last.
  7. Keep the whole kit in one hide roll, and do not lend the pieces.

EIt worked if

  • A soft-hammer flake comes off thin as a leaf and reaches past the middle of the stone.
  • A blunt knife edge can be made sharp again with the pusher in a few minutes.

FWhat goes wrong

  • The edge crushes and steps instead of flaking. It was not rubbed first, or the blow landed too far in.
  • The antler hammer chews up fast. The stone edge was too sharp. Rub the edge down more.
  • The pusher slips and cuts the palm. The pad is too thin. Double it.

GSafety

  • The flakes from this work are small and razor sharp. Work over a hide, and tip the waste into the waste pit.

HIn the story

Kofi comes back from tracking with two shed antlers and drops them beside Hiro, who has been asking everyone for something harder than wood and softer than stone. By evening Hiro has stopped being the quiet one who cut his thumb. He is the one people wait for.

IFigures

not drawn yet
Fig. 02.01-aThe kit unrolled on its hide: three hammerstones, the antler hammer, the pusher in its handle, the sandstone rubber and two pads.thing
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Fig. 02.01-bTwo close views: the sweeping blow of the antler hammer clipping an edge, and the pusher pressing a small flake off an edge held in a padded palm.diagram
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Fig. 02.01-cHiro grinding the end of an antler on sandstone, Kofi crouched beside him holding the second antler.making