Flintknapping Workshop coming to the Institute for American Indian Studies

The Institute for American Indian Studies, located in Washington Depot, will be hosting a flintknapping workshop on Saturday, July 11th, 2009 from 11am-4pm.

Throughout man’s existence in the western hemisphere, he has been making, using and discarding tools. These tools were made from a variety of materials such as stone, bone, antler and wood. The two most commonly used stone types in Connecticut were quartz and chert. Quartz is a white stone commonly found in the area while chert is a dark stone found along the Hudson River.

Using a manufacturing process called direct percussion the flint-knapper would strike the stone using a hammer stone or a similar tool made from deer antler to shape various arrowheads and tools.

By the beginning of the 20th century few Native Americans were still making these stone tools yet in recent years archaeologists, Native craftsmen, and primitive skills practitioners have once again become skilled in the art of flint-knapping.

Join lithics expert Jeff Kalin (Cherokee descent) of Primitive Technologies, Inc., and learn more about how these stone tools were made. Whether you are making your very first stone arrowhead or coming back to sharpen your skills this workshop is for you!

The fee for this workshop is $50 plus a $10 materials fee; or $40for  IAIS Members plus a $10 materials fee.  For more information, contact Chris Peschel at (860) 868-0518 or  cpeschel.iais@charter.net.

Tags: Native Americans, Washington Depot

Category: Upcoming Events