whittaker pages 1/21/04 1:58 PM Page i American Flintknappers THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK whittaker pages 1/21/04 1:58 PM Page iii american flintknappers Stone Age Art in the Age of Computers John C. Whittaker University of Texas Press Austin whittaker pages 1/21/04 1:58 PM Page iv Copyright © by the University of Texas Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America First edition,  Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to Permissions, University of Texas Press, Box , Austin, TX -. The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of / .-() (Permanence of Paper). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Whittaker, John C. John Charles), – American flintknappers : Stone Age art in the age of computers / John C. Whittaker p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. --- (hardcover : alk. paper) — ---(pbk. : alk. paper) . Flintknapping. .Stone implements. I. Title. .  .—dc  whittaker pages 1/21/04 1:58 PM Page v Dedication My wife Kathy Kamp has put up with my knapping habits for years, listened to my knap-in stories, discussed my analysis, saved me from malevolent computers, and been my most understand- ing and forthrightly critical reader and colleague. Our daughter April wears “the pretty ones” and pays a parent the supreme compliment of occasionally telling her friends he’s “cool.” You are both my inspiration always. THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK whittaker pages 1/21/04 1:58 PM Page vii Contents Acknowledgments xi 1. Introduction:Coming to the Knap-in 1  The Knap-in Ethos  Sources of Information  The Knap-in at Fort Osage 2. Making Stone Tools:The World’s Oldest Craft 17  The Processes of Flintknapping  Tools and the Knappers’ Ethos 3. From Fakes and Experiments to Knap-ins: The Roots of Modern Flintknapping 34  Charlie Shewey  Early Archaeologists and Fakers  Native Knappers  Mack Tussinger and the Oklahoma Eccentrics  Daniel, Howe, and Others  McCormick the Folsom Fluter  Bryon Rinehart and Grey Ghosts  Richard Warren—Scale Work and Lap Knapping  Patterns in the Early Modern Knappers  Halvor Skavlem and the Hobby Knapper  Archaeology and Replication whittaker pages 1/21/04 1:58 PM Page viii  Knapping Newsletters  The First Knap-ins  Waldorf and The Art of Flintknapping  Transition to the Current Scene  The Current Scene 4.The Knap-in:People and Organization 72  Bob Hunt, Organizer at Fort Osage  George Eklund, Commercial Knapper  Jim Regan, Copper Toolsmith  Gene Stapleton, Dealing in Stone  Percy Atkinson: Gourds, Axes, and Philosophy  D. C. and Val Waldorf, Knap-in Professionals  Ingrid Jones, Knapper Spouse  Knapper Demography  A Continent of Knap-ins   Mid-West Flintknappers’ Convention, June  Pine City Knap-in   Evergreen Lake Knap-in, July Genesee Valley Flint Knappers Association Knap-in,   August   Flint Ridge Knap-in, August  Knap-in Generalities 5.Knappers at the Knap-in 112  Culture and Community of Practice  Performance  Learning to Knap  Learning the Ethos  Politics, Gender, and Ethnicity  Expressions of Identity  The Chipping Keeps You Going: Why Knappers Knap 6.Status and Stones 147  The Knap-in as Egalitarian Event  Ooga-Booga, a Ritual of Inclusion  Status and Competition in Knapping Talking with Stone: Ritual Exchanges and the  Expression of Status — viii— A F whittaker pages 1/21/04 1:58 PM Page ix 7.Art,Craft,or Reproduction:Knapper Esthetics 169  Stone Tools as Art and Folk Art  Two Knappers, Two Attitudes  The Ideal Point: Common Esthetic Rules  The Rules in Action: Knapping Contests  Imitation as Esthetic Goal  Point Types and Artistic Choices  Replicas and the Art of Knapping 8.Can’t Never Have Too Much Flint: The Lore of Stone 203  The Mystique of Stone  The Qualities of Stone  The Quest for Stone  Decreasing Resources 9.Modern Stone Age Economics 227  Frank Stevens, Knap-in Entrepreneur  A Trip to Quartzite  Market Knapping  Art Knapping  Dale Cannon and Stone Knives 10.Knappers,Collectors,Archaeologists: Ethics and Conflicts 249  Replicas, Fakes, and Art  Fakes, Replicas, and Ethics  Murmurings at the Knap-in  Woody’s Dreams and Knappers’ Nightmares  Fakes and Archaeology  Counting Knappers and Points  Markets, Again  The World of Collecting  Authentication  Archaeological Impacts of Modern Knapping: Collections  The Creation and Destruction of Sites  Epilogue: Sin and Society Contents — ix—