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{{Short description|Shaping of conchoidal fracturing stone to manufacture stone tools}}
{{refimprove|date=August 2012}}
[[File:Flint-knapping Demonstration (27349458154).jpg|thumb|Flintknapping a stone tool]]
'''Knapping''' is the shaping of [[flint]], [[chert]], [[obsidian]], or other [[conchoidal fracture|conchoidal fracturing]] stone through the process of [[lithic reduction]] to manufacture [[stone tool]]s, strikers for [[flintlock]] firearms, or to produce flat-faced stones for building or facing walls, and [[flushwork]] decoration. The original Germanic term ''knopp'' meant to strike, shape, or work, so it could theoretically have referred equally well to making statues or dice. Modern usage is more specific, referring almost exclusively to the free hand percussion process pictured. It is distinguished from the more general verb "chip" (to break up into small pieces, or unintentionally break off a piece of something) and is different from "carve" (removing only part of a face), and "cleave" (breaking along a natural plane).

== Method ==
{{main article|Lithic reduction}}
[[File:Knapping.JPG|thumb|upright|A leather leg guard protects the knapper from being injured by the edges of the flint.]]
Flintknapping or knapping is done in a variety of ways depending on the purpose of the final product. For stone tools and flintlock strikers, chert is worked using a fabricator such as a [[hammerstone]] to remove [[lithic flake]]s from a nucleus or [[lithic core|core]] of [[tool stone]]. Stone tools can then be further refined using wood, bone, and antler tools to perform [[pressure flaking]].

For building work a hammer or pick is used to split chert nodules supported on the lap. Often the chert nodule will be split in half to create two cherts with a flat circular face for use in walls constructed of lime. More sophisticated knapping is employed to produce near-perfect cubes which are used as bricks.

=== Tools ===
There are many different methods of shaping stone into useful tools. Early knappers could have used simple hammers made of wood or antler to shape stone tools. The factors that contribute to the knapping results are varied, but the EPA (exterior platform angle) indeed influences many attributes, such as length, thickness and termination of flakes.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Dibble|first1=Harold|last2=Whittaker|first2=John|title=New Experimental Evidence on the Relation Between Percussion Flaking and Flake Variation|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|date=1981|volume=8|issue=3|pages=283–296|doi=10.1016/0305-4403(81)90004-2}}</ref>

''Hard hammer'' techniques are used to remove large flakes of stone. Early knappers and hobbyists replicating their methods often use cobbles of very hard stone, such as quartzite. This technique can be used by flintknappers to remove broad flakes that can be made into smaller tools. This method of manufacture is believed to have been used to make some of the earliest stone tools ever found, some of which date from over 2 million years ago.
[[File:Soft Hammer.jpg|thumb|left|Soft hammer knapping]]
''Soft hammer'' techniques are more precise than hard hammer methods of shaping stone. Soft hammer techniques allow a knapper to shape a stone into many different kinds of cutting, scraping, and projectile tools. These "soft hammer" techniques also produce longer, thinner flakes, potentially allowing for material conservation or a lighter lithic tool kit to be carried by mobile societies.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Peclin|first=Andrew|title=The Effect of Indentor Type on Flake Attributes: Evidence from a Controlled Experiment|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|date=1997|volume=24|issue=7|pages=613–621|doi=10.1006/jasc.1996.0145|doi-access=free}}</ref>

''Pressure flaking'' involves removing narrow flakes along the edge of a stone tool. This technique is often used to do detailed thinning and shaping of a stone tool. Pressure flaking involves putting a large amount of force across a region on the edge of the tool and (when successful) causing a narrow flake to come off of the stone. Modern hobbyists often use pressure flaking tools with a copper or brass tip, but early knappers could have used antler tines or a pointed wooden punch; traditionalist knappers still use antler tines and copper-tipped tools. The major advantage of using soft metals rather than wood or bone is that the metal punches wear down less and are less likely to break under pressure.

== Uses ==
[[File:Aztec sacrificial knives.jpg|thumb|right|[[Aztec]] stone knives]]
[[File:Steinschloss.jpg|thumb|right|A gun-flint mounted in the jaws of a flintlock musket]]
[[File:Stratford_St_Mary_church_April_2005.JPG|thumb|right|Knapped flint walls and [[flushwork]] at the church of [[Stratford St. Mary]]]]
In cultures that have not adopted metalworking technologies, the production of stone tools by knappers is common, but in modern cultures the making of such tools is the domain of [[experimental archaeology|experimental archaeologists]] and hobbyists. [[Archaeologist]]s usually undertake the task so that they can better understand how prehistoric [[stone tool]]s were made.

Knapping is often learned by outdoor enthusiasts.

During the time when knapping was used to make tools, flaked tools are no less effective compared to other tools making methods. With modern technology, it shows how flake tools stood against environmental shifts and was fit for purpose.<ref>Bamforth, D. B. (1991). Technological Organization and Hunter-Gatherer Land Use: A California Example. American Antiquity, 56(2), 216–234. https://doi.org/10.2307/281416</ref> 

Knapping ''gun flints'', used by [[Flintlock mechanism|flintlock firearms]] was formerly a major industry in flint-bearing locations, such as [[Brandon, Suffolk|Brandon]] in [[Suffolk]], England, and the small towns of [[Meusnes]] and [[Couffy]] in France.<ref name="ancientcrafts" /> Meusnes has a small museum dedicated to the industry.

In 1804, during the [[Napoleonic Wars]], Brandon was supplying over 400,000 flints a month for use by the British Army and Navy.<ref name="whittaker">{{cite journal | url=http://web.grinnell.edu/anthropology/Faculty/JohnWhittaker/Articles/2001_The_Oldest_British.pdf | title=The Oldest British Industry: continuity and obsolescence in a flintknapper's sample set | last=Whittaker | first=John | journal=Antiquity | year=2001 | volume=75 | issue=288 | pages=382–90 | doi=10.1017/s0003598x00061032 | s2cid=163235035 | access-date=2015-08-18 | archive-date=2020-04-28 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428192652/http://web.grinnell.edu/anthropology/Faculty/JohnWhittaker/Articles/2001_The_Oldest_British.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref> Brandon knappers made gun flints for export to Africa as late as the 1960s.

Knapping for building purposes is still a skill that is practiced in the flint-bearing regions of southern England, such as [[Sussex]], Suffolk, and [[Norfolk]], and in northern France, especially [[Brittany]] and [[Normandy]], where there is a resurgence of the craft due to government funding.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.flintknapping.co.uk/arch.html|title = Architectural flintwork}}</ref>

==Health hazards==
The sustained inhalation of flint dust produced by knapping can cause [[silicosis]]. This has been called "the world's first [[Occupational disease|industrial disease]]".<ref name="ancientcrafts">{{cite web | url=http://www.ancientcraft.co.uk/Flintknapping/Flintknapping.html#Health | title=Basic Tool Production Techniques, Health and Safety | publisher=ancientcrafts.co.uk | access-date=23 August 2015 | archive-date=14 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150914071404/http://www.ancientcraft.co.uk/Flintknapping/Flintknapping.html#Health | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="pugetsound">{{cite web | last=Kalin | first=Jeffery | url=http://pugetsoundknappers.com/interesting_stuff/knapping_silicosis_article.html | title=Flintknapping and Silicosis | publisher=Pudget Sound Knappers | date=2010 | access-date=24 August 2015}}</ref> However, it is unclear how severe the issue may actually have been in prehistoric working conditions, as silicosis is aggravated by a lack of ventilation and the use of metal tools which produce more dust. Ancient knappers, working in the open air and with stone and bone tools, would have had less prolonged exposure to dust than in more modern workshops.{{sfn|Shaw|1981|p=156}}

When gun flint knapping was a large-scale industry in [[Brandon, Suffolk]], silicosis was widely known as ''knappers' rot''. It has been claimed silicosis was responsible for the early death of three-quarters of Brandon gun flint makers. In one workshop, seven of the eight workers died of the condition before the age of fifty.<ref name="ancientcrafts"/> The average age of death for knappers was 44 years, compared to 66 for other employed men in the same area.{{sfn|Shaw|1981|p=154}}

Modern knappers are advised to work in the open air to reduce the dust hazard, and to wear eye and hand protection.<ref name="ancientcrafts"/> Some modern knappers wear a [[respirator]] to guard against dust.<ref name="pugetsound"/> A 2020 survey of 173 knappers found that 86% used eye protection, 57% wore gloves, and only 5% used a respirator, mask, or fan to control dust (although 68% preferred to knap outdoors). About half of respondents reported being injured at least "often" when knapping, and 23% admitted having to seek professional medical attention at least once. The most commons injuries were cuts and bruises, typically on the fingers and hands, while flakes in the eye were also frequent.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Gala | first=Nicholas | last2=Lycett | first2=Stephen J. | last3=Bebber | first3=Michelle R. | last4=Eren | first4=Metin I. | title=The Injury Costs of Knapping | journal=American Antiquity | volume=88 | issue=3 | date=2023 | issn=0002-7316 | doi=10.1017/aaq.2023.27 | doi-access=free | pages=283–301}}</ref> 

== Contemporary study ==
[[File:Enseñando a tallar.jpg|thumb|150px|right|French prehistorian [[Jacques Tixier]] offers modern training in stone knapping.]] 
Modern American interest in knapping can be traced back{{sfn|Whittaker|1994|p=56-58}} to the study of a [[California]] Native American called [[Ishi]] who lived in the early twentieth century. Ishi taught scholars and academics traditional methods of making stone tools and how to use them for survival in the wild. Early European explorers to the New world were also exposed to flint knapping techniques. Additionally, several pioneering nineteenth-century European experimental knappers are also known and in the late 1960s and early 1970s experimental archaeologist [[Don Crabtree]] published texts such as ''Experiments in Flintworking''. [[François Bordes]] was an early writer on [[Old World]] knapping; he experimented with ways to replicate stone tools found across [[Western Europe]]. These authors helped to ignite a small craze in knapping among archaeologists and prehistorians.

English archaeologist [[Phil Harding (archaeologist)|Phil Harding]] is another contemporary expert, whose exposure on the television series ''[[Time Team]]'' has led to him being a familiar figure in the UK and beyond. Many groups, with members from all walks of life, can now be found across the United States and Europe. These organizations continue to demonstrate and teach various ways of shaping stone tools.

== See also ==
{{Columns-list|colwidth=30em|
*{{annotated link|Ancient Egyptian flint jewelry}}
*{{annotated link|Debitage}}
*{{annotated link|Eccentric flint}}
*{{annotated link|Lithic technology}}
*{{annotated link|Nap (disambiguation)}}
*{{annotated link|Olduwan}}
*{{annotated link|Solutrean}}
*{{annotated link|Tranchet axe}}
}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book | first=Donald | last=Crabtree | title=Experiments in Flintworking | publisher=Idaho State University Museum |date=January 1971 | id=ASIN B0006XPAQU }}
* {{cite journal | last=Shaw | first=A. Batty | title=Knapper's Rot, Silicosis in East Anglian Flint Knappers | journal=Medical History | date=1981 | volume=25 | issue=2 | pages=151–168 | doi=10.1017/s0025727300034359 | pmid=7012479 | pmc=1139012 | doi-access=free}}
* {{cite book | first=D.C. | last=Waldorf | title= The Art of Flint Knapping | edition=4th | type=Paperback | publisher= Mound Builder Books, Branson MO, USA | date=1994 }} (Excellent illustrations by Valerie Waldorf of processes, techniques, hand tools, ancient and modern knapped artifacts [mostly North American]. On front and rear cover are photos of precisely knapped replicas of prehistoric points and within the text are B&W photos including two full-scale [{{cvt|12+5/8|in|adj=on|disp=or}} and {{cvt|10+3/4|in|disp=or|adj=on}}] "Danish dagger" replicas made by the author.)
* {{cite book | first=John C. | last=Whittaker | title=Flintknapping : Making and Understanding Stone Tools | type=Paperback | publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] | date=1994 | isbn=0-292-79083-X }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Flint knapping}}
{{Wiktionary|knap}}

*[https://stonetoolsmuseum.com/ Museum of Stone Tools] – Interactive 3D models of stone tool artifacts

{{Stonemasonry}}

[[Category:Experimental archaeology]]
[[Category:Lithics]]
[[Category:Natural materials]]

[[it:Scheggiatura]]