It’s a hobby I enjoy and began experimenting with a few years ago. As a teenager I used to do woodcarving and the same basic principles in that craft are very similar to carving stone. In some ways however, carving stone is easier than carving wood! Sure, the material is a lot harder but you don’t have quite the same problem with ‘going against the grain’ as one does with wood. But it is more stable and you can appreciate the finished product even more for the effort put forth. To say, “I made this!” when showing off a new stone carved creation is a special reward all it’s very own!
Rocks to Carve
Several summers ago while walking along the Humber River here in Toronto, I found an interesting specimen that clearly had endured an incidental percussion knapping. The somewhat spherical-shaped boulder had been pummeled against its neighbors, shearing-off a good-sized secant. The piece was a bit larger than the palm of my hand. The shape was somewhat suggestive of a turtle’s shell, rounded on top and flat on the bottom.
Turning the rock over in my hands, I could ‘see’ that this could be an interesting carve project, and I brought the stone home with me.
What to Make
I began carving the stone while still not really sure what I wanted to make. Eventually, it revealed itself to me as wanting to be a large insect. That is what I set myself to create, a fantasy water bug.
Stone Bugs
I formed the back carapace first, smoothing it uniformly and then making sectioned areas to correspond to the thorax and winged abdomen of the bug and of course, the head. As the build progressed, more details were added. Radial lines on the bug’s wings and ragged edges around the edge of the ‘shell’ to suggest depth and two formidable-looking forward pincher-legs. And something like a fantail or small fins on both sides was an afterthought for the bug. This allowed me to fake my way out of having to make a more correct number of rear legs.
Other stone bugs that I have created are more ‘Scarab’-looking and quite a bit smaller than my first water bug creation. About the size of a large plum, these are easier to make. I have made quite a few of these and have even considered offering them for sale.
My favorite bug creation so far is a fantasy trilobite Scarab. I have also made a small bison or buffalo stone carving. I should make more of these. They look very mystic.
Native American Tool Making
I wish I knew how to knapp stone, the process used by our native ancestors to make arrowheads, stone knives and spearheads. The knowledge and skill to bang and scratch two rocks together to create precision hunting instruments is appealing to me. The artistic aspect is not at all lost either. These can be beautiful works of collectible stone art as well and useful tools.
Instead of using brute force, a modernized method of carving exists; a rotary tool. I have made many ‘faux’ arrowheads this way. These are fun to make and don’t take very much time as the ‘freestyle’ nature is one of anything goes. Any flat and arrow-shaped stone can become an arrowhead within a matter of minutes. These don’t have to follow anyone’s preconceived notion of what an arrowhead should look like. And these are a lot of fun to show to my friends and watch them marvel at the creations, only to tell them that I made these. I do reluctantly finish by telling that I used a rotary tools in my craft.
Recently, I found a genuine remnant of what is clearly a ‘blade factory’; a fit-in-my-hand cone-shaped plug of good quality flint that had visible ‘flaked’ blades removed by either the Percussion (striking it) or the Pressure Method. These markings do not occur naturally. Intelligent repetitive actions created this artifact.
A Long-Forgotten Process
Long, thin flakes had been skillfully knocked-off through striking or pressing by a sharp stone or antler. This ‘factory’ or repository of not-yet-made flint knives could be carried on the person, for use when another arrowhead was needed.
This ‘plug’ is probably at its smallest useful condition and would not yield more than another two or three useful-sized arrow points and as such, probably is why it was discarded. I have found similar remnants before along the banks of the Genesee River in western New York. They are fairly common where native peoples would gather and knapp weapons and tools in quantity. Failed attempts that didn’t turn out right and the flaked discards litter the river’s edge in places.
I would very much enjoy making arrowheads and glass blades from black volcanic obsidian. Their glassy nature produces some of the finest, sharpest cutting edges known to man and their use as surgical blades for operations on major blood vessels and the heart is unparalleled. A well-made obsidian blade is several times sharper than the finest surgical scalpel and therefore produces cleaner cuts.
The finest surgical scalpels have minute ragged edges than tear the tissue rather than incise it causing a longer heal time and possibly causing greater scarring during healing. Obsidian glass is a superior material for creating arrowheads and utility knives, and our ancestors were creating and using them many hundreds possibly thousands of years ago.
