Flintknappers: Understanding Stone Tool Makers

John C. Whittaker
September 20th, 1996

I am trying to do an anthropological study of the knap-in, focusing on the Fort Osage one which I have been attending for several years now, but it is also about the knapping world today in general. I'm interested in why we pursue obsolete crafts, what knapping and prehistoric life means to us, how knappers learn and communicate and form groups, how the knap-in has developed as a social event and a mini-culture of its own, the development of rules and ethics and the arguments about them, and so on - in short, everything. I got to a number of knap-ins this summer that I can't usually go to, but there are still a lot I would like to see, and people I would like to meet - it's a fun project.

John Whittaker would like to hear from new and old knappers. How did you become interested in flintknapping and what are your impressions of the knapping world are, so far? You can contact him directly at: [email protected]

John C. Whittaker is an assistant professor of anthropology at Grinnell College and is the author of Flintknapping: Making and Understanding Stone Tools.

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Knappers Anonymous was prepared by Tim Rast and is being updated by Mike Melbourne
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