Archaeology
I was just considering today the importance of archaeology.
To me it just seemed cool to find what people used in the past and how they lived, but now I'm starting to realize that archaeology is a salvage method of retaining all the lost knowledge of those who came before us. Craig Ratzat has opened my eyes to what an actual technology and science stone tool making is.
He was virtually self-taught but had to go through trial and error for about 30 years to be an expert in stone tool making. He's traveled around the country and even into Europe talking to people on the subject and learning different techniques on how other people have taught themselves to overcome similar obstacles.
But the thing that is the hardest to comprehend is how difficult it is to make a complete hunting tool. Making a stone tool requires tools. First to get off a spall you need a giant hammerstone. From there your hammerstone can me more manageable. To remove smaller flakes one must have a hard pointy object like an antler tine.
To create the shaft of an arrow you need wood that can be straightened. This is usually done with water or wood or both. Fletching requires feathers which somehow need to be acquired. Hafting the arrowhead to the shaft requires some sort of string which needs to be made from a fiber. The creation of string in itself is a process and stone tools are used to make the string.
Then a gluing agent may be necessary to adhere the point to the shaft.
The process is infinitely long and that's only the beginning since you now need to rely on your abilities to hunt an animal. And if you have happened to make an arrow, then you're also in need of a bow. In the case that your point is made into a dart, then you still might need an atlatl.
The problem is, is that if all of our modern tools were taken away from us in the blink of an eye. Even survival at the level of making stone tools would be virtually impossible without people trying to revitalize the science. If it took 30 years to get it down, it seems a shame if it was to all be lost and we were stuck once again with re-inventing the wheel.
The best part about learning the trade is that you also learn the functionality of what you find in the earth. Things people once thought were spear points wind up being only functional as knives when you create and use them yourself.
Craig Ratzat should have an honorary degree and be teaching at schools across the nation. He knows more about the stone tool technology than many professors. Stone tools are his life.
To me it just seemed cool to find what people used in the past and how they lived, but now I'm starting to realize that archaeology is a salvage method of retaining all the lost knowledge of those who came before us. Craig Ratzat has opened my eyes to what an actual technology and science stone tool making is.
He was virtually self-taught but had to go through trial and error for about 30 years to be an expert in stone tool making. He's traveled around the country and even into Europe talking to people on the subject and learning different techniques on how other people have taught themselves to overcome similar obstacles.
But the thing that is the hardest to comprehend is how difficult it is to make a complete hunting tool. Making a stone tool requires tools. First to get off a spall you need a giant hammerstone. From there your hammerstone can me more manageable. To remove smaller flakes one must have a hard pointy object like an antler tine.
To create the shaft of an arrow you need wood that can be straightened. This is usually done with water or wood or both. Fletching requires feathers which somehow need to be acquired. Hafting the arrowhead to the shaft requires some sort of string which needs to be made from a fiber. The creation of string in itself is a process and stone tools are used to make the string.
Then a gluing agent may be necessary to adhere the point to the shaft.
The process is infinitely long and that's only the beginning since you now need to rely on your abilities to hunt an animal. And if you have happened to make an arrow, then you're also in need of a bow. In the case that your point is made into a dart, then you still might need an atlatl.
The problem is, is that if all of our modern tools were taken away from us in the blink of an eye. Even survival at the level of making stone tools would be virtually impossible without people trying to revitalize the science. If it took 30 years to get it down, it seems a shame if it was to all be lost and we were stuck once again with re-inventing the wheel.
The best part about learning the trade is that you also learn the functionality of what you find in the earth. Things people once thought were spear points wind up being only functional as knives when you create and use them yourself.
Craig Ratzat should have an honorary degree and be teaching at schools across the nation. He knows more about the stone tool technology than many professors. Stone tools are his life.
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