Evolution of Wade's Bipolar Percussion Technique

[Mechslasher]

steve, wade, and i got together this past weekend to do some hunting on my farm.  steve and wade did some knapping and made some fine looking points.  steve walked wade through bipolar percussion.  wade didn't trust the technique on the first hit but got better as he went along.  he finally used a bamboo branch to hold the stone.  i love to watch people learn!!

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[Otoe Bow]

Man, I have no idea what I'm looking at.     Details, man, details.   

Thanks

Mike

[Mechslasher]

i'll let hillbilly explain the technique in detail.  wade is trying to split a round rock by inducing a fracture across the center is about all i know.  it was fun watching the process.

[n2everythg]

Had a good time down at your place this weekend chris. thanks for having us.

We didnt see any deer but that didnt stop us from having a good time.

As to explainations on Evolution.........
Well There was a small round cobble of calcidney. Hillbilly told me about bipolar cracking of round rocks to get a spall... I didnt know what he was talking about and for any else who are in my shoes... its taking the round rock. putting it on a anvil stone then smashing the top of it with a big  hammer stone.....

well this thing is about the size of a marble and I'm running on about 2 hrs of sleep and not to swift sometimes anyway....
So I proceed to try to hammer this marble with this big flippin hammer stone while trying to get my fingers out of the way.....
steve and chris had a good laugh watching me try to whip my fingers out of the way before the hammer stone crashed down.....

then they let me in on the secret technique of using something else to hold the rock in place so your fingers dont become hamburger.....
first couple pics are me whipping my hand out of the way... last one is the 'evolution' of bipolar technique when I am holding the marble with a piece of boo.
think a monkey could have figured it out quicker... but I was working on prob about 2 brain cells that morning...

Its all fun and games til someone looses an eye

was a good weekend to spend sitting in the woods.... and I even 'evolved' a bit.

thanks again chris. have to do it again sometime.
later
wade

[Hillbilly]

Those turned out good, Chris- I realized after I got home that I didn't take any pics. Bipolar percussion is using a hammerstone and an anvil stone to induce a fracture at both ends of a round cobble at once, hopefully splitting it neatly in half; or either someone who's bipolar doing percussion. I think we were all a little bipolar after sleeping two hours a night and running off of bacon and scotch.  That was a nice little cobble of chalcendony, but a little too small and round to thin down the traditional way.

[Pamunkey]

I watched Jack Cresson using bipolar percussion on small cobbles (almost pebbles) of jasper collected near the Jersey coast.  It's a good way to produce usable flakes from small pieces of rock.  One nice thing is that  flakes produced by this method are usually very flat, so they can be used for points, etc. without a lot of modification.

[mullet]

 What I don't understand is why Wade's not holding it with his fingers and whacking it ,cave man style?

[Hillbilly]

Eddie, you should have made it up-Chris and Wade had it way too easy and peaceful with just one Parker on duty....

[Otoe Bow]

I gotcha.  Sounds like a pretty neat deal.

Thanks

Mike

[D. Tiller]

You can also use the same Principal to flute Folsom points!

[Mechslasher]

eddie, you should have seen the first three whacks.  i was about to laugh my butt off.

[mullet]

  I sure wish I could have made it. But It would have been an all night drive after working all day.

[Hillbilly]

Gettin' wussy in your old age?  You would have got about as much sleep as we did.....

[n2everythg]

Yea especially the way HillBilly snores!!!!!
finally got down about 2 am... and I dont think it was 30 seconds before steve was rippin em out... then the dogs heard it and started barking at him snoring.... drove me clean out of the tent....ended up sleeping in the back of the truck it was sooooooo bad..

cool thing tho. sat after morning hunt we did breakfast then went out to an old indian village on a creek. water was down in the lake.
we found a ton of flakes, some pottery shards and I found my first arrow heads.
One woodland point with the base broken off and a broken savannah river spear point.
first for me.

check it out:

[Yokut]

oh my! Ya'll have no idea how funny that is too me to Visualize N2 trying to do this on 2 hours sleep!!! Trust me I've seen him try to tie a fishing hook on less sleep and it's hillarious! Even the simpliest things are tough sometimes... but the absulute best is seeing the Goof fish a lure (my lure even) out of a snag in the water in his UNDERWEAR then watch him do a jig on the bow of my boat as cars zoom past a bridge along the Columbia River. Dude is just plain STOOOOPID on lack of sleep!!! ROFLMSAO!!! I know Wade.. this is the kettle callin the pot black but I'm laughin tears over here cuz I can totally SEE It!!!