Ray Harwood. Flintknapping Hall of Fame Flintknapper

RAY HARWOOD, FLINTKNAPPER

RAY HARWOOD, FLINTKNAPPER

RAY HARWOOD, FLINTKNAPPER

RAY HARWOOD, FLINTKNAPPER










Giuliano Bastiani  PHOTO

Ray Harwood. Flintknapping Hall of Fame Flintknapper, started flintknapping when he was about nine years of age, Ray's father, Ted Harwood (Marauder Pilot) was part Apache and did a lot of hunting and other out door skills, Ted taught Ray to flintknap. They used to go to Monache Meadows very often. The arrowheads in Monache were a great inspiration to Ray's knapping. Ray has written hundreds of articles and books on flintknapping related topics. Ray was the first to create and market a flintknapping video, Ray Founded, edited and published "Flintknapping Digest" in 1983-1992 when it was given to Val Waldorf and it became "Chips". Ray Hosted the C.S.U.N. Knap-in in 1983 and co-founded the Wrightwood Knap in that same year with Alton Safford, this knap-in went of for decades. Ray helped found the Bakersfield Knap with Gary Picket, the longest running monthly knap-in in the United States. Ray has dune hundreds of demonstrations and lithic experiments, including stone tool bison butchering,stone tool replication and usage. BA in Anthropology/archaeology CSUN 1984 (Clay Singer, professor).US Army, Archaeologist -Northridge Archaeological Research Canter, Western Lithics World Flintknapping Notching Champion runner up 5 years in a row, one year World Champion "King Notcher" (Ishi notching), world's largest pressure flaked "spear point" 56 inches long. Other interests: Father of 2 sons, Wilderness survival, Karate, Hiking, Horse back riding, Camping, Squatching, Land Rover 4 x 4, Scuba Diver, Hunting, Fishing, Banjo and Guitar playing, . 

RAY HARWOOD, OBSIDIAN SWORD, BLADE, KNAPPED



(BOOK BY RAY HARWOOD).

(BOOK BY RAY HARWOOD).

).

(BOOK BY RAY HARWOOD).

RAY HARWOOD ARCHER

FLINTMAS, BY RAY HARWOOD

BISON BUTCHER, STONE KNIFE. RAY HARWOOD

RAY HARWOOD. GROG'S BLADE.

RAY HARWOOD, OBSIDIAN BLADES

RAY HARWOOD'S BIG FOOT KNIFE

RAY HARWOOD'S BIG FOOT KNIFE

RAY HARWOOD'S BIG FOOT KNIFE

RAY HARWOOD'S BIG FOOT KNIFE

RAY HARWOOD'S BIG FOOT KNIFE

RAY HARWOOD, WESTERN LITHICS KNAPPING CONTEST

RAY HARWOOD, FLINTKNAPPER

Add caption

RAY HARWOOD, BLADE

RAY HARWOOD TKD CHAMPION

RAY HARWOOD, CSUN

RAY HARWOOD, ARCHERY

ART BY RAY HARWOOD, YOSEMITE KNAP-IN

RAY HARWOOD KNIVES

RAY HARWOOD, ARROWHEAD

RAY HARWOOD, RANKIN RANCH

PFC RAY HARWOOD

APACHE WITH RAY HARWOOD BLADE

RAY HARWOOD, YOSEMITE KNAP-IN

RAY HARWOOD, WESTERN LITHICS CONTEST

RAY HARWOOD FLUTED POINTS

RAY HARWOOD JOKE POSTER

RAY HARWOOD JOKE POSTER

RAY HARWOOD, OBSIDIAN SWORD, BLADE, KNAPPED

RAY HARWOOD, OBSIDIAN SWORD, BLADE, KNAPPED

RAY HARWOOD ARROWHEAD. GREEN BOTTLE.

RAY HARWOOD FLUTED POINTS

BAKERSFIELD KNAP-IN

RAY HARWOOD, OBSIDIAN SWORD, BLADE, KNAPPED

RAY HARWOOD ARROWHEADS

FLINTKNAPPING DIGEST BY RAY HARWOOD

RAY HARWOOD, OBSIDIAN SWORD, BLADE, KNAPPED



The Flintknappers’ Parable :I once sat and observed the trade of a flintknapper.
The artist was at a later stage of reducing a large white stone into a long, thin well flaked blade. With each carefully planned flake detachment, a new opportunity for yet another flake removal arose, a new fork in the road.
Life is like a flintknapper taking flakes off a biface, each new flake that is removed, good or bad, long or short, yields a new opportunity and a new fork in the road, he must decide which path to take.
After quite some time, the thin well shaped blade was nearly complete; a load snap broke the repetitive metronome like blows, some choice vernaculars from the flintknapper’s tongue. Yet the flintknapper did not discard the stone. The flintknapper reached into his kit and pulled out an abrasive stone, removed the jagged spots from the end shock and began thinning down the area. After a bit of time and “clank, click, clank” of the flintknapper’s tools, I heard a bystander comment;"those are the two most beautiful matching white spear points I have ever scene”. It appeared as if the knapper had set down with the purpose of creating this beautiful matching set of white spear points and this flintkanpper was the star of the knap in. Life is like that, sometimes we have our biface of life snapped in half, and when all seems lost, and after some flakes of time, and against all odds, something great comes out of it.

 

RAY HARWOOD ARROWHEAD

RAY HARWOOD ARROWHEAD

WESTERN LITHICS KNAPPING CONTEST, NOTCHING

RAY HARWOOD ARROWHEAD

WESTERN LITHICS NOTCHING CONTEST

RAY HARWOOD ARROWHEADS

RAY HARWOOD, OBSIDIAN SWORD, BLADE, KNAPPED

RAY HARWOOD, OBSIDIAN SWORD, BLADE, KNAPPED

ROCKER-CHERIE CURRIE (THE RUNAWAYS) WITH RAY HARWOOD ARROWHEAD

RAY HARWOOD, OBSIDIAN SWORD, BLADE, KNAPPED

RAY HARWOOD, OBSIDIAN SWORD, BLADE, KNAPPED

RAY HARWOOD, OBSIDIAN SWORD, BLADE, KNAPPED

RAY HARWOOD, FLINTKNAPPER

BOOK BY RAYHARWOOD

FLINTKNAPPING DIGEST STORY

BY: RAY HARWOOD

San Diego, California was a hot bed of really good knappers in the
early 1970s, it sprung from a visit from Sollberger sometime in that
era. Only Steve Carter remains of that group. Navodne (Rod) Reiner,
another California sad story , Rod was one of the San Diego
flintknappers that Steve Carter hung around with in the 1970s. Like
Steve, Rod was a really good flintknapper, all traditional, and good
person. Rod did a lot of knapping and made nice pieces of lithic art
but was also interested in the experimental aspect as well. Rod came
up with the two man fluting technique; Reiner gripped the biface in
his left hand, held it down tightly against his thigh, while his
right hand used the full weight of his body from the shoulder to bear
down on the flaking tool. Then, to this he added a little more force
by using a second person to deliver a light tapping blow to the end
of the pressure flaker with a mallet. Reiner stated that the mallet
strikes just at the instant that the pressure flake is pressed off.
Wit

h Rod's method both constant pressure and a releasing percussion
impact a nice flute is detached. Rod, whom was also at the Little
Lake knap-in was a very good knapper and a big influence on Steve
Carter, but Rod was killed early on in a hunting accident. Chris
Hardacker was another, he just faded into the woodwork, I saw him
working as a digger for Jeannie Binning at one of her digs in the
middle 1980s.
In the mid 1970s flintknapping was really popular in University
archaeology departments around the world. Inspired by Francois Bordes
in France, Don Crabtree in Idaho, Robert Patten in Colorado, D.C.
Waldorf and Jim Spears in Missouri, Errett Callahan in Virginia and
J.B. Sollberger in Texas.
The knappers were in contact with each other but there was a high
degree of frustration over a lack of continuity and organization, no
medium existed for their use. The idea of a flintknapping
publication, for and by flintknappers, was born. Errett Callahan
realized that many useful ideas and suggestions which were being
exchanged between flintknappers, through the mail, could not be
shared with other knappers because there were no means for publishing
the information. What brought the whole thing to a head was realizing
the sense of frustration which J.B. Sollberger expressed in one of
his letters to Errett Callahan. Sollbergers letters were typically
packed with both practical and theoretical knowledge Solly had gained
from years of experience. Without any link to the academic arena of
the mid 1970s, it was very unlikely that J.B. Sollberger would have
ever gotten his ideas in print. Callahan suspected that if this was
true with J.B. Sollberger than it must be true for hundreds of
flintknappers around the world as well. What was needed to midigate
this problem was an informal means of getting the flintknappers ideas
into print. Without the hassles of formal writing and the
gratification of not having to wait long periods of time to get into
print, if it ever shows up at all. The idea came together and Volume
1, Number 1 of the Flintknappers' Exchange came to be on January
1978. The new journal had a very journalistic nature, more than dry
and academic. Without being amateurish. It was printed and mailed out
3 times a year at a cost of $2.00 per issue. It was edited by Errett
Callahan and Jacquelin Nichols and published by Atchitson Inc. The
technical editorial board included : Callahan, Flenniken, Patten,
Patterson, Sollberger, Titmus and a California kanpper named Chris
Hardaker. Hardaker was also production assistant. Later Penelope
Katson was managing
editor. The journal was great it launched the first knap-ins and
introduced the stars and theories of modern flintknapping. The
journal lasted almost four years and ended, without warning, with
Volume 4, Number 2 in the summer of 1981.
After the close of the Flintknappers' Exchange in 1981, there was a
void for two years. Communication among flintknappers slowed to a
stop. In 1984 at the knap-in at the Northridge Archaeological
Research Center I was talking about the need for a newsletter to Clay
Singer and Terry Frederick, they suggested I do it, well I had
dyslexia, couldn't type and had no money, okay! Alton Safford,
Jeannie Binning and Joe Dabill encouraged as well. I couldn't get
anyone to help me with the project so I did it myself. I started work
on the first issue, all the words were misspelled, the grammar was
just as bad, I cut and past the cover. I wanted to call it the
Flintknappers' Monthly but I couldn't find those words in the old
NARC newsletters so I got close with "FLintknapping Digest" and cut
and pasted it on the cover. I used the address list in the old
Flintknappers' Exchange at the end of each article to find the
knappers. It worked I began to get a flood of mail about it. It was
really amateurish and I got a lot of flak, but everybody who got it
loved it. Clay Singer said "it has a folksy, underground publication
look" . In any case it got better with each issue. I remember asking
J.B. Sollberger to write an article for me and he got really mad. He
said that I was just trying to associate with his name to gain fame
and make the newsletter sell better , I was unaffected and said yes,
so do I get the article? We got along fine after that and I did get
the article, I think he trusted me to tell the truth after that. He
even made me some fluted points. The "J.B." in J.B. Sollberger is
rumored to stand for "John the Baptist" . So you see with a
reputation like that truth means a lot. I was amazed that the little
newsletter was doing so well, my mom was too, she never thought such
a weird newsletter would work. I was 24 years old when I started the
newsletter and didn't have a whole lot else going, it was great, I
met all my flintknapping heroes. One day I got a letter from D.C.
Waldorf and he was asking about something, I can't remember, but he
referred to the Flintknapping Digest as "The Digest", I put the
letter in the next issue and from then on that's what everyone called
it. Even now I see it referenced to time and again and it is almost
always given its affectionate name "The Digest" it gave knappers a
worm and fuzzy feel, like an old dog that you had when you were a
kid. Even old dogs pass on, and in the late 1980s, even with Val
Waldorf's help, I couldn't do it anymore. After some coaxing the
waldorf's took pity on me and took the newsletter over. They gave it
a face lift and a new name "Chips" .
One of the articles published in 1981 in the Flintknappers' Exchange
really woke up the worlds' flintknappers to a real danger. Jeffery
Kalin of Norwalk, CT. wrote Flintknapping and Silicosis. The article
shows how knappers that inhale dangerous dust can die early. More
people wore dust masks than ever, at least for a couple weeks. Terry
Frederick wrote in a letter stating Sears and Roebuck carries
respirators. According to the American Antiquity article " The main
academic lithic journal in the United States, Lithic Technology, had
some 300 subscribers in 1997, according to the editor, George Odell.
Many of these are lithic analysts rather than knappers, but many
knap, at least at some level, and many academic knappers are not
subscribers. The newsletter Flinknappers' Exchange, which ran from
1979 to 1981 and was oriented toward archaeologically involved
knappers, had some 700 subscribers, according to Errett Callahan, one
of the editors. Perhaps 300 to 500 is a reasonable conservative
estimate of the number of academic knappers in the United States. The
authors of the American Antiquity article did not think Flintknapping
Digest was important enough to include in their article, but it had
at one time, nearly 600 subscribers. At one point I published The
Stone Age Yellow Pages with a list of all the know knappers, this was
also not good enough for the article. According to the article, "
Between 1991 and 1994, Jeff Behrnes edited a second flintknapping
newsletter aimed at non-archaeological knappers, The Flintknapper's
Exchange, and compiled a list of over 1,300 names, mostly knappers
with some related craftsmen and small business. The current
newsletter, Chips, has around 1,200 subscribers, according to D.C.
and Val Waldorf . The Bulletin of Primitive Technology recently
reached 2,907 subscribers, while many of them are more interested in
other pursuits, Callahan feels that most of the knap.
The internet has really put a new twist on the knapping world.
Richard Sanchez, A knapper from Texas, led the way with his Flint
Forum an online "list" or interactive newsletter. Sanchez, along with
a very few others, helped fight the cyber knappers against fraud and
other unethical practices Sanchez, who was inspired to knap by his
father-in-law, was also a computor wiz. Compining his two passions
Sanchez started the "cyber-silca" revalution. He began two popular on-
line news platforms one "The Flint Forum List" and later The Tarp
List" . These lists insired others to get into the field. Richard
does not play around with glass, obsidian or labidary and stays on
track with traditional Texas flintknapping in the Sollberger
tradition od bifacing with antler billet off isolated platforms.
Richard is what modern traditional
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Entry for June 03, 2006
Entry for June 03, 2006 magnify

Since Richard Sanchez left as the host of the Tarp you can see the
declined in the number of message posts. The quality of content of
the messages were never exceptional, but now they are down right bad.
I recomend knappers come over to this list and have some credable
dialog. I do admit to being bitter about getting kicked of the TARP
for stressing ethics in knapping on the postings. Who better equiped
to stab someone in the back than a flintknapper? I was was stabbed in

RAY HARWOOD WITH DR.  JEANNIE BINNING

the back multiple times.

RAY HARWOOD, OBSIDIAN SWORD, BLADE, KNAPPED

RAY HARWOOD, OBSIDIAN SWORD, BLADE, KNAPPED

RAY HARWOOD AND JOE DABIL

This is an interesting read. I broke it down to more palatable chunks. Hope that's OK.
REWRITE OFTHE 1988 WRIGHTWOOD KNAP IN


I remember the 1980s Wrightwood knapin. This was one of the knap-ins held at Jackson lake. Jackson lake is an alpine type lake in the high country. Location and Directions: Jackson Lake is located in the Angeles National Forest near the city of Wrightwood. From Los Angeles take I-10 East to I-15 North. Travel N. on I-15 to Cajon Pass - Hwy. 138. Turn left (north) on Hwy 138 and travel 8 miles to Hwy. 2. Turn Left on Hwy 2 and travel 10 miles to Big Pines, then turn Right on County Road N4 and travel 3 miles to the lake. This is a small lake of 7 surface acres at an elevation of 6,000 feet. It is open all year but sometimes freezes over during the winter. Tent and RV camping is available near the lake. There are no concessions. Nearest supplies are 7 miles to the East in the own of Wrightwood. It was cold at night and warm and sunny in the day. It was the most beautiful place for a knap-in of all. The camp was a flat plateau just above the lake itself and it had a hard sandy floor, it had a good open area for archery, atlatl and knapping.


Jim Winn came up to Wrightwood in 1988, he had skipped a year or two. Jim's interest in flintknapping began shortly after he moved to Oregon in 1979. His neighbor was an avid collector and took him on his first arrowhead hunt. He was hooked! Jim spent the next few years actively hunting points. Some of the points he found were incredibly well knapped, and I became determined to learn how it was done. He discovered DC Waldorf's book, "The Art of Flintknapping" and he been knapping ever since!

Jim Winn used the traditional methods of percussion and pressure flaking to knapp his points. Never use flake over grinding. His tool kit includes both aboriginal or traditional tools such as antler and stone percussors as well as more modern tools such as copper. Most of his knives and points are knapped from spalls or cobbles of chert, jasper, or obsidian. I had done some rabbit hunting, atlatl shooting and Barney DeSimone and I had been to Jim's house, then in the Valley to flute Clovis with a jig.

Barney DeSimone came up "the A-wop-a-hoe", was his joke- he is Italian and everyone thought he was an Indian, so he said I am a "wop" and a hoe -so people thought he was a "A-wop-a-hoe", which is not a real tribe! Steve Carter came up from Ramona in his old flatbed truck, Steve was into pattern flaking and amazingly thin percussion bifacing before anyone else I have known about. Alton Safford was there and he demonstrated using sinew, bow shooting- did knapping and ate a lot of apples, he also brought some longbows he had made, his nickname is "Longbow Safford" . Peter Ainsworth and Jeannie Binning showed up from the acedemic knapping community and were doing very nice "Crabtree" large biface work. I can't remember much more about that knap-in except it was really fun and wonderful 4 days in heaven.


WRIGHTWOOD KNAP IN STARTED IN 1984, SET UP BY RAY HARWOOD AND ALTON SAFFORD AT JACKSON LAKE., BUT OUR FIRST CALIFORNIA FLINTKNAPPING RENDEZVOUS WAS IN 1983 AT CSUN. SET UP BY RAY HARWOOD. AT THE FIRST KNAP IN 1983 : RAY HARWOOD, ALTON SAFFORD, JOHN ATWOOD, RICK WESSEL, CLAY SINGER, GEORGE HUFF, JENNIE BINNING, ROY VANDERHOOK, TERRY FREDERICK, JOE DABIL, FRED BUDINGER, TED HARWOOD, NANCY HARWOOD, BRIAN GUNTHER, AND A HOST OF OTHERS. FIRST LOCATION: C.S.U.N. . SECOND: JACKSON LAKE FLAT. THIRD; CAMP GUFFY (TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN) FOURTH: INDIAN HILLS RANCH.

Ray had flintknapped in an artistic vacuum until he was in his early 20s. This is when Ray met fellow Ishi fans, Joe Dabil, Barney DeSimone, Steve Carter, Jim Win, Jennie Binning and Alton Safford. Barney had a small business called Yana Enterprises where he marketed his Ishi posters and items and had become an expert Ishi style knapper, to the point that he had killed a wild boar on Catalina Island armed with a sinew backed bow and Ishi tipped arrow of glass of his own making. Atlton was an avid traditional bow hunter and knapper, he had even hunted big game in Africa a few times with stone points.

Years later Alton and Ray started the yearly California Flintknapping Rendezvous. Joe Dabil had become a California legend by the late 1970s and had the nick name of "Indian Joe", this name given to him by the prominent archaeologists of the day. Joe could make fire in of minutes with a natural yucca file board and mule fat stick. Joe was also a master of the Ishi style flintknapping methodology. Joe's Ishi points of both glass and obsidian were each an impressive work of art. Ray and Joe became friends and Ray began to study Joe's flintknapping methods. Joe Dabil had learned the arts of wilderness survival hands on. Joe was an Olympic class long distance runner in the 1960s, and when a Doctor informed him he had a life threatening decease he fled into the wilderness. There in the woods, alone, Joe eked out a survival on natural foods. Eventually Joe relearned the arts of Ishi, sinew back bow making, arrow-smithing, fire drill technology, cordage making, brain tanning and of coarse...flintknapping. As miracle have it, Joe lived out his death sentence and is still practicing wilderness skills today.

Steve Carter was already an established master knapper when Ray met him in the early 1980s. Steve had been friends with J.B.Sollberger of Dallas, Texas and with J.B.s inspiration, at the 1978 Little Lake knap-in, Steve developed his own unique knapping style, one in which he detached the flakes of the top of the preform as opposed to the bottom that rests on the palm of the hand. Steve was versatile and also used the Ishi style knapping techniques. Steve's work even impressed the Grand Masters; Sollberger, Titmus, Callahan and Crabtree. Jimm Winn was there at the second or third Wrightwood knap-in with Barney Desimone and George hough and George Hough and Dick Baugh. Jim did a lot of heat treating of local materials there in the famous Wrightwood fire pit at Jackson Lake Flat.

After the close of the Flintknappers' Exchange in 1981, there was a void for two years. Communication among flintknappers slowed to a stop. In 1984 at the knap-in at the Northridge Archaeological Research Center I was talking about the need for a newsletter to Clay Singer and Terry Frederick, they suggested I do it, well I had dyslexia, couldn't type and had no money, okay! Alton Safford, Jeannie Binning and Joe Dabill encouraged as well. I couldn't get anyone to help me with the project so I did it myself. I started work on the first issue, all the words were misspelled, the grammar was just as bad, I cut and past the cover. I wanted to call it the Flintknappers' Monthly but I couldn't find those words in the old NARC newsletters so I got close with "FLintknapping Digest" and cut and pasted it on the cover.

I used the address list in the old Flintknappers' Exchange at the end of each article to find the knappers. It worked I began to get a flood of mail about it. It was really amateurish and I got a lot of flak, but everybody who got it loved it. Clay Singer said "it has a folksy, underground publication look" . In any case it got better with each issue. I remember asking J.B. Sollberger to write an article for me and he got really mad. He said that I was just trying to associate with his name to gain fame and make the newsletter sell better , I was unaffected and said yes, so do I get the article? We got along fine after that and I did get the article, I think he trusted me to tell the truth after that. He even made me some fluted points. The "J.B." in J.B. Sollberger is rumored to stand for "John the Baptist" . So you see with a reputation like that truth means a lot. I was amazed that the little newsletter was doing so well, my mom was too, she never thought such a weird newsletter would work. I was 24 years old when I started the newsletter and didn't have a whole lot else going, it was great, I met all my flintknapping heroes.

One day I got a letter from D.C. Waldorf and he was asking about something, I can't remember, but he referred to the Flintknapping Digest as "The Digest", I put the letter in the next issue and from then on that's what everyone called it. Even now I see it referenced to time and again and it is almost always given its affectionate name "The Digest" it gave knappers a worm and fuzzy feel, like an old dog that you had when you were a kid. Even old dogs pass on, and in the late 1980s, even with Val Waldorf's help, I couldn't do it anymore. After some coaxing the waldorf's took pity on me and took the newsletter over. They gave it a face lift and a new name "Chips" . .Paul Hellweg, a fellow Army Tanker. Paul, likes to specialise inground stone axe manufacture, and he is quite good at it. He was actually a Crabtree and Flenniken Student, but went over to the servival camp when he got a job teaching it at C.S.U.N. where I first met him in the early 1980s. Paul wrote some nice articles for the Flintknapping Digest in 1984 and published a book on knapping the same year, Flintknapping, The Art of Making Stone Tools that has sold over 50,000 copies. Hellweg has also writen many other books and is doing quite well financially. I attented a week long Callahan school with him in the summer and and he appears to be thinking of redoing his book and becomming more active in the knapping world.

San Diego, California was a hot bed of really good knappers in the early 1970s, it sprung from a visit from Sollberger sometime in that era. Only Steve Carter remains of that group. Navodne (Rod) Reiner, another California sad story , Rod was one of the San Diego flintknappers that Steve Carter hung around with in the 1970s. Like Steve, Rod was a really good flintknapper, all traditional, and good person. Rod did a lot of knapping and made nice pieces of lithic art but was also interested in the experimental aspect as well. Rod came up with the two man fluting technique; Reiner gripped the biface in his left hand, held it down tightly against his thigh, while his right hand used the full weight of his body from the shoulder to bear down on the flaking tool. Then, to this he added a little more force by using a second person to deliver a light tapping blow to the end of the pressure flaker with a mallet. Reiner stated that the mallet strikes just at the instant that the pressure flake is pressed off. With Rod's method both constant pressure and a releasing percussion impact a nice flute is detached. Rod, whom was also at the Little Lake knap-in was a very good knapper and a big influence on Steve Carter, but Rod was killed early on in a hunting accident.

Chris Hardacker was another, he just faded into the woodwork, I saw him working as a digger for Jeannie Binning at one of her digs in the middle 1980s. Robert Blue of Studio City, California was inspired by a collection of Reinhardt's points , Reinhardt had been long dead but Blue did find fellow Gray Ghost collector, Charlie Shewey in Missouri. Robert offered to buy all of Shewey's Gray Ghosts and Richard Warren points and that money was no object. Charlie refused Blue's offer, but directed Robert to Richard Warren. After Robert bought a fair number of points, Warren shared some of his secrets with Robert Blue and introduced him to Jim Hopper, whom Warren had taught. Jim Hopper andRobert Blue became good friends and Robert became very good at art knapping. Barney DeSimone, couched Robert through his early years of knapping. Later Robert inspired Barney to return somewhat to lapidary knapping.

It was Robert Blue that taught Ray Harwood to knap in the lever style of Reinhardt, Ray produced dozens of "Raynish Daggers" with the lever flaker. The Raynish Daggers were simply slab points in the form of 10 inch Danish Daggers ("2-D daggers" -not 3 dimensional). These were what Callahan called the ugliest Danish Daggers he had ever seen. After Robert's death and some prompting from DeSimone and Callahan, Harwood returned to traditional flintknapping. One interesting bit of knapping lore I overheard at a knap in goes like this:" Steve Behenes had invented this steel fluting jig that could flute supper this preforms. Steve was close to Robert Blue at the time and he sent Robert a thin Folsom and the detached flutes, Robert returned the detached flute -and he had fluted them !

Joe Dabil, Joe had become a California legend by the late 1960s and had the nick name of "Indian Joe", this name given to him by the prominent archaeologists of the day. Joe says he learned his style by trail and error using books with Ishi points as a pattern,same for the knapping tools. His notching style comes a great deal from Errett. Joe could make fire in of minutes with a natural yucca file board and mule fat stick. Joe was also a master of the Ishi style flintknapping methodology. I first came to here about him in about 1969 and then in the 70s, he gave demos on Catalina Island for Archaeologists and movie people. His points were often seen for sale for $3.50 up and down the central to northern California coastal towns, these populated by thousands of hippies. I remember buying one in a hippie shop in Pismo Beech in 1976. The hippie lady at the counter said I could meet the knapper, but like as ass I sais "naw it's OK. I did end up meeting him 8 years later, in 1984, at CSUN. Joe's Ishi points of both glass and obsidian were each an impressive work of art. Ray and Joe became friends and Ray began to study Joe's flintknapping methods. Joe Dabil had learned the arts of wilderness survival hands on. Joe was an Olympic class long distance runner in the 1960s, and when a Doctor informed him he had a life threatening decease disease he fled into the wilderness. There in the woods, alone, Joe eked out a survival on natural foods. Eventually Joe relearned the arts of Ishi, sinew back bow making, arrow-smithing, fire drill technology, cordage making, brain tanning and of coarse...flintknapping. As miracle have it, Joe lived out his death sentence and is still practicing wilderness skills today.

RAY HARWOOD, OBSIDIAN SWORD, BLADE, KNAPPED

RAY HARWOOD SPEAR POINT, OBSIDIAN

RAY HARWOOD WITH DR. JEANNIE BINNING

(BOOK BY RAY HARWOOD).

(BOOK BY RAY HARWOOD).

(BOOK BY RAY HARWOOD).

The information set forth in this text relied heavly on the fallowing publications: Fintknapper's Exchange: Atchiston, Inc. 4426 Constution N.E. Albuquerque, NM 87110 Etidors: Errett Callahan, Jacqueline Nichols and Penelope Katson. Flintknapping Digest. Harwood Archaeology 4911 Shadow Stone Bakersfield, CA 93313 Editor: Ray Harwood Bulletin of Primitive Technology. Journal of the Society of Primative Technology P.O. Box 905 Rexburg, ID 83440 Dave Wescot, Editor Chips Mound Builder Books P.O. Box 702 Branson, MO. 65615 Editors: Val Waldorf, D.C. Waldorf and Dane Martin. New Flintknapper's Exchange. High Fire Flints 11212 Hooper Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70818 Editors: Jeff Behrnes, Steve Behernes and Chas Spear 20Th Century Lithics. Mound Builder Books P.O. Box 702 Branson, MO. 65615 Editors: Val Waldorf and D.C.









BOOK BY RAY HARWOOD

JOES DABIL, RAY HARWOOD, ISHI

BOOK BY RAY HARWOOD




(BOOK BY RAY HARWOOD).

 

 

ERRETT CALLAHAN BY RAY HARWOOD










 

The International Flintknappers ‘ Hall of Fame and Museum is encouraging individuals of all ages to “Be A Superior Example,” through a new education program as part of a new curriculum to promote healthy habits, while encouraging everyone to live free of drugs and other such substances or vices. It serves as the central point for the study of the history of flintknapping in the United States and beyond, displays flintknapping-related artifacts and exhibits, and honors those who have excelled in the craft, research/ writing, promoting events, and serving the knapping community in an ethical manner. Photos by: Ray Harwood

FROM GLACIER POINT
Half Dome is a granite dome in Yosemite National Park, located in northeastern Mariposa County, California, at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley — possibly Yosemite's most familiar rock formation. The granite crest rises more than 4,737 ft (1,444 m) above the valley floor.










The geology of the Yosemite area is characterized by granitic rocks and remnants of older rock. About 10 million years ago, the Sierra Nevada was uplifted and then tilted to form its relatively gentle western slopes and the more dramatic eastern slopes. The uplift increased the steepness of stream and river beds, resulting in formation of deep, narrow canyons. About 1 million years ago, snow and ice accumulated, forming glaciers at the higher alpine meadows that moved down the river valleys. Ice thickness in Yosemite Valley may have reached 4,000 feet (1,200 m) during the early glacial episode. The downslope movement of the ice masses cut and sculpted the U-shaped valley that attracts so many visitors to its scenic vistas today.[5]




The bears in Yosemite are all black bears, even if they are brown or blonde.
The bears feed on plants in the meadows in the moring and afternoon. The bears
do try and eat your camp food.





Ray Harwood knapped these obsidian items. These were viewed by thousands of
interested visitors during the Yosemite knap-in.







The Yosemite shuttle goes all through the park for free! starts at 7:30 A.M.




















Half Dome is a granite dome in Yosemite National Park, located in northeastern Mariposa County, California, at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley — possibly Yosemite's most familiar rock formation. The granite crest rises more than 4,737 ft (1,444 m) above the valley floor.










You can see Yosemite Falls from numerous places around Yosemite Valley, especially around Yosemite Village and Yosemite Lodge. A one-mile loop trail leads to the base of Lower Yosemite Fall (the eastern side of the loop, from the shuttle stop to the base of the waterfall, is wheelchair accessible).


































Ben_Cunningham was the host of the knapin. Ben works hard there at the museum and indian village.




Ken Kehoe



Knappers Unite!




At the 2011, 18th Annual Coyote Hills Knap-In!



Aug. 27th and 28th (Sat. & Sun.) from 10:00 to 4:00

at

Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont, CA.



http://www.ebparks.org/parks/coyote_hills


Camping available for Sat. night.


For more details call Ken Peek at:

(510) 537-1215.


Hope to see you there
Ken Kehoe




Ken Peek



























Jeannie Binning. California State University Riverside PhD in Archaeology . Flintknapping since the 1970s.
Archaeologist, Flintknapper, Primitive Technologist.



Here is Jeannie's School:

LITHIC TECHNOLOGY FIELD SCHOOLField School Dates: Saturday, June 11 to Friday, June 24, 2011
Field School Location: California Desert Studies Center, ZZYZX, California
Desert Studies Center Information: http://biology.fullerton.edu/dsc/school/about.html
Registration Instructions: Complete this Registration Form and return it to the address below with a refundable deposit ($450) or payment in full. Upon receipt of your completed Registration Form, you will be sent a confirmation letter and additional information. Please note that the remaining payment is due two weeks before the Field School begins (May 27th). Checks or money orders only.









Class of 2000 · PhD · Archaeology
Website http://www.obsidiandesigns.com
About Susan: Archaeologist, Flintknapper, Primitive Technologist, Science Fiction Fan
Susan Gleason.Owner at Phoenix Obsidian Designs. Studied Archaeology at University of California, Riverside. Lives in Grass Valley, California. It's complicated...From Grass Valley, California. Born on October 27, 1970. Susan said she sold a very large quantity of lithic art at the Yosemite knap-in.


Yosemite, Flintknapping. .Knap In, Ray Harwood. obsidian, Bakersfield Arrowheads, Hank Ray, Jeannie Binning, Ben_Cunningham, Susan Gleason,Bears, Deer, Half Dome.























Link to Merkle's 'Finegold knap in". Merkle and Patric Aims are long time flint knappers, Pat is a member of the "Bakersfield knappers".http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/44156/Finegold-knap-in-photos-and-article






















Above Ray Harwood shows how to spall obsidian. Below RAy sits in a native bark dwelling with his "Moby Dick" arrowhead.

Ray started flintknapping in 1969. He got his Archaeology degree in 1984, Studied with lithics expert Clay Singer. Ray often plays country blues guitar or banjo at
knap ins. Ray has a black belt in Karate and was a tanker (armor) in the Army.
Ray is an avid mountain biker, scuba diver and other stuff.













THE YOSEMITE KNAP IN AUGUST 6TH AND 7TH, 2011












The above is the T shirt Ray designed, and wore at the knap in.






"Chip" the flintknapping bear






Forwarded Message ----
From: "Ben_Cunningham-Summerfield@nps.gov"
Sent: Wed, June 29, 2011 4:39:19 PM
Subject: Yosemite Valley Knap-In

Good Afternoon Fellow/ess Knappers -
I am dashing this note off to get an idea of how many of you might be
interested in attending a knap-in here in Yosemite National Park. In case
you are wondering Dave Sunderland sent me your e-mail addresses. If you
are interested please send me your mailing address and telephone number(s)
and the best to reach you at. This is simply exploratory and I am looking
at August 6 and 7 for the actual knap in with arrival possible on the 5th.
I have some details to wrap up with camping arrangements and such, but
please let me know one way or the other.

Thanks
Ben
209-372-0303 - office
209-352-4086 - cell

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


Mariposa Grove
Some of the most remarkable natural resources to be found in Yosemite National Park are the giant sequoia trees. In the park these trees are found in three separate groves. The largest group of these trees is located in the Mariposa Grove.

Perhaps the most remarkable sequoia in the grove, and indeed the park, is the Grizzly Giant, originally known as the "Grizzled Giant." This enormous tree is believed to be 2700 years old, the oldest known sequoia tree. Sequoias are among the oldest know organisms on earth, surpassed only by the venerable bristlecone pines.



THE REPLICAS



For more information go to www.lettherockroll.com.









THE FLINTKNAPPING









ON THE WATER





















THE MUSIC








FUN AND FOOD























LAST YEARS' FINEGOLD
FRESNO/FINEGOLD KNAP-IN 2009.




The Road to Finegoldknap-in at Merkle's Ranch is about 11 miles from the Verlo Gas station on Highway 41, in the foot hills just above Fresno, California(to the East.)
Just fallow the signs shown above. The road is paved for a while than a good dirt, country road through majestic ridges and and rolling hills dotted with beef cattle, wild turky and so on. Oak trees and and old brown barns and fences along the root.
One small creek bed before the main river crossing and your there.







I got to the main knapping camp friday afternoon and visited everyone and setup my camp next the the river. I had my archery equipment, my dobro guitar, mountain bike and flintknapping kit. I set up my bed in the back of my Ford Explorer. Then I walked over to the fire and did some more visiting. The noext morning (Saturday), Patrick Aims and his large family had gallons of coffee bewing and the delectable aroma filled the camp. The they cooked up some amazing breakfast vidals.






Flintknapping, the art of chipping knives and arrowheads out of flint and obsidan started about 8:30 AM on Friday(Saterday for me) and went on from there to Sunday afternoon.






JOKING AROUND: Giant potato gun firing, John Piri befriending a Llama, Gary with Ray point in head, and friends head in hole.







Top Patrick Aims with Fox skin quiver he made. 2, Gary archery. 3, Matt Archery.
4, Ray Harwood archery.





Finegold knap-in all night jam session. Started about 4:30 PM and went allmost all night long.



Carol Peri and her buffalo chilli and Patric Aims and family made tri-tip and fixins, Gary brought his famous pies. I ate so much I passed out at the bon fire and my hat caught on fire. FOOD WAS GREAT!!!!

&
The Flintknappers’ Parable :


The Flintknappers’ Parable :I once sat and observed the trade of a flintknapper.
The artist was at a later stage of reducing a large white stone into a long, thin well flaked blade. With each carefully planned flake detachment, a new opportunity for yet another flake removal arose, a new fork in the road.
Life is like a flintknapper taking flakes off a biface, each new flake that is removed, good or bad, long or short, yields a new opportunity and a new fork in the road, he must decide which path to take.
After quite some time, the thin well shaped blade was nearly complete; a load snap broke the repetitive metronome like blows, some choice vernaculars from the flintknapper’s tongue. Yet the flintknapper did not discard the stone. The flintknapper reached into his kit and pulled out an abrasive stone, removed the jagged spots from the end shock and began thinning down the area. After a bit of time and “clank, click, clank” of the flintknapper’s tools, I heard a bystander comment;"those are the two most beautiful matching white spear points I have ever scene”. It appeared as if the knapper had set down with the purpose of creating this beautiful matching set of white spear points and this flintkanpper was the star of the knap in. Life is like that, sometimes we have our biface of life snapped in half, and when all seems lost, and after some flakes of time, and against all odds, something great comes out of it. BY: RAY HARWOOD ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Bakersfield Knap-In, 10 Years Of
Photos By Dennis Mahan


Monthly Flintknapping
Flintknappers still “Knap-in” after 10 years
By Dennis Mahan
Flintknappers from near and far gathered in Bakersfield’s Hart Park on Sunday to mark the ten-year anniversary of the longest-running monthly “Knap-in” in the world.
The Bakersfield Knappers, started by Gary Pickett, Ray Harwood, Danny Raines and Sherry Pauley, meet the first Sunday of every month to practice the ancient art of making stone tools such as arrowheads, knives and other projectile points.
“I like the camaraderie,” said Harwood, 49, of Bakersfield, who is an archaeologist with a degree from California State University, Northridge. “We advance our knowledge by keeping in practice and sharing ideas.”
Harwood and other group members give Pickett a lot of the credit for the group’s progress and success.
“Gary is an excellent teacher. He has the gift of teaching and has a lot of patience with us,” said Jim Boatman, 61, of Tehachapi.
Pickett’s interest in flintknapping came more than 20 years ago when he began finding old arrowheads in the creeks of southern Missouri where he grew up. He was fascinated by the arrowheads and thought he could make them himself.
“I just started beating two rocks together,” said Pickett, 44, who moved to Bakersfield in 1997.

RAY HARWOOD, FLINTKNAPPER

It was five years of trial and error before he made much progress, but moving to Bakersfield and meeting Harwood through a flintknapping Web site helped both of them progress faster. They decided to meet every month and work on rocks, but didn’t expect for the small group to grow like it did.
“I’m pleased with the progress and the people it’s brought,” said Pickett.
Every meeting brings folks from all over the state — Inglewood, Ridgecrest and Sacramento — and even from out of state. One man visiting California from Louisiana heard about the group and came out for a visit.
Flintknapper Fred Swanson comes from Weldon for the experience he gets from talking with Pickett. He feels that flintknapping can be good therapy.
“You get hooked on it. It’s an enjoyable, relaxing endeavor. You get started and you kind of forget about everything else,” said Swanson.
For anyone interested, the group will provide the tools, rocks and lessons to get started during the “Knap-in.” For those who would like to get started on their own, tools include deer antler, hammer stones and the more modern “copper bopper,” along with a chunk of obsidian rock.
The next demonstration will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, near the east entrance of Hart Park. For more information go to www.lettherockroll.com. McKitrick knap-in November. Gary Pickett Host. 661-444-6163 (phone)
www.lettherockroll.com air-o-head@webtv.net


FLINTKNAPPING AT McKitrick






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INDIAN FLINT MINE
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BLOGGER RAY
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FLINT WORK BY US
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SUN FLINT WORK AND BLUE GLASS POINT












GEORGE SCORES A BIG JIM WINN DACITE BLADE

RAY HARWOOD