BUENOS NOTCHES

The flakes on the glass is information, all three dimensional items can be recorded in two dimensions. The reality of the glass point is that if the point was never knapped the empty space that fills the notch would still exist, but the point would not. Light particles pass through the empty space of the notch, but also through the glass. I have no quarrel with your judgments, if judgment really exists. There was a time that there was a mass of glass, then converted to energy and much of the mass is gone, but information is left in the form of scars on the face of the mass. There are those whom say they have a god shaped hole in their soul. I say the notch is a soul shaped hole in an arrowhead. The mass that was there is gone, the notch is an absence of material or mass and it has been replaced by emptiness and information. In flint knapping there is no absolutes, just a random predictability. Cause and effect and the soul shaped hole. Space and time exist inside the notch and the notch exists inside space and time. You are only limited by your own imagination and the false idea of reality. If the material was there in a block, then not there- as a notch and one bent light and changed time then in some dimension the notch is not there and if the point is smashed and ground into powder, how do you know the notch is not still there?









Knap-in photo of Ray Harwood and Gary Picket is by :Corina Roberts. Used with her permission.

OBSERVATIONS ON BROKEN POINTS: EXPERIMENTAL DATA

SOCIETY FOR CALIFORNIA ARCHAEOLOGY
Mach 29, 1984, Salinas, California.
Program Abstract: Coyote Press.

Harwood, Ray and Cay Singer
Northridge Archaeological Research Center

OBSERVATIONS ON BROKEN POINTS: EXPERIMENTAL DATA

A series of experiments were conducted to determine something about the variables affecting the breakage patterns of projectile points. Thirty identical points were made from fused shale (a local meta-sedimentary Sio2), and then hafted to three different types of arrow-shafts: 1) One-piece solid hardwood, b) two piece hardwood, and c) two-piece hardwood and cane. The three groups of arrows, ten of each type, were shot at identical
Wood plank targets with hand held bow from a distance of 25 feet (8m). More than 90%
Of the points broke on impact leaving the broken tip imbedded in the plank. Breaks occurred either at the tip or midsection, sometimes accompanied by basal fractures (broken tangs0. Both hinge and languette fractures were generated but no burinations occurred in the thirty trials conducted. Fracture type and location appear to be strongly correlated with hafting form and style of shaft. Compound shafts of wood and cane seem to absorb more shock on impact and therefore fewer points are broken. Also, breaks tend to occur closer to the tip with compound shafts. Points with broken tips are easily resharpened and reused, whereas medial breaks usually render the point useless as a projectile. Broken projectile points from archaeological contexts may be understood more clearly if the cause and mechanisms of use-fracture are better understood.