Old men around a campfire

[wiseshanks]

I always wonder who actually made the points that we all find. I often envision old wise men of the tribe sitting around the center of camp with a fire going, making these beautiful works of art. I guess what I am asking is do we have any indication of who made the points? Was it the old men who prospered through many hunts and applied their knowlege in their craft? Or was it a more personal act for every individual hunter? I know there is only theory on this matter since all we have to go off of is what we find but I'd like to know everyones opinon since you all have been in the field and have seen varying things.

[Paleo Master]

They were still living their lives status quo ( with heap big white man in the picture ) during historical times, there should be record of who made them during that historical period. Search the books, they must have some idea who made them. My guess is the old and young men worked hand in hand manufacturing the weapons and tools.

[manoman]

My vision of this is: it depends. But, if a hunter had the time before a hunt or ritual or war, I would think the point would show better quality. But that quality would be graded on how talented or expericenced a knapper they were. On the other hand, if the hunt or war was unexpected or if they ran out of pre-made points, then the quality would drop dramatically. It would really be noticable with less experienced knappers. Example: When I was able to flyfish (I did a lot of it) I never bought my flies. I tied them up myself. If I had the time before a day of fishing, I would tie superior flies for the following day. But most times, I waited until that morning and tied up some real klunkers. But, both types were just as effective in the hunt, so to speak. It was all about presentation and knowledge. The same could hold true for klunker points. They would probably still get the intended job done--point material is sharp, even just a flake. I think the success of the hunt came down to the actual skills of stalking, skills in the release and aim of the dart, shaft or spears, and probably team work. Flyfishing is a personal quest, not a team sport, but I know, if given the choice, at least for me, I would rather have caught fish on the better tyed flies. That's just the nature of the beast in me.
This whole theory of mine kind of falls apart when I think of all the examples of beautiful points found embedded in ancient bone material. I don't remember ever seeing any klunker points sticking out of old bones!

[wiseshanks]

I'm beginning to think that any one thing can't be applied to an entire group of people. As with anything of course...

[Panola]

The only people who saw the culture of the latest ( and last ) activities of the Indians would have been the first whites ( or Europeans ) to encounter them . From that very short period of time the non-aborigines saw the aborigines as they were . From that moment on the Indians culture , mannerisms , life began to be " tainted " by their exposure to the whites . Things were NEVER like they were before the Europeans arrived . This was true as the whites began to move westward up until there were no more " first " contacts . Don Black

[uniface]

If you can generalise from their attitudes toward functional objects in general, it would probably have been "utilitarian."

We're fixated on pretty material and work. And, at times, they seem to have been also. But I doubt if they sat around tripping out on the aesthetics of everyday items that were going to be used up and replaced.

They didn't take exceptionally good care of their firearms, for a parallel example.

[Marshall Ellis]

I figure that it is the same as today. Not all men can do everything. One man fixes the plumbing, one man fixes the computer. So, in a sense, they trade in the form of money. Way back in time one man made points while one man went hunting. In a very complex society of Indians each person had a trade and traded for what they didnt have to knowledge or time to do for themselves. A hand full of meat for a handfull of points. That is how a society prospers. Now if it was a small band of indians then one man had to do it all and there goes the quality of the points because he had to make time to do both the hunting and the point making. This makes more sense to me then anything.

[DesertWalker]

I thinks all members of the aboriginal family, old enough to walk and understand, were involved in what it took to survive. Also believe that children carried and made tools/weapons.

[wiseshanks]

So can we conclude like this: one group had designated people who were "professional" point makers while another group/tribe had everyone contribute to the manufacture of utilitarian objects? This is way out in left field but is there a posibility that women helped manufacture points/tools. I think it's a thought to entertain because women probably prepared the hides from a kill and needed scrapers or drills to aid in the process. They may have fasioned their own tools in some instances. Their social systems were probably much different than ours so could this be a possibility? I'm just trying to raise some good questions to get the juices flowing

[rmartin]

There in no doubt in my mind women knapped. At least they would have resharpened their tools.