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How to Identify Ancient Stone Knives

Ancient knives were created by flint knapping or chipping away small pieces of rock to make a sharp edge. People used flint to make knives due to its easy chipping nature. Some cultures learned the secret to making stone knives from other stone. Researchers in South Africa found ancient stone knives made from stone other than flint. People did this by heating the stone to make it brittle enough to shape. Stone knives were tools for hunting and protection, lashed to arrows or spears. They were also used for daily life, lashed to a wooden or antler handle or set in a carved socket.

Instructions

- 1
  Look at the stone to see if there is a sharp edge, or edges. Check how the edges were sharpened. Ancient knives should have bits of stone flaked away to create a sharp edge. This is the most telling characteristic of an ancient blade. Ancient people only had other stones, horns and antlers to shape knives with, so flaking was the best technique.
- 2
  Observe the tip of the blade. Look for small chips flaked away from the tip to create a sharp point. This process, pressure flaking, was done by pushing an antler point or horn point against the stone and applying pressure to flake and grind at the same time.
- 3
  Check the edge of the blade. Some blades were ground down against a rock, after flaking, to smooth the edge, in a process called flake over grinding.
- 4
  Observe the end of the blade that would attach to a handle or spear. Ancient knives had grooves chipped out to hold lashing or sometimes a hole near the bottom. It's unlikely you will find a handle intact on an ancient stone knife since handles were made of organic material that didn't last as long as stone.
- 5
  Check the history of the area where the knife was found. If the area has a history of human civilization, then it's likely the knife is an ancient tool.

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