Techniques for Making Arrowheads

Primitive cultures around the globe made stone weapons and tools for hunting and protection. Among these tools are projectile points for spears and atlatls, knives and arrowheads. Arrowheads were formed from a rock such as obsidian, chert or flint. Several techniques were used to make arrowheads, some of which are still used in 2011.

  1. Flint Knapping

    • The most common method for shaping an arrowhead is the process known as flint knapping. This is the basic process of chipping off rock material with a hard stone until a triangular shape is formed and the edges are razor sharp. This is also known as percussion flaking. Typically, the stone to be shaped is placed inside a piece of rawhide, then repeatedly struck with a "hammer" stone until the arrowhead is formed. The rawhide protects the arrowhead maker from cutting himself while striking the stone. This process is lengthy and requires basic trial and error until the technique is mastered.

    Heat Treating

    • Indigenous primitive cultures often heated their flint stones to make the arrowhead-making process easier. Stones gathered for knapping are covered with dirt and placed at the bottom center of a fire-pit. The fire is set and maintained for a period of 24 hours. During this time period, the fire gradually dies down and more fuel is added, bringing the heat back up. This fluctuates the heat through the stone and makes flaking the stone material off easier once the stone cools. This process also can change the color of some stones such as flint or obsidian.

    Pressure Flaking

    • Pressure flaking is a technique that mimics traditional flint knapping and is sometimes incorporated into the knapping process. This was often done with a slender, blunt-tipped bone or antler pressed hard against the side of a stone at a downward angle, then pushed off. The resulting pressure flakes material off the stone. This process is carried out until the arrowhead is shaped and sharpened. Modern metal pressure-flaking tools perform the same process using the same technique, though less pressure is needed to flake the stone.

    Channeling and Notching

    • Channeling the arrowhead is a technique adopted as arrowhead-making advanced. Instead of a bumpy or flat-sided arrowhead, a channel was carved out running from the arrowhead base to the point. This channel allows blood to flow freely from a puncture wound, resulting in greater kill rates or slowing wild game down faster. The channel is generally shaped after the arrowhead is formed. This process includes taking a hard, coarse stone and sanding back and forth until a convex channel is bored out on both sides of the arrowhead.

      Notching is known as the final stage of the arrowhead-making process. This is the process of filing out two grooves into both sides of the arrowhead, just above its base using a hard, coarse stone. The notches make tying the arrowhead to the shaft easier. Not all arrowheads were notched in primitive times, and this technique also evolved as arrowhead making progressed.