obsidian core

josh stout · 18th March 2014, 03:33 PM

I am amazed at the skill shown in this core. They are not uncommon artifacts, but this is the slimmest I have seen. The original would have been a flawless, slightly tapered cylinder. Each blade would have been flaked off by hitting along the edge at either end, producing slightly curved flakes a few millimeters thick. The final form shown here was the discarded center that is now too thin to produce any more blades. By the end of the process, going by the flake scars, each blade would have been about ten centimeters long, and a only half centimeter or less wide. Try doing that with glass.

Many Mesoamericans used this technique over a wide period of time. This example is probably Zapotec or Mixtec from between 500 and 2500 years ago.

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18th March 2014, 03:33 PM	#3
josh stout Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 407	I am amazed at the skill shown in this core. They are not uncommon artifacts, but this is the slimmest I have seen. The original would have been a flawless, slightly tapered cylinder. Each blade would have been flaked off by hitting along the edge at either end, producing slightly curved flakes a few millimeters thick. The final form shown here was the discarded center that is now too thin to produce any more blades. By the end of the process, going by the flake scars, each blade would have been about ten centimeters long, and a only half centimeter or less wide. Try doing that with glass. Many Mesoamericans used this technique over a wide period of time. This example is probably Zapotec or Mixtec from between 500 and 2500 years ago.