Six types of first nations knife.
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- Опубликовано: 10 июл 2024
- In which I show and test six types of cutting implement, demonstrating and discussing some of the strengths and weaknesses of each style.
As always, if you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments.
The knives are as follows.
Flint/chert flakes.
Chalcedony? Artifact arrowhead knife.
Antler knife.
Slate knife.
Copper alloy dagger.
Ironwood dagger.
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My tribe used river cane. The blade is razor sharp. Depending on how you peel it is how you get the sharp edge. It's really easy to process meat with it.
Interesting, I’ll have to see if my local stuff works.
@@MalcolmPL I'd imagine bamboo would work too since that stuff has been crowding out rivercane. I know there are people who pick chinese bamboo for arrows because it's invasive.
Thankfully I don't have that in my neighborhood.
Wonder if japanese knotweed cane could work for arrows on low powered bows or if it's just to fragile/brittle
@@Y34RZEROI once had a cut on my finger from a bamboo peel when I was a child. I never cried from my wound but I was very careful after that when working with bamboo.
What great experimental archeology! The running commentary is really helpful.
Good to hear.
more please, mate.
@@MalcolmPL
The key to copper tools is to not sharpen them like you would tempered steel. You need to work harden the edge by hammering the edge into shape. In the bronze age they used a small ball peen hammer and a tiny squared anvil to hammer the edge sharp. Since copper is so soft and it can be work hardened by hammering the edge sharp is not only quicker but produced an edge that lasts much longer. You only use a stone to touch up the edge.
They still use the same method to this day with traditional scythes called "peening".
I find that large chert flakes work well for whittling, and they are fairly easy to make. The small flakes, as you showed, don’t work very well for much, but the larger flakes are actually extremely good at whittling and meat preparation. Great video, I only have experience with chert tools(alongside modern steel ones of course, but those serve more as a comparison).
I can only see the tiny flakes being used for something like small precision work. Skinning a small animal, or maybe scoring a line in something. There are cultures that have used tiny flakes for arrows due to the piercing power. Large flakes make most tasks done with the small ones seem obsolete though when being used for most tasks, I agree entirely
This explains why good flint was traded over hundreds of miles. They must have been very valuable in certain areas.
Slate might be best for use as an axe. Of course,it may have required several slate axes to cut a single tree.
In a reflective mood, only when humans started using metal, did we begin to have the opportunity to destroy our own environment.
This is an excellent video. Your viewers should be in the thousands.
My people are the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka, the people of the flint.
Our old territory was rich in flint, the trade of which made us the most wealthy and powerful of the five nations. Back in the day.
Here in south ontario, good flint is hard to come by. Frustrating, but it is what it is.
Re, slate axes. Slate is not really well suited for axes. It is very soft. Better axe stones like granite and basalt are relatively widespread and easy to come by. In areas with flint, slate knives were mainly only used for cooking and butchering.
for axes stones that are dense, grainy andnd durable like rhyolite are best.
I cracked a bovine leg bone apart and it split into two full knives and a flat. Felt pretty blessed 😅❤
Some of your videos popped up on my feed recently and I've really enjoyed them. Between the subject itself and the narration, they're very informative. Thank you.
Would be cool to see you try out shell or teeth knives, maybe even jade too like the inuits used
I could try shell, but jade and teeth are not options, as I would have to buy them.
You should try and use a bamboo knife as they were stone age tools as well in asia
@@armymen7170 some native americans also used knives made from rivercane
Jade is also insanely hard and difficult to grind. Most of the jade tools the pacific islanders used were heirlooms because they take forever to grind down.
@@Ith4qua its a trade-off that the tools last longer possibly generations, they were heirlooms because of ritual significance and the fact they were soo strong they could be used for long amounts of time and be passed down, after they received iron tools they started intricately carving their axes into little tiki statue
wooden knives were also made to use in splitting fibers, such as from the cedar tree bark or willow or such. another mention would be cane/bamboo. used by many tribes in tropical places, mostly for meat and fish prepping. the outside hard part of the bamboo is used, with the woody inside scraped away. then usually fire dried/hardened. good video.
I both enjoyed AND learned, quite a bit too.
Man I wish I had caught these videos when they came out!
I flint knap and am able to produce flakes the size of my palm. its possible to produce flakes that are single edged, with the cortex of the flint (being chalk in my area) being on the spine of the flake, making it very comfy in the hand and much easier to use. I feel like the size of flakes you used weren't appropriate for the experiment, but I understand that you can only use what's available to you and what your able to produce.
The flint in my region comes in uneven chunks, none of which are larger than a couple inches, and is full of veins and limestone impurities.
I can’t make any of the standard techniques work because the lousy grain makes it flake unpredictably.
The best I can do is shatter it and hope I get something useful or something suitable for pressure flaking.
It’s rather frustrating.
I was surprised at how well the slate performed across the board. I'm very happy to have found your channel and I hope you are doing well.
And this is why we invented metal knives.
Each of these have their pros and cons, being about as good as a steel knife in some tasks. But worse in others. A steel knife has all the strengths of each of these without any of the weaknesses.
@@MalcolmPL can you do a video on how to make a Turkish helmet or a avar lamellarhelm? I am trying to make my own but I need a little more help😅
@@terrynewsome6698 Hmm... Never tried making one of those before, and I do need a new helmet anyway... Maybe I'll give it a shot, but no promises.
@@MalcolmPL k.😁
Very enjoyable and satisfying to see that each type of knife has its strengths. In particular it was fun to see the slate knife shine at cutting meat.
Really enjoy your archeological investigations & then applY & demonstrate use. Great video,always look for you channel & new video! Great to refer to last l ex for reference! Thank you sir👍 John archer🏹
I see you're sporting the cardigan-jumper combo for warmth, Malc.
Beautiful handcraftery❤
Thank you for this. A well organized and executed but of comparative experimental archeology to give us insight into stone age technology where our species spent over 95% of its chronological existence.
I feel like someone who had to use flakes for menial tasks daily would probably have a big pile to choose from and would have a specific shape for each task to look for.
I'd imagine that if you've got a village of people, you'd have a great big pile of waste flakes from all the knives and arrowheads and such.
@@MalcolmPL exactly so they could pick and choose from a near infinite number of different shapes for the ones best suited to the task so like broader, thinner blades for skinning and meat cutting and thicker chunks for wood working or something like that. Theyd probably pick out a handful of them before going off to whatever their days labor was i imagine
@@dickyboi4956 Yeah, that's perfectly logical. I'd imagine I'd carry a pouch with an assortment for every occasion.
Something that I’ve found quite interesting (though probably far less relevant to most Native cultures) are the copper daggers utilized by the peoples of the Pacific Northwest. You did mention copper knives in this video, but I just thought I’d throw into consideration the knives in use elsewhere on the continent. From what I’ve read it seems that these daggers were used both ceremonially and in warfare, though I’m unsure as to how well they faced against the slat-armor that was also prevalent in the region. There are also instances of the Pacific Northwest Peoples using bronze or iron that they found washed up on their shores and hammered into something usable.
Native copper was used in the Great Lakes region, lumps of copper that don’t require smelting. Copper knives were prized for certain tasks but were limited by the size of the native copper lumps. I haven’t seen any blades from here that were dagger length.
There are some pretty large blades, almost none of them shaped like daggers however. Usually single bladed and curved for cutting and skinning. Unless of course you consider the large spear points to also be inter changeable as daggers.......which is entirely possible. Just put on a short handle instead of a long shaft and they're essentially the same thing. My guess is the clubs and spears were more typical for hand to hand combat. Knife fighting is not very effective if you don't have a blades designed to stab since deer skin is pretty tough. If you do have blades designed to stab then knife fighting is really dangerous for everyone..........you almost never come out of that unharmed. A club or spear with a bit more reach is always better.
This was fascinating - I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Your summary suggested to me that a Neolithic family would probably have an array of knives, and use the appropriate tool wherever possible, while having a clear hierarchy in mind of the various strengths and weaknesses of each of the alternatives, if the most appropriate knife should happen to be unavailable.
Yeah, it's still that way so why wouldn't it be back then, you've got your steak knives and your paring knives etc.
@@MalcolmPL Yes - your video got me thinking about the matter.
Very cool comparison. Inuit Ulus were traditionally made of slate so it makes sense seeing how well it performed with the meat and deer skin
Yes and ulu's often have a curved blade that would have made them easier to use, at least less awkward.
The channel huntprimitive makes extensive use of stone arrow and spear points in effective hunting
Also shows knapping techniques
Why not?
Might be useful for research purposes
Very interesting as usual, sir.
Someone else may already have noted by now, but teeth aren't bones. They're more like stones or ceramics, I think.
Very interesting! I wonder if you could sometime show the process of hanging bark on the frame of a longhouse.
Unfortunately to demonstrate properly I would need to build a small section of wall, which is not really feasible for me at the moment.
@@MalcolmPL Yes, that was a rather dramatic thing to ask!.
I'm part Iroquois on one half of my family and a quarter Cherokee on the other side, do you have a video on the connection and the pre confederation and just the people group in general?
That slate knife have a fossil in it
Trilobite I found at Kettle point.
@@MalcolmPL thanks !
7:12 this is the reason knapped axe heads and chisels were ground during the neolithic, because it has a smooth edge but still is very hard, as slate is a soft stone
Interesting how the flint flakes are like steel utility blades- you can have a really nice metal knife but it's never gonna be kept as sharp as the five dollar box cutter
Historically the flakes were often mounted in a row into a wooden blade.
Could you possibly look into hardened rawhide armour? A very common form of armour that was presumably hardened with layers of glue and sand.
Would make for a good addition to your armour set.
Edit: an interesting note about the wooden sword. The Pacific Northwest Coast peoples made use of sharpened war paddles very frequently.
I was initially dubious of this, but I'd say this video has me convinced.
I would very much like to reproduce those armors at some point. The only issue is that leather is a tad pricey. Some test panels might be within my current budget.
With regards to the war paddles. They aren't sharpened to cut an enemy, so much as focus the impact. A heavy blow concentrated on a fine edge is more likely to split bones and rupture tissue.
@@MalcolmPL I'd say the striking war paddle is a very common example. I did get a chance in middle school during a field trip to see an example of war paddle designed for thrusting and striking.
The trip guide did lay claim that it was primarily for thrusting. I think, in hindsight, it was more like a war pick, using a strike to deliver a piercing blow.
It had a very fine, tapered, and curved point. I cannot for the life of me find such an example on the internet.
@@conlinbryant5037 Interesting, I don't know that I've ever seen one quite like that. Do you remember what museum you saw it at?
@@MalcolmPL It was at a cultural heritage site at Kitsalas Canyon near Terrace, British Columbia.
I doubt there is any documentation of it readily available, short of contacting them directly.
@@conlinbryant5037 Pity.
Seems like they could have made some sort of tweezers to hold the flake and something to slip down it to hold the tweezers closed. Then you have basically a scalped with replaceable blades.
It might not be worth the hassle of trying to get a good fit.
I am both expecting and hoping that you would have realized the beautiful fossil in the Stony were holding up!
Trilobite I found at kettle point.
Sago!!!
Im having a hard time finding native carving tools, all I seem to find is the art. Ive been researching Inuit and have seen their amazing round knives and their fish spear that is wooden and shaped like a trident.
This has been a good video on native knives, but if you could lead me to carving tools, that would be awesome.
Thanks. Watch those fingers.
Man u are looking at them
@@mariaconcepcionrodriguezhe2850
Mostly ppl do videos on how to make these things but with modern tools. Ive yet to see someone carve into bone or stone with ancient tools? If you have Maria, lemme know, send me a link.
The M is for Melanie.
This might be of interest, a man carving an antler figurine with flint tools.
ruclips.net/video/hgbvT9_pjzo/видео.html
The slate knife is a pressure down type knife. Also your artifact needed resharpened.
Pretty sure you can use the antler knife on some wood to induce fear in your enemies ears
I am making my own version of the wooden knife out of an oak dowel. I would ask though, how would I get the kind of leather that is seen in the video for the handle wrap?
The leather for the handle is a strip of modern tanned deerskin with the skin side turned in for better grip.
If you’re looking for authentic brain tanned buckskin, you basically have to tan it yourself.
If you’ve got a reserve nearby, you can sometimes find leather for a very good prices in little gift/craft stores. But that may not be applicable.
Other than that, Most big cities have a leather store, most leather stores have deerskin. If a full skin looks a little pricey, they generally sell bags of off cuts for a pittance. But I’m not sure how things will be affected by lockdown.
Sorry I can’t be more helpful. I don’t shop online.
@@MalcolmPL It would be really neat to see a video on how to make a wooden knife. A historical wooden knife would be an interesting video and a unique one at that.
@@ethanstang9941 Alright. That's the third request I've had for that and it's a quick and simple project, so I'll put it on the short list.
@@MalcolmPL its like the ball head club video. No one ever made a real how to video on making such a thing.
@@ethanstang9941 Out of curiosity, what do you mean by that? A preliminary search shows there are a couple of war club videos that predate mine.
Understand that they would use whatever they had handy at the time.
Perhaps they had a really good knife stashed away for precious resources.
They probably carried multiple types of tools for exact reason for the area.
Do you sell ironwood knives? I'll buy one or a few off of you!
You don't need to buy one, you have all the skills and tools you need to make your own. They only take half an hour or so.
The slate had small fossil on it?
Trilobite from kettle point.
Did the copper cultures of the Midwest use copper tools regularly?
Yes.
What was the blue mark on the meat
Butcher’s stamp.
Do you need any new stone blades?
I need to learn to make them.
what is the first thing you say in this video, the very first word?
She;konh.
This makes me wonder why native people's near those great big surface deposits of copper mostly stopped using it for knives in favor of imported stone.
It could be that the native copper is somehow inferior to the material used for yours. Otherwise I simply can't understand why they would move away from it.
Wood knife can cut cucumbers from my experience
Should’ve done the Apple first and then the meat; you ate raw meat bits! 😂
Worse things happen at sea.
Slate knife could also B called Fossil knife, anybody else catch that?
Trilobite from Kettle point.
Ouch!