Ad
related to: making obsidian arrowheadsebay.com has been visited by 1M+ users in the past month
Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Obsidian projectile point.. Obsidian is a naturally formed volcanic glass that was an important part of the material culture of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.Obsidian was a highly integrated part of daily and ritual life, and its widespread and varied use may be a significant contributor to Mesoamerica's lack of metallurgy.
A large variety of prehistoric arrowheads, dart points, javelin points, and spear points have been discovered. Chert, obsidian, quartzite, quartz, and many other rocks and minerals were commonly used to make points in North America.
Such artifacts can be found all over the world in various locations. Those that have survived are usually made of stone, primarily consisting of flint, obsidian, or chert. In many excavations, bone, wooden, and metal arrowheads have also been found. The oldest known arrowheads likely date to 74,000 years ago in Ethiopia. [4]
Obsidian was valued in Stone Age cultures because, like flint, it could be fractured to produce sharp blades or arrowheads in a process called knapping. Like all glass and some other naturally occurring rocks, obsidian breaks with a characteristic conchoidal fracture .
Knapping is the shaping of flint, chert, obsidian, or other conchoidal fracturing stone through the process of lithic reduction to manufacture stone tools, strikers for flintlock firearms, or to produce flat-faced stones for building or facing walls, and flushwork decoration.
For thousands of years, Native Americans used obsidian for making cutting tools, arrowheads, and spear points. Obsidian was also an important trade good for Native Americans. Glass Buttes obsidian was used for these purposes at least 9000 years ago. Clovis people may have also collected obsidian at Glass Buttes up to 13,000 years ago.
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
Because obsidian is not natural to Belize, the site of excavation, the obsidian cores were the product of transactions between the Mayans and those in present-day Honduras, Mexico and Guatemala. Obsidian blades are the sharpest natural cutting edges known, and after the lithic reduction already fractured blades, the triangular heads were produced.
Ad
related to: making obsidian arrowheadsebay.com has been visited by 1M+ users in the past month