The Lithic Industry and How it Works

Hey All! It's everybody's favourite subject - rocks! Here we examine step by step how stone tools were made back in the day, their uses, materials and makeup, and figure out exactly how easy we have it now with our Swiss-army-knives.

And a huge Thank You to Vincent P. for helping to conceptualize, edit, factcheck and write portions of this videos' script!

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[hannahsmth]

Hey all! Just a few quick addendums to the video:
1. Another technique for Part 4 I forgot to mention is the Pressure Technique - which uses a stone or bone to place pressure on a single spot on the stone until the chip loosens!
2. A majority of the illustrations used in this video - primarily in the Technique Section at 10:26 onwards are designed to portray a general idea of the concepts, not to be 100% accurate to the methods used! Entirely my bad for not making that clearer :)

[DragonDeen]

not again, YouTube needs to stop recommending me gifted channel creators with beautiful and incredible voices/narrating skills. I always end up binging the entire channel and loving every second of it, and the art looks so delicious

[bobskywalker]

Ah yes my favorite video genre: Woman talks about niche topic I’ve never heard about before and makes it seem very interesting

[j.n.-fruh]

has anyone ever told you how cozy your art makes me feel, if so, i think you should hear it again

[TroyTheCatFish]

Mayan and Aztec buildings ( including the pyramids ) were built with stone tools

[KiriariArts]

As an Archaeology student, I approve of this. This is a very good overview and I adore your art style so much.

[tabbywolf]

Artisan Skills are needed for Tool Crafting

[highlorddarkstar]

I loved this one. I was vaguely aware of the process (having watched modern hobbyists), but this clarified the categorization quite a bit. I can tell stone selection is a much more involved skill than I gave it credit.

[kentario]

YES SO EXCITED!! I'm used to the usual worldbuilding guides being about societies much further along in the technological tree, but I need me some stone age stuff!

[marcus]

*"Dont look so happy this isnt going to be fun for you"* bro got me dying for real. Besides that I had a random question are you going to do more videos on how the production of things happens as time goes on? like Bronze or Iron? (if so you need to make one of these videos titles " the riddle of steel")

[cimachu]

I am an amateur maker of stone tools and other primitive technologies, and I’d consider that area of knowledge one of my main interests. This channel give me a very osp vibe which is one of my favorite channels and it makes me happy to see a writer invest time to really research and try to understand this before making a story including it. This isn’t a perfect rundown of lithic industries but it’s more than sufficient and leagues better than anything I’ve ever seen in any cave man themed media. I’m glad you’re taking the time to gain the knowledge to portray our ancestors as the inventive people they were and I really look forward to seeing where you go with this!

[emanracing]

Hi, archaeologist here. Very awesome approach to teaching people about how lithic production works. Many don't understand that lithics make up so many tools up until historical times. I've excavated lithics from after the 1300s to 1400s AD, but Folsom points are fascinating as well. Anyways, keep up the good work. You earned a new subscriber. 🤠

[Dinosaurthingything]

Hello there! I’m a flintknapper myself, and I wanted to mention how different modern flintknapping is to early lithic production. Coming from bashing a rock once or twice to have an edge, getting rid of the cortex / outer stone, using a burin or pressure flanker to add serrations or points, all the way to the masterful hindsgavl daggers, or Clovis points, which employed very specific technique to flute or create zigzag patterns. I think it would be nice to see more focus on our early roots.

[sable]

I adore your work and art here, you're criminally underrated. I might delve further into prehistoric tech after this, i feel inspired.

[enraikow]

I love it when a writer/artist REALLY puts in the effort to research the topics of their stories.
It's impressive and inspiring.

[casasworks]

Bruh this channel not having more subs and likes it's a crime, this video was amazing

[huntinator]

This was such a fantastic video! Your artwork is lovely, it was so useful for following along the process. Instant subscribe!

I've seen plenty of people talk about the "what" of stone tools and industries, but this is the first one that has really gone in depth on the "how" they actually got from stone to tool. Your story of the father teaching his son how to make a scraper was so perfect to illustrate how these techniques and traditions managed to live on and be passed down for so long. It's so beautiful and wonderful that this was happening everywhere, in every family and tribe, for a 100, 000 generations

[kentario]

Watching this now, and the hammer and chisel technique reminded me of how I'd attach some sort of craft to my legs and make it with my hands, like when I'm making a braid from threads, I put the loops on a toothpick and then pin the toothpick on both sides to my pants above my knee, bend my legs to make the fabric taut, and make!

[bobcatethan]

One of the most magical experiences I have ever had in the outdoors was finding what appeared to be an obsidian toolmaking spot in central Oregon. Dozens of obsidian flakes and several broken obsidian arrowheads. One of the arrowheads was nearly complete, only missing one of the flanges that would have helped secure it to a shaft. How heartbreaking must that have been for the person who shaped it. I've made several steel knives and had a few crack after hardening. I'd imagine whoever made that point felt the same way I had when their blade cracked as the final touches were being made. I have never felt so connected to someone who lived so long ago. Sitting in the same valley as they did. Thinking about the crafting of points made of obsidian and steel, shattered before their purpose could be realized.

I wish that I could meet with and talk to that person who lived countless generations before me. I wish that they could know that thousands of years later a person would admire the beauty of their craftsmanship. I wish that I could show them my hammers and anvil and they could show me their obsidian and tools.

[JosephWalker-cqmw]

Just stumbled here by chance and I love it! Going to binge all your other videos now.

Have you (or anyone else) come across the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness (Wolf brother) series by Michelle Paver? They're set in the late neolithic (6000 BC Scandinavia, so agriculture existed but hadn't spread that far north yet). The world building is absolutely amazing and her books are filled with incredibly vivid descriptions of the stone age environment. The author has a deep respect for hunter gatherer communities and the depth of research she's done and had firsthand experiences with really show in her writing. The series is "for kids" the same way avatar the last airbender is, but I think you (or anyone in your audience that loves your work) would really like them.

Also the audiobooks (if that's more your thing) are read by Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf) and are also incredible