Archaeologist Steve Platt holds a long arrow in his left hand and an atlatl in his right. The atlatl works much like a Chuckit ball launcher dog toy. It allows the arrow to be launched with greater force and velocity.
Archaeologist Steve Platt uses a chunk of limestone alternately to knock flakes off the edge of the obsidian and smooth the edges of it. When he is satisfied with the general size and shape of the obsidian, he uses an antler tine to apply pressure and flake off small round chips along the edge. The result is a very sharp arrowhead.
OVANDO – With a piece of leather spread across his lap, Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) Archaeologist Steve Platt repeatedly struck a piece of jet black obsidian rock with a chunk of limestone, fashioning the obsidian into an arrowhead shape similar to those arrayed on a cloth at his feet. As he worked, Platt explained the process of flintknapping and answered questions about the native peoples who left stone artifacts in the Blackfoot Valley.
Platt was the featured guest for Pure Montana Tales, an informative speaker series jointly sponsored by Blackfoot Challenge and Clearwater Resource Council. The Aug. 18 event was held at the Stray Bullet in Ovando and drew a full crowd.
Platt explained flintknapping requires a stone with high silica content and with fractures in it so it will break with a curve rather than shedding layers. The obsidian he used for his demonstration is volcanic rock. Platt said the closest place it could be obtained was in Yellowstone National Park or the Centennial valley.
Other rocks used by early natives to create tools were dacite and chert. Platt said a prehistoric dacite quarry is located on Douglas Creek between Helmville and Drummond and another is in the Madison valley area. Chert – also called flint or jasper – was also available locally: on the hill above Helmville Road, at a large quarry on Antelope Hill between Nevada Reservoir and Helmville and at Flint Creek near Drummond.
Though he said any hard rock could be used, Platt used limestone as his "hard hammer," repeatedly knocking it against the edge of the obsidian, causing pieces to flake off the underside. Once the obsidian obtained a rough triangular shape, Platt began pressure flaking with an antler tine "soft hammer."
Pressure flaking involves applying a large amount of force in a specific place on the rim of the rock being worked. The small flake that comes off leaves a sharp edge. Repeating the action all along the rim creates the traditional arrowhead shape. Platt says it takes him between 15 and 30 minutes to fashion an arrowhead.
Asked why the MDT employs archaeologists, Platt said his job is to go out and look for archaeological sites prior to building or rebuilding a road. If a site is found, he then advises the department on the proper course of action in compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act.
Platt said, "The idea is that before the sites get destroyed, somebody takes a look at them and saves at least some of the information of value prior to destruction or redesigns the road in such a way that it has a minimal impact on the site."
Platt primarily discussed weapons, saying there were three kinds used in the Blackfoot area: the spear, the atlatl and the bow and arrow. The spear consisted of a long wooden shaft with a hole slot into which was fitted a foreshaft or short wooden piece with arrowhead attached. After a kill, the shaft was removed from the animal and another foreshaft put in. Platt said it takes much less time to knap an arrowhead than to craft the wooden shaft and drill a hole in it using primitive tools. It was more practical to carry extra foreshafts than to create extra spears.
The atlatl is a wooden device that allows the user to throw a spear or arrow farther and with more force. The butt of the arrow is placed in a short groove in the device, which remains in the throwers hand after the arrow is released. Platt said the atlatl was a very effective instrument. He said the Aztecs used atlatls in their fight against the Spanish and their arrowheads were able to pierce the chain mail armor.
Asked whether the size of the point corresponded to the size of the animal being hunted, Platt said the correspondence was to the diameter of the shaft. He added bison were generally killed with small points. He said all the point has to do is tear into the skin, the velocity provided by the spear, atlatl or bow carries it through.
At the end of his talk Platt passed around the partially completed obsidian arrowhead. He explained that a spot where someone stayed only a few days leaves no trace detectable years later. The evidence archeologists find are at sites people repeatedly returned to over a number of years or a place where a major event took place such as a buffalo jump that leaves bone piles. Platt pointed to the small pile of chips and dust that had accumulated on the cloth as he knapped.
Platt said, "As an archeologist, most of the time what I find is this kind of waste material. That's what's left out there. That's what allows me to locate a site. For instance at the site between Helmville and Drummond there were tens of thousands of these little flakes, basically accumulated over tens of thousands of years. That's what makes a site visible."
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