All Topics  
Hafting

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Hafting
 
 
  Topics Hafting Topic Home

Hafting is a process by which an artifact
Artifact

Artifact or artefact may refer to:* Artifact , any object made or modified by a human culture, and later recovered by an archaeological endeavor...
, often bone
Bone tool

Bone tools have been documented from the advent of Human and are also known from Neanderthal contexts. Bone is a ubiquitous material in hunter-gatherer societies even when other tool materials were scarce or unavailable....
, metal, or stone
Stone tool

A stone tool is, in the most cave general sense, any tool made of Rock . Although stone-tool-dependent cultures exist even today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric societies that no longer exist....
, is attached to a handle or strap. This makes the artifact more useful by allowing it to be fired (as in the case of an arrowhead
Arrow heads

In the Stone age people used sharpened or flintknapped Rock , flakes, and chips of Rock as arrowheads. They often used various stone spear heads and arrow heads for their weapons and hunting tools....
), thrown (as a spear
Spear

A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a sharpened head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be of another material fastened to the shaft, such as obsidian, iron or bronze....
), or leveraged more effectively (as an axe
Axe

The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for Millennium to shape, split and cut wood, harvest Lumber, as a weapon and a ceremony or Heraldry symbol....
 or adze
Adze

An adze or adz is a tool used for smoothing rough-cut wood in hand woodworking. Generally, the user stands astride a board or log and swings the adze downwards towards their feet, chipping off pieces of wood, moving backwards as they go and leaving a relatively smooth surface behind....
).

Hafting is perhaps best known for its use by prehistoric man
Prehistoric man

Prehistoric or primitive man may refer to:*Human evolution*the Homo genus*archaic Homo sapiens*any perceivedly primitive culture...
, but it is still practiced by enthusiasts today.

e must be some way to attach the artifact to the strap or shaft, and to this end, flange
Flange

A flange is an external or internal rib, or rim , for Shear strength, as the flange of an iron Beam or I-beam ; or for a guide, as the flange of a train wheel; or for attachment to another object, as the flange on the end of a pipe, steam cylinder, etc, or on the lens mount of a camera....
s are often created on one end (the end opposite the cutting edge).






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Hafting'
Start a new discussion about 'Hafting'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Hafting is a process by which an artifact
Artifact

Artifact or artefact may refer to:* Artifact , any object made or modified by a human culture, and later recovered by an archaeological endeavor...
, often bone
Bone tool

Bone tools have been documented from the advent of Human and are also known from Neanderthal contexts. Bone is a ubiquitous material in hunter-gatherer societies even when other tool materials were scarce or unavailable....
, metal, or stone
Stone tool

A stone tool is, in the most cave general sense, any tool made of Rock . Although stone-tool-dependent cultures exist even today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric societies that no longer exist....
, is attached to a handle or strap. This makes the artifact more useful by allowing it to be fired (as in the case of an arrowhead
Arrow heads

In the Stone age people used sharpened or flintknapped Rock , flakes, and chips of Rock as arrowheads. They often used various stone spear heads and arrow heads for their weapons and hunting tools....
), thrown (as a spear
Spear

A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a sharpened head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be of another material fastened to the shaft, such as obsidian, iron or bronze....
), or leveraged more effectively (as an axe
Axe

The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for Millennium to shape, split and cut wood, harvest Lumber, as a weapon and a ceremony or Heraldry symbol....
 or adze
Adze

An adze or adz is a tool used for smoothing rough-cut wood in hand woodworking. Generally, the user stands astride a board or log and swings the adze downwards towards their feet, chipping off pieces of wood, moving backwards as they go and leaving a relatively smooth surface behind....
).

Hafting is perhaps best known for its use by prehistoric man
Prehistoric man

Prehistoric or primitive man may refer to:*Human evolution*the Homo genus*archaic Homo sapiens*any perceivedly primitive culture...
, but it is still practiced by enthusiasts today.

The hafting process

Flintstone Knife
There must be some way to attach the artifact to the strap or shaft, and to this end, flange
Flange

A flange is an external or internal rib, or rim , for Shear strength, as the flange of an iron Beam or I-beam ; or for a guide, as the flange of a train wheel; or for attachment to another object, as the flange on the end of a pipe, steam cylinder, etc, or on the lens mount of a camera....
s are often created on one end (the end opposite the cutting edge). Flanges are produced by a process of knapping or grinding
Ground stone

In archaeology, ground stone is a category of stone tool formed by the grinding of a coarse-grained tool stone, either purposely or incidentally....
 the excess stone away, resulting in indentations in the piece.

If a shaft or handle is to be used, it must also be prepared in some way. The wood
Wood

Wood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs, etc....
 or other material is often soaked in water to soften it, and a slit may be cut vertically into the center of the shaft. This provides a place for the "head" of the tool or weapon to fit.

The artifact can then be inserted into the slit, and fixed to the shaft by tying around the flanges with a suitable material. Alternatively, the head may simply be forced into the shaft, if the shaft is soft enough, eliminating the need for a slit (and perhaps improving durability). If a strap is used, it is tied directly to the flanges of the artifact.

Hafting in prehistory


The Neanderthal

Before their extinction about 24,000 years ago, the Neanderthals
Neanderthal

The Neanderthal , or Neandertal, is an extinct member of the Homo genus that is known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia....
 developed the extensive use of hafted stone tools. Archaeological investigation provides little evidence of the use of antler or bone.

The Cro-Magnon

The Cro-Magnon
Cro-Magnon

Cro-Magnon is one of the main types of archaic Homo sapiens of the Paleolithic Europe Upper Paleolithic, living approximately 40,000 to 10,000 years ago....
 hafted antler points onto spears between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago.

The Clovis

The Clovis culture
Clovis culture

The Clovis culture is a prehistoric indigenous peoples of the Americas culture that first appears in the archaeology record of North America around 11,500 rcbp radiocarbon years ago, at the end of the last glacial period....
 is noted for its use of hafted spears in the Americas
Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
 around 11,000 years ago. Stone Clovis point
Clovis point

Clovis points are the diagnostic projectile point associated with the North American Clovis culture. They date to the Paleo-Indian period around 13,500 years ago....
s were formed in a way that may have allowed them to break off on impact with a target.

Homo floresiensis

Hafted tools thought to have been created by Homo floresiensis
Homo floresiensis

Homo floresiensis is a possible species in the genus Homo , remarkable for its small body and brain and for its survival until relatively recent times....
 up to 90,000 years ago have been discovered on the Indonesia
Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
n island of Flores
Flores

Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, an island arc with an estimated area of 14,300 km? extending east from the Java island of Indonesia....
.