Only certain kinds of rock can be knapped into tools. Many common types of usable stone are described to show which are knappable. Some simple tests give useful clues as to the structure, strength, and elasticity of a stone. You can choose from a wide variety of tools for hammering, punching, pressing, or just holding the work still. The choice of materials from which to make tools depends on the stone to be flaked, or what the knapper is comfortable with.
Illustrations show what the tools look like and how they are used.
We are more used to breaking things inadvertently than under control. The process of fracture is too complex for a strictly theoretical description to be practical. While it sounds complicated, isolating how energy is used is a straightforward way of understanding how to break rock effectively. Primal people used their intuitive experience to control the way rocks broke. By exploring numerous ways energy can be applied or used, we can approach what early flintworkers understood naturally.