Errett Callahan, Flintknapper in the 1970s



Dr. Callahan has some very nice looking work and offers classes to the beginning and intermediate knappers. He has an easy to understand book called "The Basics" that goes through all you need to know about making stone heads. The book has many pictures showing how it should be done and what it should look like. Dr. Callahan can be reached at the address below.

Piltdown Productions
2 Fredonia Ave.
Lynchburg, VA 24503
(804)528-3444







The Basics Of Biface Knapping
In The Eastern Fluted Point Tradition
A Manual For Flintknappers And Lithic Analysts, 4th Edition
Written and illustrated by Errett Callahan, PhD, MFA
Errett Callahan is a traditionalist flintknapper, preferring the authentic tools, materials, and techniques that native peoples used. Callahan wrote this manuscript under a different title in 1977 as his Master's thesis in Anthropology at Catholic University of America. Two years later it was edited again and published with the new title The Basics Of Biface Knapping In The Eastern Fluted Point Tradition as an article in Archaeology of Eastern North America. That issue was sold out and reprinted and sold out again, before Callahan self-published the manuscript under his own publishing company, Piltdown Productions. As a thesis paper, it is somewhat dry and technical to read, but very thorough and well illustrated. Callahan has continued to edit and refine the text with subsequent reprints. The third and fourth editions are virtually identical, except for the cover art and a few minor corrections. 4th Edition. 2000. 180 pages.


CALLAHAN, FALL 1976 AT VCU. ON THE ROOF KNAPPING AREA
CALLAHAN, FALL 1976 AT VCU. ON THE ROOF KNAPPING
CALLAHAN, FALL 1976 AT VCU. ON THE ROOF KNAPPING AREA


With Ray Harwood in OR.










Errett Callahan, MA, MFA, PhD

Background (Excerpt from Callahan's catalog, "Piltdown Productions Catalog #5" p.4 - 6, 1999)
I started knapping in 1956 - not counting a few slate pieces I knapped out in 1950 - and have been at it without let-up ever since. During these past 42 years, I have produced, as of August 1998, 9049 stone tools, all duly signed and recorded. I was raised on quartzite and the tougher cherts. I didn't work obsidian much until the early 1980s.

I made my first hafted stone knife in 1966. Knife production was occasional thereafter until 1984, when I started obsidian knife production in a big way. Since 1984, I have produced 860 stone knives, all duly signed and documented. (I make and sell about 50-60 knives a year. That's about one knife a week. But I spend 1-2 months on my big showpieces.) Today, knife production comprises the vast majority of my stone work; I'm considered a halftime maker. (See Below.)

I knap 2 - 2 1/2 hours a day and have done so for decades. (Between 1990 and 1998, I knapped a measured average of 2.2 hours a day. Range 1.8 - 2.7 hours.). I love flintknapping.

The Importance of Reputation
In his article, "So You Want to Be a Knifemaker?" (BLADE, June '89:30...77), Bernard Levine notes that of the three factors which most influence sales - design, craftsmanship, and reputation - the most important is reputation. Yes, the design must be sound and the craftsmanship excellent, but, among knife collectors, it's your name which is taken as the best indication of a sound investment. That is, one's reputation, ethical stand, and professionalism must be above reproach. So what I'd like to do here is to introduce myself, not in order to toot my own horn, but so you can get to know me a little better, to show you that I mean business, and to assure you of that sound investment.

Mentors
I'd like to say I am self-taught, for I worked completely alone and without reading any instructional material for the first 10 years. My only guides were the silent ancient original artifacts. But since then, though I did not attend their classes (few taught), I've sat down and had intensive, hands-on instruction from the Master-level knappers - Don Crabtree, Gene Titmus, Francois Bordes, J. B. Sollberger, and Jacques Pelegrin. And that's instruction. And I've read practically everything in and out of print on the subject. And that's instruction. So I owe a debt of gratitude and thanks to these, my mentors. (I've also seen hundreds of other knappers work and learned countless bits of information from them. That's learning too.)

TRADITIONAL MENTORING
Go to a teacher. Study under him. Take his classes, if possible. If not, then read his works, visit with him, write to him, talk to him. Listen. Learn. Consult with him on future projects and publications. Stay in touch. Then thereafter give him credit for helping you on your way.

MENTORING IN THE 90S
Being aware of a teacher far ahead of you, do your utmost to take a shortcut to get ahead of him. Study his work carefully; but either have no direct contact with him or take his courses and put on a front of appreciation. Try to get into print in his specialty before him. Then when you make your tiny mark, make little or no mention of his influence, give him little credit. EC

Reinventing the Wheel
Those first 10 years were a real struggle. I had to work it all out by trial and error. I didn't even know what the questions were, much less the answers. Sometimes I'd find myself banging away for years, making one mistake after the other, trying to isolate what causes what. As slowly as evolution itself, I eventually sorted most of it out.

All in all, I'd say I spent 20 years working my way through the Paleolithic, Paleo-Indian, Archaic, and Woodland levels and another five years working through the Mesolithic - all the while voluntarily restricting myself to replicas of ancient forms. This was my basic training and excellent discipline it was.

During the last 20 years I have been working my way through the complex Neolithic levels, finally breaking through into the unexplored Post-Neolithic territory shown herein. These latter years have also been a real struggle, for once again I've had little to guide me. What do you use for guidance when you're trying to break a new trail into unexplored territory? - Only intuition.

But I don't forget to check my backtrail to see how others are coming along. That's why I offer my workshops. (My students are now learning in one week what it took me the first 10 years to learn on my own.) And that's why I founded the Society of Primitive Technology in l989 and served as President of the Board from 1989-1996.(See Tribute by Steve Watts in SPT Bulletin #14, in 1997.)

Education and its Relevance to Knifemaking
That MA, MFA and PhD after my name do indeed relate to knifemaking, as Steve Shackleford alludes.

"Perhaps nowhere in the business of sharp edges does one's background prepare him so well for his livelihood as does that of obsidian knifemaker Errett Callahan." - Steve Shackleford, Editor, BLADE Magazine SE/OC '87:20.

This means that I have a master's and a doctorate in anthropology (with emphasis in lithic technology and experimental archeology respectively) and a masters in Fine Arts. (My Master's Thesis, THE BASICS, is still a best seller after 20 years and four printings. It's the basics of instruction in my workshops.) In 1992, I was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Uppsala University in Sweden for my work on the Mesolithic and Neolithic there. Thus I am now on the faculty of Uppsala University, Archeology Department.

These degrees may not be responsible for my craftsmanship but they have indeed forced me to think hard about design, about historical context, and about field testing my products. Throughout the 1970s, I pioneered the field of "Living Archeology, conducting subsistence projects in which participants lived off the land for from two to nine weeks under primitive conditions. We used stone knives and other primitive tools exclusively, while testing certain archeological hypotheses. When your life and very material comfort depend exclusively upon your stone tools, you learn a few things about function, design, and craftsmanship. So when I say that my knives are functional, I think I know what I am talking about. The knives shown in my catalog are the culmination of all that experience

And Now?
I am in the midst of writing a major book on flintknapping - everthing I know, practically. It's about how Danish Daggers are made. (Working title: NEOLITHIC DANISH DAGGERS: AN EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL STUDY - It's addressed to both the archeologist and the flintknapper. This is a 20-year research project in which about 200 daggers have been produced. It has been funded by you, my dagger and knife buying customers, by a grant from the king of Sweden, and by Uppsala University. I am co-authoring it with Jan Apel, a PhD student at Uppsala and a fellow knapper. The book will do for daggers what THE BASICS did for bifaces but will include the final products in great detail and the debitage story too. Keep an eye out for it.

I am also in the final stages of writing a book on experimental archeology - everything I know on that too, another 15-year project. (Working title: THE CAHOKIA PIT HOUSE PROJECT: A CASE STUDY IN RECONSTRUCTIVE ARCHEOLOGY.) Watch for it.

Once the books are behind me, then I can start on my videos.

Over the years I have fought hard for what is ethical in flintknapping. (Yes, there is a sordid side to our history.) I have supported and will continue to support ethical flintknapping causes. And vice versa. You can count on it.

My work is done with the conviction that I can serve best by supporting causes and revealing my so-called "secrets." In fact, I make it my duty to see that my students can duplicate my accomplishments. This may be easier said than done, but that's my goal. I love teaching flintknapping.

Bud Lang, Editor of KNIVES ILLUSTRATED, says: "Errett Callahan (is) a master flintknapper, instructor, etc., a gentleman who makes some of the finest obsidian knives ever created." (KI, Oct. 1998: 4).

(Thanks Bud, but as I clearly state later on, I make no claims at being a master - though I think I am mature. Having worked extensively with the real masters, I am aware of the vast gap between them and me.)

I am available for occasional consultant work related to lithic analysis, archeological reconstruction, private flintknapping instruction, demonstrations, lectures, slide presentations, or similar advisory sessions. But I rarely teach outside workshops which would compete with my Cliffside Workshops. My rate is usually $200/day plus expenses. Let me know if I may be of service.






THE ULTIMATE FLINTKNAPPER.

ERRETT CALLAHAN By: Ray Harwood

HARWOOD CALLAHAN

The Thinking Man: One of the most knowledgeable and talented
flintknappers of our time was a Virginia Flintknapper, whom has
influenced hundreds, if not thousands, Errett Callahan. We can sit
and wonder where Callahan came from and why he was such an influence.
The answer is this, Callahan came into knapping with a great deal of
skill, intellegence and strength, at a time when a whole new
generation of archaeologists were coming out of the old school with a
lot of questions. Crabtree had just released his book and was bumping
out students by the bus load. Archaeology was hungry and Callahan was
just what the doctor ordered. He had fresh ideas and an uncanning
knapping ability intertwined the craft and theory like no one before
or since.
In 1956, just out of high school, Errett spent the summer in
Yellowstone National Park working at the Old Faithful general store.
He was exposed to a lot of history at the park and had access to
obsidian, this gave him the start he needed and he began knapping
seriously then and has been doing it full steam ever since, later
combining his early grinding methods as part of his flaking strategy.
It started on a trip out when he was waiting for the train in
Montana. He went into a local library and found a book on various
point types. He was fascinated by this and it sort of plugged some
into his memory. In his spare time he would try to duplicate these,
using small pieces of obsidian and bottle glass and guided only by
the flintknapping picture in Holling's book. It was another 10 years
before Errett realized that there were other people flintknapping. Up
until then he thought he was the only one.
Errett read more and more of Bordes's works and met him several
times. Francois Bordes stayed at Callahan's house for several days in
1977. Bordes, as Errett, was inspired by Edgar Rice Burroughs and he
published numerous science fiction novels. Callahan, as a college
student, had once been assigned to be Bordes's escort to a knapping
demonstration sponsored by the Anthropology department in D.C. for
the Leaky Foundation lectures. In 1977 Bordes spent four days
knapping there in Richmond. Bordes had plenty of money to visit the
U.S.A. because not only was he a master flintknapper and Europe's
leading archaeologist, but also one of the most popular science
fiction writers in France. According to Callahan Bordes wrote dozens
of novels under the pen name of Franci Carsac. Callahan was
influenced quite a bit by Bordes. At the same time Errett was also
reading the works of Don Crabtree. Errett was Fascinated by Crabtree,
they met in Calgary in 1974 and Crabtree gradually became a heavy
influence on Errett's knapping. J.B. Sollberger was another major
influence and led Errett to bigger and better things than he could
have without that input. Gene Titmus of Idaho, a friend of Crabtree
was also a major influence on Callahan, mostly his notching and
serrating techniques. Errett stayed in close contact with Gene for
many years, Gene a master knapper of percussion and, like Don, about
the nicest and humblest guy he'd ever met.
Some other overseas influences on Errett were Jacques Pelegrin and Bo
Madsen. Pelegrin had been Bordes number one student in France,
working under him for years. Pelgrin first trained with Bordes over
six summers, for three weeks each summer. Pelegrin worked with a
hardwood billit, which he learned to use from Bordes's friend in
Paris, Jacques Tixier, whom was one of the Masters of flintworking of
the time. Pelegrin became very good with boxwood. Jacques Pelegrin's
father built a cottage in the French woods, here Jacques reflected on
archaeological concepts and flintknapping. At this time, in the
1970s, Pilegrin was writing a bit back and forth to Master Don
Crabtree in the USA and Jacques had begun to read and interprit
Crabtree's publications. Pelegrin did public flintknapping
demonstations in the Archeodrome, which is on the main road between
Beaune and Lyon, France. He is concidered one of the best
flintknappers in the world. Pelegrin and Bordes learned English
together and spend years flintknapping together and learning, master
and student became knapping partners. Jacques Pelgrin went through
almost all the Paleolthic French technologies while learning his
craft- Levallois, blade making, different kinds of Paleolithic tools,
different kinds of flint cores, and leave points, including Solutrean
pressure material. It is an interesting fact that Pelegrin learned to
flintknap standing up and only changes after his first exposure to
other knappers and text.
Bo Madsen is Denmark's premier flintknapper, a grand- master of the
Danish art. Madison is an expert on Danish lithics and earned his
Ph.D. at Arhus in Jutland, Denmark. Madsen's dagger research
influenced Callahan greatly and this spread to America and in this
era many knappers were attempting dagger production: Waldorf, Patten,
Stafford, Flenniken and Callahan in particular. Errett spend a good
deal of time in the 1970s in Scandinavia and returned again in August
of 1984. Madsen had moved over to the University of Arhus and was
teaching a talented portage, Peter Vemming Hansenat at the University
of Copenhagen, the two had co-wrote and published a paper on the
replication of square- sectioned axes. While in Scandinavia Callahan
gave several flintknapping workshops sponsored by the Archaeological
Institute of the University of Uppsala, Sweden, he was assisted by Bo
Madsen and Dr. Debbie Olausson. According to Callahan, the Copenhagen
area has several talented non-academic knappers as well Thorbjorn
Peterson, Asel Jorgensen, and Soren Moses.
In later years Errett's biggest influence was Richard Warren. Richard
was completely underground and out of contact for most of his
knapping life, he became a lapidary knapper that had an exclusive
clientele. Richard Warren's work was incredibly precise, much more
than anyone at the time thought was possible. Errett had to
reconstruct the Warren technique entirely from scratch. Richard
Warren showed Errett one important thing- perfection is possible- and
that's all he needed to know. Richard Warren died a few years ago,
Warren's curiosity was to know what could be done with flint if
someone picks up where the best stone age knappers abandoned the
craft for metal technology or extinction. In short Richard's quest
was for knapping for the sake of art-perfection, by any means
possible. Richard used the term "Teleolithics" to describe what we
now call lapidary knapping, flake over grinding (lap-knapping). After
Hannus' colon operation, in 1983, for which Errett made the obsidian
blades used in the surgery and observed the entire operation, two of
Callahan's students decided to start a company with him to market
these blades to the medical community. The one who was supposed to do
the marketing dropped out and little became of " Aztecnics".
Errett markets his obsidian art through "Piltdown Productions" in
Virginia. Callahan is best known for his published work The Basics Of
Biface Knapping In The Eastern Fluted Point Tradition A Manual For
Flintknappers And Lithic Analysts. This was published in Archaeology
Of North America, . He has also published many other books and
articles. Including: "Flintknappers' exchange" (the original
journal), "The Emic Perspective" and "Flintknapping Digest". The
Basics Of Biface knapping In The Eastern Fluted Point Tradition was
the single most influential lithic book ever written.
The Callahan biface book is Vol. 7, No. 1 of the journal Archaeology
Of Eastern North America. The book introduced many new techniques for
the study of stone tools, for standard and experimental archaeology.
The concepts, "the lithic grade scale, and biface staging, are widely
used in flintknapping circles to the point the most new knappers
didn't even know these concepts were fairly new and discovered by
Callahan.
As Crabtree before him Callahan was the only living flintknapper with
the confidence to have major surgery done with stone tools he crafted
himself. According to the news release on December 9th, 1998, Errett
Callahan had major surgery done to repair his right rotator cuff
tendon. The two hour landmark operation was done by Dr. Jay Hopkins
of Blue Ridge Orthopedics at Lynchburg General Hospital. Callahan's
rotor cuff tendon had become completely torn off the top of his
humerus bone and had to be extensively reworked. Dr Hopkins said that
it was as bad a tear as he had ever witnessed. All incisions were
made with Callahan's obsidian scalpels. Dr. Hopkins, after performing
the operation, was impressed with the great reduction of bleeding in
the initial incisions and states: I used the obsidian blade for a
shoulder operation and found them quite satisfactory. They performed
very much like a scalpel and the bleeding with the first cut through
the skin was minimal. Healing appears to be very much normal, if not
accelerated.
Errett Callahan was founder and president of the Society of Primitive
Technology for many years . The Society is an international
organization devoted to the preservation of a wide range of primitive
technologies. The SPT preserves and promotes this knowledge
principally by means of a remarkable magazine, the Bulletin of
Primitive Technology. Errett has now retired from his editor and
chief and president but he will stay an active member. For more
information contact Society of Primitive Technology, P.O. Box 905,
Rexburg, Id 83440. The Bulletin is now being edited and produced by
Primitive skills expert David Wescott. At this time Errett Callahan
is in the midst of writing a major book on flintknapping - everything
he knows...and he knows a lot..The book is going to focus a on Danish
Daggers. The book is addressed to both the archaeologist and
flintknapper a like. This book is a 20-year research project in which
200 daggers were replicated. The research was funded by a grant from
the King of Sweden and by Uppsala University. Callahan is cowritting
the book with Jan Apel, a PhD student at Uppsala and fellow
flintknapper. The new book will do for daggers what his biface book
did for that field. Callahan is also working on a book on
experimental archaeology.

Callahan still puts on his week long classes at Cliff Side on
flintknapping, traditional archery, primitive pottery, lithic
analysis, and more. Bob Verrey, a former student and long time
flintknapper, archaeologist and supplier of knapping tools offers a
scholarship to the school but it is very competitive. .


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