The manipulation of flint and other similar types of stone is perhaps the oldest form of technology known to man. The first known stone tools date back well over two million years; although crude in appearance, these early tools possessed the single characteristic that was to ensure the use of flint until relatively recent times. Flint could be fractured to produce an extremely sharp edge, and it was this characteristic that was so important to our prehistoric ancestors.
Although first used to cut meat, stone tools were developed for many other specific uses, such as arrowheads to obtain meat, cutting tools to process meat and sinew, scraping tools to work tough hides for clothing, footwear and shelters. Even engraving tools were developed for carving bone, antler and wood.
Some cultures, from different periods of prehistory around the world, refined Flintknapping to such a degree that the tools could be classed as works of art in their own right; it is this level of perfection that modern flintknappers strive to attain, hoping to master even a fraction of an art that was millions of years in the making.
