Karl Lee

From an early age I was fortunate enough to have an excellent introduction to history and archaeology. I was bitten by a bug that would grow for many years before directing me to flintknapping. This interest was fuelled almost twenty years ago by an introduction to archaeology; starting with evening courses for GCSE and A-level, followed by membership to several archaeological associations. After some time collecting flint tools in the field I began producing replicas of my own for museums. This was the beginning of an eight year adventure that would not only lead me into flintknapping professionally, but also to return to education. After obtaining a degree in archaeology at the University of Wales College Newport, I was lucky enough to be accepted as a research student working on an archaeological PhD; also with the University of Wales. I'm now a full time primitive technologist.

High Gloss Polishing of Lithic Material

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Discoveries are frequently the result of accident or are coincidental to another area of research. The topic of this study was just such a coincidence while examining the efficiency of Palaeolithic bifaces as butchery tools. The initial area of study was to test certain aspects of the bifacial, ovate handaxe to discern its efficiency in … Read more

Introducing the Primtechmobile!

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Sadly it was recently time to retire Arthur, my trusty green Landrover Discovery, so I’d like to introduce the new Primtechmobile – Freddie the L200 Browning SE! The Browning is a collaboration between the Firs Garage in Oxfordshire and Browning, and is perfect for hauling all my flint and tools around muddy fields without getting … Read more

That Was The Week That Was

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What a week! One of the best things about this line of work is getting to travel all over the country meeting people, from field-leading academic researchers at prestigious universities to front line heritage staff, passionate about their site. I’m certainly clocking up the miles: Bristol on the 24th May Derbyshire over the Bank Holiday … Read more

Spotlight – Eolith Designs

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I do a lot of work for the British Museum and while I was there demonstrating for the Ice Age Sleepover, I was lucky enough to be given a VIP tour of the Ice Age Art: Arrival of the Modern Mind exhibition. The sculptures on display are simply breathtaking, and I would urge you to … Read more

The British Museum Palaeolithic Summer School 2013

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  I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be knapping at this year’s Palaeolithic Summer School, organised and run by the British Museum. This year it runs from the 5th – 9th August, and has an impressive lineup of tutors and guest speakers (see the BM poster on the left for more information). Places are very … Read more

A happy handaxe owner

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As you may have read here, one of my workshop participants at the British Museum had a great time, and fell in love with one of the handaxes I’d taken down with me. As a thankyou for taking the time to write a lovely blog post on her experiences with flint, I tasked my social … Read more

Ostriches and Oases

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During my work experience for my Archaeology degree I was lucky enough to be accepted by the British Museum, to assist in the transfer of the prehistoric collection from Franks House to the Bloomsbury site. This move never happened, but nonetheless I was able to see some of the lithic material from many different collections … Read more

Magical Mystery Tour – Pennines 14 – 17th March

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I get to travel a lot in this line of work, and often I’m dashing up and down the country to cover bookings in wildly disparate locations. A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to be booked by Pennine Prospects, a company that aims to promote the regeneration of the Pennine region. I … Read more

Limited Stock – Portland Chert

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I’ve a very limited supply of this gorgeous greeny-blue chert from Portland, in Dorset – available for Mesolithic microlith assemblages. If you’d like to order this particular material, please contact me through the submission form.  

Stone Age Cyber Tourist – British Museum 16/03/13

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It’s always heartening to know my workshops are enjoyed by the participants (I’ve yet to have a single student leave empty-handed or unhappy!) and my recent trip to the British Museum clearly went down well with Julia Yeates, intrepid Cyber Tourist. She sent me a link to a post on her blog, where she reviews the … Read more