Modern knappers flaked these beautiful points from a colorful flint.
Wade Wilcox
An anthropologist once described the first big step in human technological development as a “lucky break.” She was referring to the serendipitous discovery some 2.5 million years ago that certain high-silica stone materials would fracture conchoidally and could be broken, or flaked, into sharply edged and pointed tools and weapons. Controlled, systematic conchoidal fracturing, a skill originated by Paleolithic stoneworkers, is still practiced by flint knappers today.