RULE OF SPEARS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 85, 12 April 1937, Page 6

RULE OF SPEARS

THE FLINT-KNAPPERS

WORK OLD AND NEW

Probably one of the most ejncient of industries in the world, and existing.in form much as it did in the days of primitive man, is that of flint knapping, which provides a livelihood for a few skilled workmen in the old Suffolk town of Brandon, and within a few miles of the parish of Weeting-cum-Bromehill, where lie the pits in which Neolithic men quarried and knapped their, flints, writes G. E. M;.; Williams in the "Sydney Morning Herald." .'

In wild heathland, away from human habitation, the. pits, riumbsring about 300, are situated .and bear the name of Grimes Graves. The name is AngloSaxon in . origin, and means the .pits, of Grima, the devil, or evil one,'and suggests the. puzzlement and probably fear that the Saxon settlers had- 'for those ancient workings. . . . '~-.'.

To .get. to the. "Graves,"..!-had left the modern highway .and travelled along the "Drove," a public track-from time immemorial, crossing as: it.'does the. Peddars': Way, another of'.,,East Anglia's prehistoric roads. . For.: some miles I had. followed its grassrcpvered track —at times through bracken fully six feet high—and then with greater ease:where the old road was better.defined. - In, the warm,'. hazy,..summer afternoon it was easy to conjure - up visions of those who • had used this same' road "thousands of years-ago. Wild, dark-visaged, shaggy men,- •small: of stature, clad in skins,; some' with battle-axe in belt and bow and arrows, ever in readiness, alert 7 for lurking wild beast:■ and , predatory '■.mankind; others : trudging along sunder, the precious, burden, of furs and ornaments, which wouldbe barteredat the great pits for; the. latest model im.fine black, arrow and axeheads made by the knapping;experts. :.V:. '' v ,V,. i:*-■■'"•■•'l-'-'1---; "''•'.' ' NEED OF-WEAPONS. ; >.:;"■/;" ■...'■Good' hunting and;:'succesa:iii;;battle were assured with ■the. possession . : ;of, good, vveap.ons, and' what )ylaris;.of".revenge Sand'Hconquest. made .the .long trek through- the primeval: forest:.;seem' less wearisome. So: they; arid :I:trav-. ersed the'same. road untilj we.came-to the '"Graves,"...where; they/carried -out {heir ghostly ::barter .while^vriietVthe; guide whom' a considerate ; Office /of Works has within the'last.'two or;three years placed at I'the dispbsalv.pf avisi-. tors. :•'; ,■;..,' :.; k ■ '■■ .-V.y^ro^V^it-iv^ ■'■ :

He flrsti/shbwed.:mei'.red'v.<i^er;".;'a.iitler implements which were/the tools;;Nec~ lithic man used,,to; lever the raw-iflints, out of-their.:chalky; bed; ttlenispecimeus, of axe." aridi;arrow.:-headsi;:both;ancient. and modernr^arid;inost;aifficultatiiwas for a:':noyice to ' distiriguisji.;:;;pne;S^setfrom the other. .My. guide, ifi.the lonely hours; of:; waitings;yisitors s;to the "Graves";\being';,few, .had:, recaptured the lost':art of. arrowhead:-, knapping, and he:;showed; me his skill withV-a round ;;st6ne as his only: "tool. ■" ■;. ;; ~";.

Taking a candle in candlestick with us,. .we then went; to. the/."Grave" that has been/made;.?;safe ;forj inspection. Stepping, through/a: hole;an/:the:: ground just big enough ;ior one'person to/pass,' we a / ladder/^about-; fortyfeet in, depth into the middle ofi'a'large1 white./cavern;^hichi opened/; into ten or' twelve-narrow. /galleries!/ .Lighting the candle and putting-it ;into,my hand, my; guide/gave m^the /parting-advice to/^eep^my/h^eadiweir<iowriV: and 1 set' out; on!'my/handslandiknees ; ;through the narrbw;.tunnel-like galleries which rah .like^rabb'it'ibuiybws-in1; all.; direc-; tipns.' ■■; SAt/time/sSKlxad^vto;; lie ;at/ £ nil, I length-and? /myself/along, / sbi;low; was the/head' room...:"Ho>v-ismall,' I. iMought^mustVoufe-varicienti //ancestor, haVe;beeh;)'f6Biii^herevhiKhad/#qjrke<l; |^ith-yhip'dTftlerSto6ls*ah'a!tlamp/:^ iohed:fromra/lu'irip;Pfichalk: H?re/' .he; possibly,/mined :ia;;v'gulp;6rv''i;thft;/word, handed^dowrirto'"the-present ,d_ay. for a /particularly huge* flint!; This :;ahd..other /words peculiar; to knapping are pro'babiy survivals/of the dead' language of a lqngdead.people.. /;::,/<:

$;: ■■ ■;' THE LAST' CRAFTSMAN; ',; •:; Gn returning to ground level we wreht over to a "grave" which was in course of" excavation, and here we dug in the chalk until we unearthed severalworked flakes, whitened with age, and an; axehead, which, when it .had proved difficult to work, had been tossed aside by the knapper, probably with a gutteral word of disgust. I now have it'here twelve thousand miles and over three thousand years, away from that flint knapper of old. .Some years ago, during excavations, the workers found two antler picks, laid . down by Neolithic labourers at the close, of .the day's' work. OV ,' Jght?the ;rbof:,fniust. have' collapsed, and the\tbpls/,were .not recovered. The -incrustation -of /- cjiaik bore ,';'tne impression of :,the.. fingerprints of 'those-, workmen,.!■;of •:'; bygone i".ys. '..'■■ ' ■'■■ '■ ' ■ .'"W^V

Reluctantly I-turned .towards Brarii>:i. there to seek -out the -last of'the craftsmen at:their work.' 'Behind'an inn built of flint and with a. swinging sign is the knapners'. workshop^ and yard, .'~i untidy-looking-place—-a* load of unworked flints here' i arid },, great heaps of discarded flakes thereK Mr. Edwards, the senior.,knapper, tol'd-.me. sorrowfully of ;the_ '/ing state ''of "the: industry. It. seems1 that "he1, arid; MS' companion will r be. the last flint '.knappers. No- -ther; were plenty of orders, more than they' could fill. Orders mainly from the Gold' Coast and.other, parts of Africa; where the old flintlock guns were stiir c.sed. The lads, of -today w •: the stumbling block. They wanted easy work, did the lads of "today, not'a craft th:t; took year's to ieai-n-and—not ...that it wasn't monotonous: —yes, even-he'found, it a bit monotonous at'times. He ~*.vas' sitting oh ,a stool outside the doorway and I watched him at v/or.':. Holding a raw flint against a pad which was strappedto'his left thigh, with quick,, sure tappings of his blunt hammer flakes fell .to the ground until he came to the inner portion of the, stone which offered suitable flakes to. knap. These fell into a basket, later, to be taken ins'de the workshop., Here ho showed ■me how, with a few sharp blows of a fine-edged knapping hammer against a metal stand, the finished article was dde, and I rmarured flint after flint

and found them to be of almost'ldentical size.- .-■ -.• : ;; . ■..'••„• ; ~ ;—: AUSTRALIAN'WORK. As he worked he talked of the tools of primitive people and told me of a tribe in Northern Australia who work, not flint, but a stone responding in much the same way to knapping. Mr.' Edward allowed me to photograph him at his work,,and on bidding him farewell he suggested that I might like to see what would :in all. probability be th<= last of the i.'nt pits ever to, be mined. It is situa'id on private ground, but ■if I mentioned that, he had sent me I would.be welcomed. This turned out to be true, and a. kindly soul living in a lonely house.met,me, and after showing,me over many new-ly-constructed' .; huts ■;. randl shelters in" which": ;he;.;'intended to ;breed: silver foxes,' he guidedi-me over;more,wild heathland ;.in:;.theVdirection' of .the last of' ■ihe.-ipiis;"/'--.'.;,'-:-..v:.'-:;';.T-'.--:' "-.''-^ ■'■'-. ■ >>•' ,:'TheseSproyed'to iD.e'a-series of shafts approximately three feet in diametersome, sunk''as "deep:, as seventy, feet: They were.connected by galleries much the same wayvas;'l- had seen- in. the ancient workings: : : Workmen let.themselves down by steps cut in the chalk, and,' digging out the flints, filled a basket, which was hauled to the surface by a primitive pulley' contrivance, Instead of antler picks: there were'metal ones; the workmen'wore dungarees; instead of skins',. btiGStill the. same.; work was carried put ;'iir the same "way, and still they -measured :a ' "jag"-,, of flints as. did thestone-age.-miner;- : 5 ' ■.. :' ■ ■■: "Eyeriing v/as .drawing: in.'.and I had far to go:V;Men.had returned home to their:flint cottages.1 andl. took the, great modern highway,' Road ;A1065, back to thA twehtie;th;:; century: }■. '> v '■;:' ■ ;';';.;;.;"; :'.