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Pathways of the Past
Приєднався 16 лют 2013
This channel is dedicated to sharing the prehistoric art of flintknapping, traditional skills, and educating about our shared archaeological past. I upload flintknapping replications, videos documenting projects that I make, and videos documenting archaeological cultures and sites. I have been flintknapping since the Spring of 2010 and have earned both a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Anthropology with a focus on Archaeology. I am a field archaeologist doing cultural resource management (CRM) within the United States. Join with me as I explore archaeology, flintknapping, and ancient technology.
Pathways of the Past Channel Trailer 2025
Whether you are new to this channel or a long-time subscriber, this video highlights what Pathways of the Past is all about. Join me as we learn about archaeology and stone tools this next year!
Переглядів: 395
Відео
Stone tools reveal Paleoamericans in the Carolinas hunted megafauna
Переглядів 7 тис.21 день тому
A recent archaeological publication analyzed preserved blood residue on stone tools from the Paleoindian period in North and South Carolina. Their findings were able to identify what species of Pleistocene megafauna people during this time were hunting. In this video I discuss this research, as well as replicate some of the tools these researchers analyzed. The article discussed in this study: ...
Searching Washington's Coast for Stone to Make Axes
Переглядів 2532 місяці тому
I had the privilege recently of visiting the state of Washington for my honeymoon. While there, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to snag a few cobbles of basalt to make stone axe heads with. Enjoy this short video of me exploring!
Kentucky's Early Woodland Period: Flintknapping an Adena Point
Переглядів 8363 місяці тому
Around 3,000 years ago, the Indigenous peoples of Kentucky made several innovations which are visible in the archaeological record: the development of agriculture, the use of pottery, and the construction of earthen mounds for burying the dead and as ritual spaces. These changes mark the start of the Early Woodland period in the archaeological record. In this video, I flintknap a stone projecti...
An Edge from Stone: Making a Stone Adze
Переглядів 3,5 тис.6 місяців тому
Stone was the medium people used for thousands of years to fell trees and work wood. Adzes, woodworking tools with horizontal edges, were different from axes but just as important. In this video, using traditional techniques, I make a fully functional stone adze. Music: "Wild Dance" by Onyx Music, used under Artlist License 808614
The First Polynesians on Rapa Nui grew South American Crops
Переглядів 11 тис.7 місяців тому
In this video I discuss the recent paper, "Identification of breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) and South American crops introduced during early settlement of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), as revealed through starch analysis" by Berenguer et. al 2024. In this study, the authors examine starches left on obsidian flake tools from one of Rapa Nui's earliest archaeological sites and make surprising discov...
The Kentucky Late Archaic Period: Flintknapping a Saratoga Point
Переглядів 74711 місяців тому
The Late Archaic (5,000-3,000 BP) is the last subdivision of the Archaic period in Kentucky Archaeology. Increased cultural complexity is known during this time period, with people obtaining exotic goods through long-distance exchange networks, the beginnings of horticulture, and even the first use of pottery. In this video, watch me replicate a Saratoga point, a style from this period, and dis...
Pathways of the Past Trailer 2024!!!
Переглядів 43111 місяців тому
Pathways of the Past is dedicated to teaching about the archaeological past, particularly through demonstrating how stone tool were made and used by people in the past. This video covers highlights from this past year, as well as teases footage from some of the project and videos I have for 2024!!! Music credit: Savanna by Milo Mwanza, used under Artlist license 808614
The Kentucky Middle Archaic Period: Flintknapping a Godar Projectile Point
Переглядів 978Рік тому
Beginning around 8,000 years ago many of the hunter-gatherer populations in Kentucky became less mobile, making use of wetland and riverine resources, using new types of tools, and burying their dead in midden cemeteries. These cultural changes are what archaeologists use to define the Middle Archaic period. During this time people were making side notched projectile points, which I replicate i...
The Kentucky Early Archaic Period: Flintknapping a Kirk Point
Переглядів 922Рік тому
We continue our journey through Kentucky's archaeological timeline with the Early Archaic period. It was during this time, starting ~10,000 years ago, that Kentucky's environment and ecology had transitioned from Pleistocene conditions to those like today. During this period, archaeologists see evidence for changes in stone tool technology, food procurement strategies, and more. The Kirk archae...
Making a Hafted Flint Hidescraper
Переглядів 887Рік тому
Hide scrapers would have been one of the most important tools in prehistoric toolkits, as tanning hides was necessary for many cultures to make clothing, containers, tent covers, and more. In this video I not only replicate a stone endscraper, like found in many archaeological assemblages, but also haft it to a wooden handle to demonstrate what the complete tool might have looked like.
Kentucky's Paleoindian Period: Flintknapping a Clovis Point
Переглядів 6 тис.Рік тому
We start our exploration of Kentucky's past in the Paleoindian period, the earliest period of human occupation in the state. The earliest archaeological culture in this area known to date is the Clovis culture. These ancestral Indigenous Americans mastered Kentucky's Ice Age landscape just before the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. They would have hunted both extinct and extant animals using s...
New Video Series Announcement! Kentucky Archaeology
Переглядів 378Рік тому
A look at what is coming to this channel! I will be doing a series focusing on the archaeology of the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky by making a replica of something from each of its subdivisions of prehistory. Thanks for being patient with me as uploads have been slow, I hope you enjoy this video series!
Flintknapping a Hollow Base Arrowhead and Bell Beaker in Denmark
Переглядів 1,1 тис.Рік тому
Flintknapping a Hollow Base Arrowhead and Bell Beaker in Denmark
Collecting Newman Chert for Flintknapping
Переглядів 3,1 тис.Рік тому
Collecting Newman Chert for Flintknapping
Flintknapping a Projectile Point from Monte Verde and the First Americans
Переглядів 1,7 тис.Рік тому
Flintknapping a Projectile Point from Monte Verde and the First Americans
Flintknapping a Pre Clovis point from the Cooper's Ferry Site and the Earliest Americans
Переглядів 1,9 тис.Рік тому
Flintknapping a Pre Clovis point from the Cooper's Ferry Site and the Earliest Americans
Making a Flint Knife from the Groswater Complex
Переглядів 2,7 тис.2 роки тому
Making a Flint Knife from the Groswater Complex
Flintknapping an Oxbow point and Ice Patch Archaeology
Переглядів 1,1 тис.2 роки тому
Flintknapping an Oxbow point and Ice Patch Archaeology
Flintknapping Blades and Blade Cores
Переглядів 5 тис.2 роки тому
Flintknapping Blades and Blade Cores
Flintknapping a Northern Side Notched Point and the Middle Holocene Period
Переглядів 2,4 тис.2 роки тому
Flintknapping a Northern Side Notched Point and the Middle Holocene Period
Flintknapping a Quartz Microlith and the Oldest Evidence of the Bow and Arrow
Переглядів 1,7 тис.2 роки тому
Flintknapping a Quartz Microlith and the Oldest Evidence of the Bow and Arrow
Flintknapping a Leaf Arrowhead and the Neolithic Period
Переглядів 1,6 тис.2 роки тому
Flintknapping a Leaf Arrowhead and the Neolithic Period
Flintknapping a Channel Islands Barbed Point and the Paleoindian Period
Переглядів 3,4 тис.2 роки тому
Flintknapping a Channel Islands Barbed Point and the Paleoindian Period
Flintknapping a Tanged Point and the Incipient Jomon period in Japan
Переглядів 2,2 тис.2 роки тому
Flintknapping a Tanged Point and the Incipient Jomon period in Japan
Recreating a Groswater Complex Harpoon and Paleoarctic Life in Newfoundland and Labrador
Переглядів 4,4 тис.2 роки тому
Recreating a Groswater Complex Harpoon and Paleoarctic Life in Newfoundland and Labrador
Flintknapping a Spined Early Archaic Point and an Ancient Female Hunter of the Andes
Переглядів 1,5 тис.3 роки тому
Flintknapping a Spined Early Archaic Point and an Ancient Female Hunter of the Andes
Flintknapping Obsidian Tattooing Tools from the Solomon Islands
Переглядів 1,2 тис.3 роки тому
Flintknapping Obsidian Tattooing Tools from the Solomon Islands
I'm a long time follower, i can't wait for the new 2025 videos!
we got rocks. me brothers rock shop bought collections from other ranchers. some encased boxes for view, but buckets of raw i not yet see any special key. old early tools of west texas. at moonlightgemstones, Marfa.
Looking forward to your 2025 work Silas, great trailer
Thanks Jay!
Thanks man, will be watching later today. Tya
Silis isn’t that where you put 🌽 lol 😝
Looks like an adena dickson type to me
I’m confused 😢😢😢😅😅
Are you a boy or a girl 😢😢😢
What about the Savana River fire hearth dating 50K BP? What about Meadow Croft PA dating 19K BP? What about the oldest artifact in Virginia being dredged from 400 feet of water with the bones from a Mastadon kill site. This subject point is from the Solutrian Culture. I have seen this point. The associated Mastadon bones are dated 23K BP. There are other sites in the southeast that predate Clovis.
What a great video. Damn this stuff is wild. You can tell what they hunted based on blood on the point
what would you call a japanese vegan steeldrum-band? algaeriddim
Very interesting video. Thanks for sharing this information. Helps to have view into what these peoples lives were like.
Like the fluting method
Upper East Tennessee here. Lots of the same. See: Gray Fossil Siite. Some crazy discoveries there. About 5 miles from my house, just off of an original old stage road and a warpath.
Good stuff!
Great video!
Greetings from south Carolina I find native American stuff a lot
Always seemed absurd when I heard archeologists say megafauns weren't hunted by paleoindians.
Excellent video
Duh! Isn't a Mammoth mega fauna. Ever heard of the Colby site?
Yes, though in the southeast US we don’t really have cool kill sites like in the southwest since the soil is so acidic. Plus, it appears that finding these blood residues is far more reliable than finding the conditions to preserve megafauna bone, giving us a more holistic understanding of what Paleoindian people were hunting!
@pathwaysofthepast Clovis points found in conjunction with Mammoth bones is pretty telling isn't it. There are other sites where they found the same thing. Colby site was unique because they found a new point type, the Colby Clovis. They determined these points were simply rebased Clovis points. Clovis and Scott's Bluff points have been found in conjunction with Cody Bison bones too. Cheers!?
Like the fluting method
I love your videos man❤
Great video! Very well done!
Nice work! What are your thoughts on the cactus hill site and artifacts. Has there been proof that they are still considered pre Clovis? I live in WNC and I have one of the points that I found
Commenting to boost algorithm, enjoy your videos Silas.
Thanks man!
😂good to see you here Jay!
Good idea. I don't know why he doesn't have more subscribers
My favorite flint knapper / archeologist!
Thank you!
Albeit a big morbid, but it would be awesome to learn what the points I've found near me were used to hunt!
I hope they were used to hunt dinosaurs!
Why do you feel it’s morbid?
Love watching you knap, and the history lesson during. Appreciate the show, and in helping learn to knap myself
Awesome video
Went all over the world like all the good ideas
i used the adze to make the adze
Dude, this was an insanely good video. That indirect method was so casual and had me stressing. Well done!!!
Thanks man! Believe me, I was stressing too lol
You've always been an awesome narrator, and an amazing teacher. I like that the thing everyone complains about, you find the positive. The rain makes everything pop.
Thank you! As long as you’re not getting soaked the rain there is really pretty.
Great production, Silas! and that chert!? perfect for that style of point! Thanks for the lessons!
Brilliant craftsmanship
What about the sadia point,they say it was older than clovis.
Just a few days ago I was wondering when there would be a new video, happy to see this!
Wish I would’ve stuck with natural tools when starting out then maybe I’d be better with them
Another great video with the perfect combination of well referenced information and proficient, traditional knapping skills.
Nice peice of stone youre working. Ive only worked a couple palm sized flakes of it before. I found an ancient spall about half inch thick and 5or6 inches long of some really high grade Hornstone i think or maybe blue Sonora chert. It was so waxy and beautiful I couldn't help myself but to knap it lol. It turned out great i think. Take a look and tell me what you think. Its a short. 😎🏹
Appreciate the skilled knapping and educational commentary. 👍
Nice work. It's deceptive to look at an Adena point and then try to recreate it, thinking it is a simple form. The proportions are difficult to get without first understanding the preform stages. It took me several attempts to replicate a proper Robbins Adena, with an accurately proportioned stem and thin blade. The difference between a late archaic stemmed point and a true culturally correct Adena is subtle but it's there.
Great video.
Great Job! Thank you so much for sharing. I learned a lot from this video.
Transverse arrowheads are just stone broadheads lol 😆
Thank you 🙏🏼
can you talk about side scrapers and their hafting?
would these be used for scraping and shaping wood as well?
Occasionally endscrapers like this have woodworking use-wear on them, so it isn’t unheard of. Though the perpendicular orientation of the scraper to the handle wouldn’t be the best for woodworking, I’d think.
would they haft flint scrapers like the one you use to shape the handle? what alternatives can someone use for that task?
While I don’t know of any examples of complete sidescrapers with the handles preserved (since it’s so rare), it’s not unusual to find similar tools with use-wear indicating they were hafted to a handle. Being hafted in the center of a long handle that could be grasped with two handed would probably work best. Alternatives to flint scrapers or to unhafted scrapers of any kind?
Solutrean culture heavily valued there tools by evidence of “sacrificial blade caches”. Some of the most beautifully thin lengthy points were found that were over 12 inches long! Producing blades that were thin, long, and masterfully pressure flaked is extremely difficult and arduous. I’ve tried many times and broke many but the challenge is master level for bifacial point reproduction.
Oh I forgot to add that the solutrean culture did a technique called “outre passé” which is French for over shot. The only other culture that did this technique was Clovis. At the first or second stage they would began doing over shot flakes across the whole core to rapidly thin down the piece then make a edge across the whole core it’s incredibly risky but reduces the amount of time in production most often found at quarries.
Awesome historical documentary well done!