The art of knapping

Worthington man masters ancient skill

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

JEFFERS--It takes Jeff Oberloh only 15 minutes to turn a piece of rock into a slim, pointed edge suitable for an arrow or spear.

Some of the folks who stop at the Jeffers Petroglyphs wander outside, where Oberloh is hard at work honing a piece of Burlington chert or obsidian into a modern-day artifact.

He begins with what seems a simple, ordinary piece of rock. The chert he's using for this particular arrowhead is a light, pinkish rock that comes mainly from Missouri.

Sitting next to him on a picnic table bench is a large chunk of obsidian, a black, shiny volcanic rock he gets from Oregon. Oberloh also totes some Knife River flint, which is a sandy brown rock found in North Dakota, popular among flint knappers.

"I think everyone has found an arrowhead, or knows someone who found an arrowhead, and they're curious to see how they're actually made," Oberloh said as he hits the chert with an antler. "That's kinda why I like giving demonstrations. It gives people an idea on how the Indians made them."

The method is the same Native Americans used to make arrow and spear heads many, many years ago.

Oberloh starts with a piece of rock and then uses either another stone or a billet to break off pieces from the larger whole.

He then takes those pieces and breaks even more pieces from them.

The authentic way to billet a piece of rock is with a section of an antler from either a deer or an elk. Oberloh has one of each; one is from a Canadian elk, the other from a white-tailed deer. He hits the edges of the rock carefully. He calls it percussion work.

"Percussion is tricky because you have to be accurate or you'll snap the piece," he explains to an older male visitor, who stands just over Oberloh's shoulder watching him.

In the seven years he's been flint knapping, Oberloh's broken several pieces of rock. He said he first started flint knapping after he found an arrowhead about nine years ago. That discovery sparked a curiosity about how arrowheads were actually made. Oberloh got into the hobby at a knap-in in Duluth and hasn't looked back since, even though it's only seasonal.

Flint knapping got its name from the European settlers who first came to North American. Gunsmiths in Europe followed similar practices when they made muskets, Oberloh said.

Oberloh gives demonstrations at schools, too. He traveled from his home in Worthington to schools in Lake Benton and Duluth to show schoolchildren the ins and outs of his trade.

"Native people really had a tough life," he said, resuming his percussion work. "It's amazing what they accomplished with what they had."

Oberloh comes to the petroglyphs about twice a year. On Saturday, he was giving demonstrations to the park's visitors as part of Minnesota Archaeological Week. Mary Talbot, a site tech for the Minnesota Historical Society, said Oberloh's demonstrations show how early Native Americans lived off the land.

"It teaches the practical side of life on the prairie," she said. "They didn't have iron yet -- that came with the trapper -- or copper pots, so they had to make things from the land. They did that for thousands of years all over the world."

Talbot said Oberloh's demonstrations also help get the park's season started. She said the petroglyphs opened Friday, welcoming about half a dozen visitors. Saturday's attendance was higher, around 40 people, Talbot said.

"It gives people perspective into everyday life," she said. "It's not an everyday thing."