I recently went on the above workshop, mainly because I know that flintknapping creates dust and I should make sure that we are practicing safely.

So this week two colleagues from Geography popped over to measure the amount of dust generated in a mini handaxe making workshop. The main outcome was, I need to hoover up rather than brush up afterwards, as that is when most of the dust is airborne.

A second outcome was a spare flake left over and I turned it into this nicely shaped handaxe on Friday. Anyway, it has some interesting features. Mainly cortex on the dorsal surface, and some areas of original flake ventral on the other surface.

I was a little disappointed that I didn’t clear all the original ventral from the surface, however, from a teaching and learning perspective it illustrates dorsal and ventral really well. My relationship to this handaxe has changed since making it. I have shifted from aesthetically disappointed to pedagogically excited. It just took me a while to become fully acquainted!