Robert J. Patten (1944–2017): Life, Legacy, and Contributions to Archaeology, Lithic Technology, and Flintknapping

Eren, Metin I.; Patten, Lauren E.

doi:10.1080/01977261.2019.1598624

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The survey was available to answer for a period of two months from August to September 2020, allowing ample time for the initial group to answer and to pass it along to friends and colleagues. As an incentive, those who responded were entered into a drawing to win a knapped point from the late Bob Patten (Eren and Patten 2019), courtesy of the Robert J. and Lauren E. Patten Endowment at Kent State University. A series of deadline reminder emails followed to those yet to take the survey.…”

Section: Survey Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This process of stone tool production is called "knapping," and it was practiced by Pleistocene and Holocene huntergatherers (e.g., Lycett 2011;Shea 2017;Williams et al 2019) and toolmakers and craft specialists in ancient sedentary and complex societies (e.g., Horowitz and McCall 2019;Rosen 1997;Shafer and Hester 1991), as well as by historically and ethnographically documented peoples (e.g., Horowitz and Watt 2020;Roux et al 1995;Stout 2005;Watt and Horowitz 2017;Weedman Arthur 2018;Whittaker 2001;Whittaker and Levin 2019;Whittaker et al 2009). Knapping is also undertaken by modern experimental archaeologists and hobbyists with interests in the evolution, function, production, and artistry of past stone tool technologies (Eren and Patten 2019;Eren et al 2016;Lycett and Chauhan 2010;Shea 2015;Whittaker 1994Whittaker , 2004. Thus, understanding knapping, knappers, and knapping cultures past and present is a fundamental issue to anthropological research around the world.…”

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confidence: 99%

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The Injury Costs of Knapping

et al. 2023

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For at least three million years, knapping stone has been practiced by hominin societies large and small, past and present. Thus, understanding knapping, knappers, and knapping cultures is fundamental to anthropological research around the world. Although there is a general sense that stone knapping is inherently dangerous and can lead to injury, little is formally, specifically, or systematically known about the frequency, location, or severity of knapping injuries. Toward this end, we conducted a 31-question survey of modern knappers to better understand knapping risks. Responses from 173 survey participants suggest that knapping injuries are a real and persistent hazard, even though a majority of modern knappers use personal protective equipment. A variety of injuries (lacerations, punctures, aches, etc.) can occur on nearly any part of the body. The severity of injury sustained by some of our participants is shocking, and nearly one-quarter of respondents reported having sought or received professional medical attention for a flintknapping-related injury. Overall, the results of this survey suggest that there would have likely been serious, even fatal, costs to knappers in past societies. Such costs may have encouraged the deployment of any social learning capacities possessed by hominins or delayed the learning or exposure of young infants or children to knapping.

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Section: Survey Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%