PREVIOUS   NEXT   CONTENTS   HOME 

Summary | Raw material | Raw material procurement | Hammerstones | Nodule reduction and technology | Refrain said when knapping chert | Selection of flakes for use | Locations where men work with chert tools | Use and terminology | Storage and discard | Ritual uses of stone

4.5 Refrain said when knapping chert

Men sometimes said a refrain as they knapped; women were not recorded as ever doing so. They said it to promote clean, sharp edged fractures. It was not a namonk ritual spell (Sillitoe 2002b) thought to be supernaturally efficacious, more an expression of what they wished. One such refrain is as follows:

Uwtaeraykwa
River's name chert split
 
Nembaeraykwa
River's name chert split

This refrain was followed by a whistle made by drawing in breath, called uwt kay in Wola. The two rivers mentioned, the Uwt and Nemb, were good raw material sources.


 PREVIOUS   NEXT   CONTENTS   HOME 

© Internet Archaeology/Authors

Last updated: Wed Oct 8 2003