Obsidian ~ Ancient Glass Artifacts From Western North America ~

When ancient people around the world discovered the volcanic natural glass which we know as obsidian, they immediately began to make their hunting weapons and food processing tools from this beautiful and useful stone. Obsidian is brittle so it breaks easily into manageable size. It breaks to a sharp edge … down to the molecular level. No man-made material provides a sharper edge. So, it cuts and slices, it shreds and dices. Obsidian is tough enough to use as projectile points for hunting purposes. Whether on the business end of a hand-held lance or a throwing javelin or on the tip of a smaller throwing dart propelled powerfully by an “atlatl” or on the “pointy end” of a smaller stick or reed as an arrow shot from a bow. In the pages of “OBSIDIAN ~ Ancient Glass Artifacts From Western North America ~ ” you will see dozens of different style natural glass projectile points, knives and hunting tools made from many forms and colors of obsidian. All of these are ancient, authentic artifacts collected over many decades across the western regions of North America. The finders, locations and times when these were discovered is provided, as much as is known. Some of these obsidian artifacts are thousands of years old, made during the Paleo Period, at the end of the last “Ice Age” and some were used as recently as 150 to 200 years ago during the late Historic Phase, which lasted up until the mid-1800’s in the Great Basin and the Pacific Northwest. Full color photography throughout. 280 pages. "OBSIDIAN ~ Ancient Glass Artifacts From Western North America ~ "