By the looks of the pile to his left, this flint knapper has been busy.
By the looks of the pile to his left, this flint knapper has been busy. c I am sure he isn't making gun flints, so he must be knapping for building stone. Since Roman times, flint has been used extensively in various types of construction throughout southern and eastern England. It has been utilized for thick walls with rubble cores and, starting in the 19th century, as facing layers over backings made of brick or other types of stone. The age of flint walls can often be estimated based on their coursing, the composition of the mortar, and the condition of the flints—whether they are whole, fractured, or knapped. Knapped flints are nodules that are split intentionally to create a specific aesthetic effect, as opposed to those that are merely broken naturally or crudely cut to reduce their size. Knapping involves breaking the flint into manageable pieces (known as 'quartering') and, for more refined work, chipping away at the edges ('flaking') to smooth the surfac...