Local rock ’n’ roll hero Tommy Steele once told us to Rock With The Caveman but now a contemporary local hero and renowned Mudlark, Alan Murphy, is offering the chance for people to actually work like our ancestors with his Flint Knapping sessions for beginners, writes Michael Holland.
Alan will teach people how to create Stone Age tools from flint found along the Thames just like they were made all those thousands of years ago when woolly mammoths roamed Rotherhithe (Mr Murphy found a mammoth tooth on the foreshore near The Angel), which means those locals back then had to be good at their job if they had to fend off, kill and butcher those huge beasts.
Alan told The News, ‘Students will learn the ancient skill of knapping stone tools with flint.’
I asked if there were different ways to make these tools and he listed several methods that proved that those people were living complex lives and needed complex and various tools: ‘I’ll be teaching various techniques like using hard hammer quartzite pebbles and deer antler soft hammers, as well as percussion and pressure flaking so those who attend will make sharp-edged tools such as arrowheads, blades, scrapers and axes.’
All the essentials to stay safe and fed in those long ago days.
The price for this event is £45 and booking is essential.
Message Alan on Instagram or Facebook: @thamesflintknapper
The session will be held at The Shed, Stave Hill Ecology Park, Timber Pond Rd, Rotherhithe, SE16 6AX between 10am and 4pm on 23rd September.
Only 12 spaces available so book early.
Safety equipment is supplied, and there are toilet facilities, but take your own lunch.
