Maney Publishing

"PUSH" VS "PULL" FLAKING

Author(s): Robert J. Patten
Source: Lithic Technology, Vol. 7, No. 1 (April, 1978), pp. 3-4
Published by: Maney Publishing
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41999717 .
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"PUSH" VS "PULL" FLAKING unworked stoneand a sheetof flexibleplasticas thechipto be
removed.Firstpushdirectlyagainstthe edgeof theplasticso
RobertJ.Patten, thatit slidesacrossthe table.Thisrepresents "push" flaking
Denver,Colorado and all the forceof thepressoris transmitted in theplaneof
Abstract separationand in the directionof the push. Next push
upwardsagainstone edge of theplasticwhilelightlyrestrain-
Techniquesof pressureflaking are bounded by two ingthe outeredges.In thiscase the forceis leveredfromthe
extremeswhichare definedby themannerin whichthe leadingedgeof theplasticto theareaofseparation. Becauseof
forceis transmitted the
from pressor. the levering action, the stress in the second case is radially
distributed fromthe pressorin contrastto theunidirectional
Pressureflakingcan be accomplishedby eitherof two push.
basic techniques.For lack of establishedterminology the of stonecan be removedfromtheirparentstock
descriptivetermsI shalluse to characterize thetechniquesare muchChips the same as the plasticwas removedfromthe table.A
"push" and "pull". Pushingflakesoff requiresa different forcein the planeof fracture willonlybe transmitted in the
mannerof manipulating the pressorthanpullingflakesand, directionof to produceslenderchipsof uniform
application
characteristics. crosssection.If the
furthermore, producesa flakescarwithdistinct actionis setup
pressoris tilted,a levering
It is my contentionthat fullydefiningdifferences between so that the forceis directedradiallyfromthe
longitudinal
these two methodswill facilitatea more thoroughunder- pressortip. The directionof stresschangesaccordingto the
standingofstoneworking traditions. initialangleof forceand also dependingon thelengthof the
Beforegetting intothe differences betweenpushingand leverarm.It now becomesapparentthatthetechniquenames
pullingflakeslet us discuss the commongroundbetween of "push" and "pull" represent onlythe dominantmeansof
knappingmethods.Regardlessof the materialsused, the transmitting forcethroughthechipand in theirpurestforms
pressorneeds to have the qualityof "bite", or the ductility areextremes in a continuum.
necessaryfora sharpedge of stoneto digin slightly without
cuttingoff the tool tip. This quality allows chips to be The accompanying illustrations showhow themethods
controlledwithoutslippageof thetoolin additionto avoiding differin techniqueand appearance.Bothpointsare drawnat
someedgepreparation if a deep biteis used. Preparation ofa true scale and are made of brownjasper obtainedfroma
platform servesto anchorthetool as wellas to avoidcrushing quarryat Fruita,Colorado.A paleo stylepointfoundadjacent
of a too delicateedge and also influencesthe size of the to the quarry demonstratesexcellentuse of the "push"
resultantchip. technique.The exampleof "pull" flakingis one preparedby
Whenpressureis appliedto an edge it initiatesfracture the authorusinga blunteddeerantlertineforshapingand a
as a segmentof a Hertziancone. Oncethefracture hasbegun, spatulateantlerfornotching.
the stressdistribution changes from a cone centered at the A visual clue to the distinctionis providedby the
pressortip to a wedgeat theareaofseparation. The separated attributes of the removedflakes."Push" flakeshavea convex
portion of the chip then becomes an extension of the tool ventral face and compressionringsof consistently largeradii _
throughwhich force is transmitted for the next fracture fromoriginto termination. The crosssectionof "pull" flakes,
sequence.Changesin stressdistribution due to theincremental on theotherhand,changesas thefracture progressesand bears
characterof the fractureare revealedby concentricrippling a markedresemblanceto the longitudinalcross section.
andthetrajectory of thechip. Leveringis also shown by radii of expandingsize but this
The transfer of energyto thechip-toolcan be accomp- expansioncouldbe easilyoverlookedifthechiporiginwasnot
lishedby eitherof two processes.In orderto visualizethe considered.Changingstressmakes the bulb prominentin
transfer,considera model witha table top representing the "pull" flakingwhile"push" flakesoftenhavenegligible bulbs.

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 In "push" flakingthe rigidsupportof both stoneand The principleobjectiveof this paper is to generatemental
pressoris requiredto insure an even stressdistribution. templateswhichwillallow thecontrolof knapping alongwith
Resulting long,slenderscarsare distinguished byhigh,parallel an accurateprediction
ofresults.
sides forming commonarrisesfrom,at or veryneartheedge.
The classicalexampleof thisstyleof flakingis foundin the "PUSH" chips I "PULL" chips
parallelflakedFrederick points. DIFFERENCES OF APPEARANCE
"Pull" flaking detachesthechipwitha relatively quickly parallelsides expanding sides
appliedforce.In additionto theforcebeingprimarily a pulling smallinterspace largeinterspace
actionaway fromtheedge,thestoneand pressorbothmaybe
long,narrowscars fatscars
loosely held so that the forceis of shorterduration.Scars highridges low ridges
producedby this pullingaction tend to be bulbous with usuallyorganized oftenrandomdirected
rapidly expandingedges and the unchippedspace between flattrajectory arcedtrajectory
chips (interspace)tends to be large and triangular.Most lackingbulb prominent bulb
varietiesofarrowheads exhibit"pull" flaking. feathered termination
The direction followedby thepressorcausesa limitation abrupttermination
in the typeof bite dependingon thetechniqueused. Pulling compression rings@ compression ringswith
the chip allows a deep bite in thecenterof the tool tip and consistentlylargeradii expanding radii
finematerial coarsematerial
therefore also accommodatesseverebluntingof the tool as
(usuallyheattreated)
longas it can swingawayfromtheedgewithoutanycrushing. sharpmedianridgespossible roundedmedian
Pushingthechip formsa scarslightly morethanthewidthof
the pressortip and crushingcan be avoidedonlyby usinga DIFFERENCES OF TECHNIQUE
pointedtool ora biteon theextremity of a bluntedpressor. steadysupportofstone loose supportof stone
The trajectory followedby thechipdetermines whether firmsupportofpressor loose supportof pressor
the terminationis apt to be abrupt or feathered.Flat forcein directionof fractureforceawayfromfracture
trajectories favorthe featheredtermination usuallyseen in slowdetachment fastdetachment
"push" flaking.Rapidlychangingstressdistribution causes segregated platforms simpleplatforms
"pull" flakes to continue arcing until they are abruptly shallow"bite" deep"bite"
terminated due to excessiveleverage.The flattrajectory of pointedpressor pressormaybe dull
"push" flakingin the case of collateralchippingresultsin a
verysharplydefinedmedianridge."Pull" chipsalso can create
a medianridgebut the definition is less sharpbecauseof the
characteristic arc of trajectorywhichcarriesacrossthe high ARTICLES
point. The extentof overlapping of opposingscarsdetermines
themedianregardless of styleso thisis a diagnosticfeatureof A TYPOLOGY OF THE WEST EUROPEAN NEOLITHIC
limiteduse. POLISHED AXE
"Push" flakingprobablyrequiresthe mostattentionto
platform preparation becauseof the flatseparationtrajectory H. Dopereand P. M. Vermeersch,
and becausea greatdeal of forcemustbe transmitted along
the chip. The most effectiveplatformis a segregatedspur Laboratorium Voor
whichservesto confinethe applied force.Folsom fluting Katholieke
Prehistorie,
representsthe ultimatein the use of this technique.Such Universiteit
te Leuven(Belgium)
carefulpreparation resultsin highlyorganizedscar patterns. 1. Introduction
Because"pull" chipscan be detachedwithoutmuchattention
to edge preparationas long as a deep bite is obtained,the As axes are a verycommonfeatureof recentprehistory,
organization tendsto be looser.Also important is thefactthat theyhavebeenstudiedveryoften.In a recentpublication, D.
"pull" chipshavelow ridgesaway fromtheoriginswhichcan Hoof (1970), constructed a typologyof the WestEuropean
be easily workedacross in contrastto the highridgesof axes. The properties of axes he usedin histypologywerefirst
"push"scars. the shape of the section,second the shape of the buttand
Whilean experiencedknappercan apply eithertechni- finally,forfurther subdivision of histypes,theedgecurve.He
que to mostmaterials,"push" flakingis easilyaccomplished made no attemptto evaluatetheseproperties quantitatively.
only on very fine quality stone. Heat treatingis usually This resultedin a typologythatremainsratherspeculative.
apparenton thebestexamplesofpaleo "push"flaking. Coarse It seemsto us thata typologicalstudyof axes shouldbe
textured stoneallowstoo muchchangein stressdistribution to concentratedon the study of the axe as a tool, wherethe
accommodate "push" flakes. mechanicalproperties, and not the form,are the distinctive
Seldomwillthe stylebe pure"push" or "pull" because elements.The majorpropertiesof sucha tool are connected
of the difficultyof controllingsuch a large numberof withthe problemof thestability of theaxe in itshaftand the
variables.For a givenpointtype,however,thestylewillbe a properties of the workingpartof theaxe,i.e.,thecutting edge.
blendmadeconsistent byculturalhabit.Carefulanalysisofan The resultsof such a studycan be used in constructing a
artifactshouldidentifythemanufacturing traditionwhichin typology.Our typologicaldifferentiation is expressedas a
turn should provide a clue as to which point type it code number.The code numberis an indicationof the
corresponds. The followingchartshowsboththe differences function forwhichtheaxe couldhavebeendestined.
of appearanceand of techniqueinvolvedin "push" or "pull" To arriveat the proposedtypology, themechanical proper-
flaking. ties of a sampleof 92 axes (52 of flintand 40 of another
Althoughpercussionhas been deliberately avoidedfor material)werestudied(Dopere',1976). Theseaxes belongto
thepresent,it appearsthata stronganalogyto pressure exists. the so called WestEuropeantype,withlenticularsection.
As theyappearheretheprinciples of stoneworking are based Theybelongto the collectionof theLaboratory ofPrehistory
solelyon the experienceof theauthorso it is quite possible of the KatholiekeUniversiteit te Leuven,Belgiumand they
thattechniquesexistwhichdo not fitthe "push - pull" idea. comefromdifferent localitiesin Belgiumand France.
4

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