Local Knapping Club Torn Apart by Clovis-First Controversy

The Tri-County Flintknapping Club has fractured into two rival factions after a disagreement about whether Clovis points represent the apex of prehistoric stone tool technology, or whether, as dissenting member Frank Cortex put it, 'we need to stop living in the past, which is saying something for people whose hobby is literally recreating the past.' The schism began at the September meeting when longtime president Dale Hammerstone declared Clovis Week, during which all members would focus exclusively on producing Clovis-style fluted points. 'Some of us want to knap other things,' said Cortex, who leads the breakaway faction. 'I've been exploring Solutrean laurel-leaf bifaces. Martha is doing Levallois cores. Jerry is interested in Acheulean handaxes. We don't all have to make Clovis points just because Dale thinks they're the greatest achievement in human history.' 'They ARE the greatest achievement in human history,' Hammerstone responded. 'The Clovis point is the most sophisticated fluted projectile ever produced by human hands. The fluting alone represents a level of risk and skill that subsequent cultures never matched. If you can't appreciate that, you're in the wrong club.' The dissenters have formed their own group, the Progressive Lithic Alliance, which meets on alternate Tuesdays and accepts 'all reduction strategies and cultural periods without prejudice.' 'We're an inclusive knapping community,' Cortex said. 'Whether you're working on a crude Oldowan chopper or a refined Danish dagger, you're welcome here. We don't judge.' 'They're literally judging us right now,' said Hammerstone. Both groups continue to meet at the same community center, on different nights, using the same workbenches. Members who attend both meetings have been accused by each side of 'knapping espionage.' The community center has asked both groups to 'please clean up their rock chips, regardless of cultural affiliation.'