Well, my job has been trying on a whole new level these last few months. I lost some key employees and the leadership doesn't seem to worry much about it. I assume because I havea history of getting things done. I'm genuinely tired of being angry and disappointed and I understand that my attitude is affecting the people around me. But enough about the present, let's talk about the past.
After a couple days of heavy rain, I went by the boss's pistol range to pick up some broken target mounts he wanted fixed (I am useful for such things)
when I looked down and saw this.
I checked with some experts Google recommended and Brandon over at projectilepoints.net replied with a wealth of interesting info. "This was probably used as a knife based on the one blade which is slightly incurvated while the other is slightly excurvated and the amount of resharpening of the blade. This appears characteristic of a Bulverde type point, (reduced shoulders due to resharpening). It is part of the Terminal Barbed Cluster which includes other similar points such as Delphi and Buck Creek." Thank God for Brandon! I honestly, love hearing from experienced and dedicated people who share real knowledge about things that actually motivate them. I'm going to stop this train of thought before I start ranting about how much I hate small talk.
Now, what does this expert info mean to me, the finder of an old rock? Well, you know what? All rocks are old. But this rock is different because it has a human connection.
This was someone's prized possession 5000 years ago! With this simple tool someone fed their family, clothed themselves, and reshaped the world around them into the one in which we can now put men on the moon and unleash the power of the atom! The man or woman who last held this had to compete with and fight off wolves and bears just for the right to live in and move around this country. I once had to go to the county tax assessor to bitch about the new evaluation on my house. See the difference?
But my interest in this ancient flint tool goes deeper. I am a tool user by trade. I disassemble, repair, and reassemble things all the time and here, in the sand, is proof that my compulsion and value to mankind is not a fluke. It's easy to say that all humans through out history are the same but try to put 3000BC mankind into perspective. IQ did not matter nor did religion or income. You were a part of your tribe for as long as you could be.
Life was, in the modern Hobbesian sense "Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short"...........but, to be fair that's based on our current ideas about society, not about individuals. The person who last held this flint tool knew he could count on his friends until they where stomped by a large mammal or eaten by a roving predator. Can you say that about your friends?
So, to wrap up, what have you made that 5,000 years from now will make people look at their friends and say "all I need is this thing I made and you"?