Throwing stars and making stars in America
Primitive projectiles and advanced drilling.
In Nature, a shark’s tooth has serrations along its outside edges allowing for flesh penetration. (Below left) the Megalodon sharks tooth shows good serrations and the tooth on the right has a square shaped drill hole. The shark did not make the square hole; it was created using ultrasonics and a square shaped metal tube.
Primitive civilizations make primitive tools as shown below in a knapped piece of chert rock. Direct pressure applied to specific rocks at critical angles can create sharp edges like a shark’s tooth. When the knapped projectile is attached to an arrow and slung from a bow, it will kill.
Easier to Knap than chert is volcanic glass (Obsidian). The shell-like conchoidal fractures created from pressure forming are sharp as a fine metal blade.
(Below) Due to the amorphous structure of obsidian, projectiles can be artistically created but are not advised for weapons (they break).
Artistic knapping is for looks only and not used for flesh penetration. The American Indians used primitive points for hunting.
(Below) A knapped obsidian arrowhead with a star shaped drill hole. A star hole was machined near the tip of the arrowhead, not a feat that can be created by the American Indians of old.
Star shaped drill holes in rock are created using an advanced drilling technique. Should you find a large, pointed star shaped drill hole in rock here in the USA it was not made by Nature, Indians, or any American driller in the last 150 years.
(Above) A before and after demonstration showing an obsidian arrowhead, knapped and drilled with star holes. No lapidary technique today can recreate these star holes, other than ultrasonics.
Forming throwing stars from rock can be an arduous feat, time consuming, and not recommended for throwing at hard objects. I have broken many.
(Above) The 4-point black Obsidian throwing star is easy to knap, whereas the 5-point star shaped quartz throwing star is much more difficult to make but still a primitive technique that requires patience. Star holes on the other hand, are machined very quickly.
Obsidian has conchoidal fractures due to an amorphous structure, Quartz has concordial fractures due to having no cleavage plane (no atomic plane of weakness).
The above star drill holes are machined into a primitive arrowhead. As a lapidary artist, I have looked into every possible way stone can be altered or machined. Star shaped drill holes are proven to be made using ultrasonic technology and this was confirmed with fellow lapidary artist. Ultrasonic drilling matches the ancient machine marks 100%.
The above star drill holes from Morro bay, California were not made by Indians, they were not made by Natural erosion, and they were not made by a metal rod/tool whacking or chattering against the rock. Anyone who thinks star holes were a mistake created by a chattering tool does not understand mineralogy, crystalography, geology, and most of all, advanced lapidary techniques.
Machined star shaped drill holes in hard rock were created in the distant past, with a civilization that mastered ultrasonic drilling on a scale greater than we can acheive today. FACT!