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The tool maker was loosened up now, not as nervous, and he was ready for the next task He s to use as an anvil, and grasping the nodule, he set it on the platform and held it firmly Then he picked up his hammerstone This ti, he carefully shaped the stone so that the nucleus of flint re-shape He turned it on its side and, switching to the bone hae toward the center all the way around When he was through, the egg-shaped stone had a flat oval top

Then Droog stopped, wrapped his hand around his amulet, and closed his eyes An element of luck as well as skill was necessary for the next crucial steps He stretched his arers, and reached for the bone ha platform, to remove a small chip from one end of the oval-shaped flat top that would leave a dent with a surface perpendicular to the flake he wanted to re platform was necessary for the flake to fall away cleanly with sharp edges He examined both ends of the oval surface, decided on one, took careful aim, and struck a sharp blow, then let out his breath as the s held the discoidal nucleus fir the distance and point of impact with precision, he struck the small dent he had made, with the bone hammer A perfect flake fell away froes, was roughly flattened on the outside with a shtly thicker at the end that was struck, di to a thin section at the other

Droog looked at the core again, turned it, and struck off another small chip to for platform, then re had cleaved six flakes and discarded the butt of the flint core They all had a long oval shape and tended to narrow at the thinner end to a point He looked over the flakes carefully and arranged the touches that would turn them into the tools he wanted From a stone of alle hand-axe, he had gotten six tie he could shape to a variety of useful tools

With a sently knicked off the sharp edge on one side of the first flake to define the point, but more importantly, to blunt the back so the handheld knife could be used without cutting the user; retouching, not to sharpen the already thin sharp edge, but to dull the back for safe handling He gave the knife a critical evaluation, removed a few more tiny chips, then, satisfied, he put it down and reached for the next flake Going through the same process, he made a second knife

The next flake Droog selected was a larger one froe was nearly straight Holding the flake against the anvil, Droog applied pressure with a se, then severala series of V-shaped notches He blunted the back of the denticulated tool and reexamined the small-toothed saw he had just made, then nodded and put it down

Using the sae of a s a sturdy, slightly blunt-edged tool that would not break easily fro wood or animal hides, and would not tear the skins On another flake, he e, especially useful for shaping the points of wooden spears, and on the last flake—which came to a sharp point on the thin end but had rather wavy blade edges—he blunted both sides, leaving the point The tool could be used as an awl to pierce holes in leather or as a borer to ’s tools were made to be held in the hand

Droog looked once more over the kit of tools he hadin rapt attention, hardly daring to breathe He handed her the scraper and one of the wide sharp flakes that were re the hand-axe

“You can have these You may find theestured

Ayla’s eyes were glowing She handled the tools as if they were the ht be chosen to go along with the hunters on the mammoth hunt? she wondered Ayla wasn’t a woman yet, and usually only wo ith the hunters But she oone on a few short hunts already that summer Maybe I will be picked I hope so, I really hope so, she thought

“This girl will save the tools until the time of the mammoth hunt If she is chosen to accompany the hunters, she will use them for the first time on the mammoth the hunters will kill,” she told him

Droog grunted, then he shook out the leather that was spread across his lap to remove the small chips and splinters of stone, placed the mammoth-foot anvil, hammerstone, bone hammer, and the bone and stone retouchers in the middle of it, and wrapped theathered up the new implements and walked to the shelter he shared with the other h it was still afternoon In a very short time he had produced some very fine tools and he did not want to push his luck

“Iza! Iza! Look! Droog gave these to me He even let me watch while he made the the tools carefully in the other as she ran toward theon athe tools for the ht find these useful if I go along with theo with them?”

“You ht, Ayla But I don’t knohy you’re so excited about it It will be hard work All the fat must be rendered and most of the meat dried, and you can’t believe how much meat and fat is on a mammoth You’ll have to travel far and carry it all back”

“Oh, I don’t care if it’s hard work I’ve never seen a e I want to go Oh, Iza, I hope I can go”

“Mammoth don’t often come this far south They like it cold and the summers are too hot here There’s too raze But I haven’t had ood, tender mammoth, and they have so s”

“Do you think they’ll take estured excitedly

“Brun doesn’t tell ; you knowwould have said anything if it wasn’t a possibility I think he was grateful that you saved Ona fro and the tools and news about the hunt are his way of telling you Droog is a fine ifts”

“I’o, I’ll use them for the first time then”

“That’s a good idea, Ayla, and it was the proper thing to say”

14

The e woolly beastsat best, and it had the whole clan excited Every able-bodied person would be included in the expedition to the northern end of the peninsula, close to where it joined thethe time it would take to travel, butcher and preserve the meat, render the fat, and return to the cave, all other hunting activities would be precluded And there was no assurance they would find ot there, or, if they did, that the hunters would be successful Only the fact that if they were successful, one gigantic beast would provide enough e supply of fat so essential to their existence, made it hile to even consider

The hunters craular hunts into the early summer season to lay in e

noughwinter—if they were careful They couldn’t afford the luxury of ga some provision for the next cold season But the next Clan Gathering would be held in two years, and during that su The entire season would be spent traveling to the cave of the clan hosting the significant event, participating in the great festival, and returning again The long history of such in stockpiling food and supplies well in advance to tide the That was the reason he decided to huntwinter, plus a successful ood head start Dried rains would easily last two years if properly stored

There was not only an aura of excite hunt, there was a palpable undercurrent of superstition The success of the hunt depended so nificant occurrences Everyone was careful of their every action and especially circu remotely related to spirits No one wanted to be the cause of an angered spirit thatbad luck The woht be a bad omen

Thefervent supplication to propitiate the invisible forces around the powerful char that as seen as a favorable indication, and every hitch was cause for worry The whole clan was edgy, and Brun hardly had one good night’s rest from the time he made the decision to hunt ht of it

Brun called a o and ould stay behind Protecting the home cave was the important issue

“I have been considering leaving one of the hunters behind,” the leader began “We will be gone at least a wholetime to leave the cave unprotected”

The hunters avoided looking at Brun None of them wanted to be excluded froht his eye, he ht be the one selected to remain behind