Attempting to cut or scrape bone could result in breakage, which could leave obsidian flakes inside the patient.Īncient Technology in Contemporary Surgery (US National Library of Medicine) Surgeons must be very careful to cut only soft tissues with the obsidian scalpel. While they probably never practiced the art of surgery, our Paleolithic ancestors did use tools that have been extolled as more precise than the most modern metal scalpel.Īlthough very sharp the obsidian blade is very thin and cannot withstand lateral force on the blade. One study found that obsidian incisions produced narrower scars, fewer inflammatory cells, and less granulation tissue in a group of rats. A sharper cut will allow a wound to heal more rapidly with less scarring. On the cellular level an obsidian knife can cut between cells rather than tear the cells as a steel knife will do. Good quality obsidian fractures down to single molecules which can produce a cutting edge 500 times sharper than the sharpest steel scalpel blade ("American Medical News", Nov. Even the sharpest metal knife has a jagged, irregular blade when viewed under a strong enough microscope when examined even under an electron microscope an obsidian blade is still smooth and even. Obsidian is used by some surgeons for scalpel blades, as well-crafted obsidian blades have a cutting edge many times sharper than high-quality steel surgical scalpels, the cutting edge of the blade being only about 3 nanometers thick. It's hard to believe but the sharpest knives that have ever been used in recent years were mounted with stone flakes made of obsidian This entry was posted in Fall 2018 by mbarretttzannes. “Obsidian.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.,, Additional Readings/videos “Obsidian.” Geology, /rocks/obsidian.shtml.īritannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “How Stone Age Blades Still Cut It in Surgery.” CNN, Cable News Network, 2 Apr. The scalpels can also be helpful for patients who might be allergic to the materials used for most surgical tools, such as steel and metal. Obsidian tools have their time and place. Green also knows that using obsidian in medicine is a technique is not useful for every procedure and for every surgeon. Green receives his obsidian scalpels from an expert flint knapper, Errett Callahan. While it may seem odd to be using tools from the stone age in modern medicine, the blades being used today are different than those of ancient humans. These scalpels can be used for precise cutting in surgery. Green has observed that following procedures with obsidian scalpels, patients experience much less scarring than in the same procedure done with steel tools.Ī modern obsidian scalpel. Obsidian’s makeup creates a smooth and continuous edge on a blade, while regular steel tools have a rough edge on their blades at a microscopic level, which can tear into tissue and leave the patient with a longer healing process and more intense scarring. Lee Green at the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta says it is not uncommon for him to use obsidian blades in his work. For its extreme sharpness, modern surgeons have continued to utilize obsidian tools in their work, especially in precise surgeries. An obsidian blade measures in at only 30 angstroms, making it very useful in precise cutting. The average household razor blade is somewhere between 300 and 600 angstroms (unit of measurement used to measure blade fineness). Obsidian has incredibly useful and unique properties. Obsidian is especially useful for its sharp properties, and this is the reason obsidian tools are still on the market and being studied and used in the twenty first century. Arrowheads would only be found in areas where hunting by bow and arrow was prevalent. Two arrowheads produced from obsidian through the process of knapping.
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