I tried to introduce a serious woodworking topic and look where
it's gone!

While there were some great suggestions, which I will try
and work into The Pointy Stick Compendium Project, the
diversion to politics and foreign policy is way out of line.
Let's try and stay ON TOPIC folks!

In an attempt to get this thread back on topic, here's one of
my recent findings, prompted by a serious respondent to my
plea for assistance.

One of the subcategories of Pointy Sticks is the version designed
specifically for pressing into "tablets" made of a special mix
of dirts and water. These Impressing Sticks and the impressions
they left in ancient "tablets" served as the inspiration for
The Impressionist Movement 7,000 +/- years later.

I'm also developing a hypothesis that the paintbrush evolved
from the Gnawed Pointy Stick, Gnawing predating both
the Rubbed and Whittled Pointy Stick manufacturing
techniques. I'm still gathering the data to support my
hypothesis and hope to publish sometime early next year.
If you have any photographs or block prints of very early
paintbrushes which might have started out as a Gnawed
Pointy Stick, PLEASE e-mail me a copy, with any support
documentation/provenance you may have to confirm the
age of the artifact.

Please people - try and stay on topic.

charlie b
Editor
The Pointy Stick Compendium Project