1. Knife blade.
Knapped correctly, the edge of an obsidian blade is extremely sharp and therefore would have made excellent knife blades. The downside was its fragility but when it breaks, the jagged edges are still sharp and so it could be used again.

2. Mirror.
Obsidian is shiny and a flat section of the stone could have been used as a small mirror - a prehistoric compact!

3. Arrow head.
Due to its sharpness, an obsidian arrow head would pierce through the thickest of hides.

4. Beads.
If beads of obsidian were sewn onto tunics, they would have glittered in the fire light. Making them would not have been easy as the stone flakes when hit, so this would have made them valuable items.

5. A shellfish opener.
Formed into a wedge with a thin edge, this would have been perfect for prying open oysters and other shellfish. 

Too Long To Die (by Pat Jackson) should appeal to a number of audiences: those who love crime, particularly historical crime before DNA, finger printing and all the science that helps to solve modern day crimes; those who are fascinated by prehistory (this is set in the Upper Paleolithic era); those who love a bit of spiritual mystery and intrigue; and those who want good to win out over evil. 
One reviewer on Amazon said: 'I say it's a great 'cross-over' novel because this could easily be read by adults or children'. Someone else told me they thought it was a great YA novel. There is no graphic sex in it and the violence is real but understated.
I think this novel will appeal to most readers.

Black Obsidian 

Black, shiny, and extremely beautiful, obsidian is molten lava that cools so fast it does not crystallize. This stone looks more like glass and its brittle nature causes it to fracture with very sharp edges, so much so that, with modern tools, it has been fashioned into and used as scalpels. For early man it could be knapped into tools and weapons far sharper than flint, although not as strong.

On the eastern side of northern Spain there exists an area called Garrotxa Volcanic Park. It has over 40 volcanic cones and evidence of at least 20 lava flows. For the sake of 'Too Long To Die' I have taken this area to be the source of the Death Stone.

So why did I call it Death Stone? I first came across obsidian a number of years ago. When I picked it up I instantly felt faint and a wave of nausea hit me. Now, when I touch it I still feel a bit queasy to start with but the effect soon disappears. Why? Obsidian is considered a very strong, healing stone. It works by bringing stress and problems to the surface so they can be faced and dealt with. Judy Hall, author of The Crystal Bible writes, 'It magnifies all negative energies so that they can be fully experienced and then released' and she says, 'many people find its effects overwhelming.' I obviously have a number of buried problems to deal with! 

Lonell's homeland is situated on the coast of what is now known as northern Spain. The prehistoric caves of Altamira were inhabited much later than the date of the book but perhaps the Pescovari were their ancestors! 
The land would have stretched out much further into the Bay of Biscay than it does now and I have taken advantage of this, making it into the long stony beach that leads to the deep underwater channels where huge whales and other marine creatures (Monsters) dwelt.

I've always wondered what it would be like to live in a world where everything you used and ate came straight from Nature, where nothing was pre-fabricated. Nothing would be easy. Would we survive today if we had to revert? I think the answer is that most of us would not. Are we now too individualistic or could we subjugate ourselves for the good of the 'tribe'?          
For that, in my humble opinion, is the only way early humans could have survived. Each person, in addition to the essential skills such as hunting, must have had their own speciality which they offered freely to the tribe. And yet, the paradox of Too Long to Die is that it is Lonell's own individuality which allows his tribe to survive.

How do you solve a murder? You might use scientific methods such as DNA testing and fingerprinting, talk to as many witnesses as you can find, look at past records, similar crimes, study camera footage, etc., etc..
Imagine trying to solve a crime where none of this is available. All you have is your instinct and clues that initially don't mean anything because you have nothing to compare them with. Your own superstition and beliefs might be blinding you to the truth or pointing you in the right direction - there's no way of knowing. And, in addition, every person you know has a motive.
This is Lonell's world.

I set Too Long To Die at 30,000 years ago, during Aurignacian period of the Upper Paleolithic. This stretched roughly from 34,000 to 23,000 years ago. It was a fascinating period when, suddenly, there seemed to be many innovative changes taking place. Weapons became much more sophisticated with advancements in stone knapping and the bow and arrow appeared for the first time. On a lighter note, painting, sculpture and music developed which may well have been used in religious rituals for the first time.

I felt that this was the time when early humans started to enrich their lives. Of course, survival in a harsh world was still priority but a sense of fun and enjoyment was emerging.  So I had to make their lives just a little bit more dangerous! 

Why did I write Too Long to Die? Good question. Stubbornness, I suppose. At school, eons ago, I was always told that I could write well enough but had no imagination. Then I heard the advice we have all been given: write what you know about. So I sat down to write something that fascinated me but about which I knew very little and nearly all of it came from my imagination.

I have always wondered what it would be like to live in a world where everything you used and ate came straight from Nature, where nothing was pre-fabricated. Nothing would be easy. Would we survive today if we had to revert? I think the answer is that most of us would not.