This is called indirect percussion flaking. This mediation allowed you to have precise targeting of force, and still have all the momentum of a falling hammer stone going into the movement. Greater precision could be achieved by placing a piece of antler or other hard material precisely where you wanted pressure applied, and then whacking on that. Don't worry about it.)Д«oth cores and flakes were used all through the stone age, but there was increasing emphasis on flake tools as time passed and techniques for controlled flaking improved.Д®arliest stone tools, and those in which the stone knapper had least control over how the stone would break, were made by percussion flaking, that is, whacking a stone with something -usually another stone, appropriately called a 'hammer stone.' Whacking with something slightly softer than stone -such as antler- allowed somewhat greater control in some cases.Д®ven for the best percussion knappers, however, it was difficult to hit the target stone with perfect precision. Or alternatively, big flakes should be thought of as the cores for little ones struck from them. Stone tools were made by taking a piece of stone and knocking off flakes, a process known as 'knapping.' When the flakes were used, the tools produced are referred to as ' flake tools.' When the core itself was used, it is referred to as a ' core tool.' (Naturally, smaller flakes could be removed from larger ones, so not all flakes came off of cores. (Picture sources for this page are numbered in captions visible by holding your mouse over each picture and are expanded at the foot of the page.)

Other kinds of stone tools include various hammers and grinding basins, not described here. This page is devoted to stone points and blades, usually associated with hunting activities. This page is intended to serve as a quick introduction to several kinds of Paleolithic stone tools referred to by prehistoric archaeologists.

Stone tools made by early man