A Flintknapper's Toolkit
The word knapping, used to describe the act of chipping off stone flakes with a hammerstone, originates from the Dutch onomatopoeic verb...
Burins, the Chisels of the Late Ice Age
Burins are not much to look at but these blades with their chiseled edges were not only the most important tool in the reindeer hunters’...
Flint
Flint, also known as hornstone, chert or silex, is one of the most common, hardest and most durable rocks. Because of these...
The Big Game Hunters of the Vézère Valley
The Vézère valley in the Dordogne region is one of my favorite holiday destinations in France. The Vézère river, a tributary of the...
The Early Settlers of the Somer Valley
This handaxe, covered with a thick layer of dark brown patina acquired over many thousands of years of weathering, is one of hundreds of...
The Prepared Core Technology
Around 320,000 years ago a new flaking technology came to dominate the toolkit of early humans in Europe, marking the beginning of what...
The Handaxe
The handaxe is without a doubt the most iconic man-made stone tool. They are objects of great beauty and harmony, designed and produced...
The Earliest Stone Tools
The earliest stone tools consciously made by humans were pebbles that were chipped on one side producing a core with a sharp cutting edge...
Stone Tool Characteristics
Stone tools in a broad sense result from striking pieces, flakes or blades from a block of material, the core. All flakes of human origin...
The Stone Ages
We use the term Stone age to describe the broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make implements with a sharp...
