Lithic technology

Lithic technology is the manufacture and use of stone tools. It includes selecting stone, shaping it, and using or reworking the resulting tools.

Knapping: Knapping is the shaping of stone by striking or pressing it to detach flakes. It is the main method for producing sharp flakes and shaped stone tools.
Lithic raw material: Lithic raw material is stone selected for making tools, including flint, obsidian, and quartzite. Material properties determine which techniques can shape a stone effectively.
Oldowan: The Oldowan is an early African stone-tool industry characterized by simple cores and sharp flakes. Its assemblages provide some of the earliest evidence of deliberate stone-tool production.
Stone tool use-wear analysis: Stone tool use-wear analysis studies microscopic polish, striations, and edge damage to infer tool use. Wear traces can reveal how archaeological stone tools were used.
Homo habilis: Homo habilis is an extinct hominin species known from East Africa and associated with early stone tools. Its fossils occur in contexts that include early Oldowan artifacts.
Conchoidal fracture: Conchoidal fracture is the curved breakage pattern produced when brittle materials such as flint are struck. This fracture lets knappers detach flakes with controlled shapes and edges.
Flint: Flint is a fine-grained sedimentary rock that fractures into sharp-edged pieces. Its predictable fracture made it a widely used toolmaking stone.
Acheulean: The Acheulean is a Lower Paleolithic stone-tool industry known for handaxes and cleavers. Its standardized large cutting tools mark a major change in shaping traditions.
Experimental archaeology: Experimental archaeology tests archaeological interpretations by reproducing past techniques and activities. Replicating knapping and tool use helps explain how stone artifacts were made.
Homo erectus: Homo erectus is an extinct hominin species that spread across Africa and Eurasia. Acheulean handaxes and other tools are associated with many Homo erectus populations.

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