Prepared-core technique: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:00, 16 September 2017

Revision as of 13:48, 29 April 2018

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{{Expert-subject|Archaeology|date=February 2009}}

The '''prepared-core technique''' is means of producing [[stone tool]]s by first preparing common [[lithic core|stone cores]] into shapes that lend themselves to knapping off flakes that closely resemble the desired tool and require only minor touch-ups to be usable. In contrast to earlier techniques, where cores themselves were the end product shaped and trimmed down by removal of flakes, in prepared-core technique large flakes are the product and the core is used to produce them. This shift made it faster and more resource-efficient, as multiple tools could be struck from a single piece of starting pebblematerial.<ref>{{cite web|title=Middle Paleolithic Tool Technologies|url=http://www.anth.ucsb.edu/faculty/stsmith/classes/anth3/courseware/LithicTech/8_Middle_Paleolithic_Tool.html|publisher=University of California Santa Barbara, Department of Anthropology|accessdate=16 September 2017}}</ref>

==History of prepared-core processing==

===First evidence===

Although there had been different types of tools created prior to this technique, mostly that of handaxes and cleavers, this new technique was a great advancement for early man. Believed roughly to have been first used roughly 200,000 years ago, this technique involved a removal of flakes from a piece of stone to achieve the desired shape and thickness. The useadoption of this technique is believed to bewas a significant change in culture and shows an increasing growth ofincreased cognitive ability, as one thatsince issomeone using this method must be able to imagine the end product and maintain that mental image while conditioningfashioning the stone to the desired shape andfor the end result tooluse.

==Methods for reducing cores==

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[[File:Centripetally Reduced Core.jpg|thumb|left|An example of a core prepared through centripetal reduction, with the direction of flaking towards the center of the core.]]

Centripetal or radial core reduction technology encompasses a substantial range of archaeological variability, using pieces of raw material with natural convexities just as well as heavily prepared centripetal cores. The technique is defined by the characteristic direction of percussion from the perimeter of the core towards the centre, hence the term "centripetal". The perimeter of the circular to oval-shaped core served as a platform for striking off [[lithic flake|flakes]], [[lithic blade|blades]] and [[projectile point|points]], which further shaped the face of detachment.

Several technological criteria characterise the definition of the centripetal cores.