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Hammerstone

 
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Hammerstone
 
 
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In archaeology
Archaeology

Archaeology, archeology, or arch?ology is the science that studies Homo cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, Artifact , features, Biofact s, and cultural landscape....
, a hammerstone is a hard cobble
Cobble

Cobble may refer to:* A particular size of rock, larger than gravel* Cobblestone, partially-rounded rocks used for road paving* Hammerstone, a prehistoric stone tool...
 used to strike lithic flake
Lithic flake

In archaeology, a lithic flake is a "portion of rock removed from an objective piece by percussion or pressure," and may also be referred to as a chip or spall, or collectively as debitage....
s off a lump of tool stone
Tool stone

In archaeology, a tool stone is a type of stone that is used to manufacture stone tools. Generally speaking, tools that require a sharp edge are made using cryptocrystalline materials that fracture in an easily-controlled Conchoidal fractureal manner....
 during the process of lithic reduction
Lithic reduction

Lithic reduction involves the use of a hard hammer precursor, such as a hammerstone, a soft hammer fabricator , or a wood or antler Punch to detach lithic flakes from a lump of tool stone called a lithic core ....
. Often, a hammerstone is made of a material such as limestone
Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
 or quartzite
Quartzite

Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonics compression within orogeny....
, is often ovoid in shape (to better fit the human hand), and develops telltale battering marks on one or both ends. Hammerstones are often found in archaeological recovery in association with other stone tool artifacts, debitage
Debitage

The term debitage refers to all the waste material produced during lithic reduction and the production of chipped stone stone tools. This assemblage includes, but is not limited to, different kinds of lithic flakes, shatter, and production errors and rejects....
 and/or objects of the hammer such as ore.






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In archaeology
Archaeology

Archaeology, archeology, or arch?ology is the science that studies Homo cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, Artifact , features, Biofact s, and cultural landscape....
, a hammerstone is a hard cobble
Cobble

Cobble may refer to:* A particular size of rock, larger than gravel* Cobblestone, partially-rounded rocks used for road paving* Hammerstone, a prehistoric stone tool...
 used to strike lithic flake
Lithic flake

In archaeology, a lithic flake is a "portion of rock removed from an objective piece by percussion or pressure," and may also be referred to as a chip or spall, or collectively as debitage....
s off a lump of tool stone
Tool stone

In archaeology, a tool stone is a type of stone that is used to manufacture stone tools. Generally speaking, tools that require a sharp edge are made using cryptocrystalline materials that fracture in an easily-controlled Conchoidal fractureal manner....
 during the process of lithic reduction
Lithic reduction

Lithic reduction involves the use of a hard hammer precursor, such as a hammerstone, a soft hammer fabricator , or a wood or antler Punch to detach lithic flakes from a lump of tool stone called a lithic core ....
. Often, a hammerstone is made of a material such as limestone
Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
 or quartzite
Quartzite

Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonics compression within orogeny....
, is often ovoid in shape (to better fit the human hand), and develops telltale battering marks on one or both ends. Hammerstones are often found in archaeological recovery in association with other stone tool artifacts, debitage
Debitage

The term debitage refers to all the waste material produced during lithic reduction and the production of chipped stone stone tools. This assemblage includes, but is not limited to, different kinds of lithic flakes, shatter, and production errors and rejects....
 and/or objects of the hammer such as ore. This technology was of major importance to prehistoric culture
Culture

Culture is difficult to define. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions....
s before the age of metalworking; today, however, the use of hammerstones is mostly limited to flintknapper
Flintknapper

Knapping is the shaping of flint, chert, obsidian or other stone through the process of lithic reduction to manufacture stone tools, strikers for flintlock firearms, or to produce flat-faced stones for building or facing walls, and flushwork decoration....
s and others who wish to develop a better understanding of how stone tool
Stone tool

A stone tool is, in the most cave general sense, any tool made of Rock . Although stone-tool-dependent cultures exist even today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric societies that no longer exist....
s were made.
Hard Hammer

World regions

The hammerstone is a rather universal stone tool which appeared early in most regions of the world including Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 and North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
.

See also

  • Chopper
    Chopper (archaeology)

    Archaeologists define a chopper as a pebble tool with an irregular cutting edge formed through the removal of lithic flake from one side of a stone....
  • Stone Age
    Stone Age

    The Stone Age is a broad prehistory time period during which humans widely used Rock for toolmaking.Stone tools were made from a variety of different kinds of stone....