- Percussion flaking: This technique involved striking a stone core with a hammerstone to remove flakes of stone that could be shaped into tools.
- Pressure flaking: This technique involved applying pressure to a stone core with a bone or antler tool to remove smaller, more precise flakes of stone.
Which technique was better depended on the desired outcome:
- Percussion flaking produced larger, more robust tools that were suitable for heavy-duty tasks such as chopping and scraping.
- Pressure flaking produced smaller, more delicate tools that were better suited for fine work such as cutting and drilling.
As a result, both percussion flaking and pressure flaking were essential techniques for early humans, allowing them to create a wide variety of tools for different purposes.