As the Levallois technique is counterintuitive, teaching the process is necessary and thus language may be a prerequisite for such technology, although Ohnuma, Aoki and Akazawa (1997) found modern humans could be taught the Levallois technique non-verbally at a similar level of effectiveness to verbal teaching. While Levallois cores do display some variability in their platforms, their flake production surfaces show remarkable uniformity. In North Africa, the Levallois technique was used in the Middle Stone Age, most notably in the Aterian industry to produce very small projectile points. In the Levant, the Levallois technique was also used by anatomically modern humans during the Middle Stone Age. The technique is first found in the Lower Palaeolithic but is most commonly associated with the Neanderthal Mousterian industries of the Middle Palaeolithic. This is one level superior to the Acheulean complex of the Lower Paleolithic. Scientists consider the Levallois complex to be a Mode 3 technology, as a result of its diachronic variability. This method provides much greater control over the size and shape of the final flake which would then be employed as a scraper or knife although the technique could also be adapted to produce projectile points known as Levallois points. When the striking platform is finally hit, a lithic flake separates from the lithic core with a distinctive plano-convex profile and with all of its edges sharpened by the earlier trimming work. This creates a domed shape on the side of the core, known as a tortoise core, as the various scars and rounded form are reminiscent of a tortoise's shell. A striking platform is formed at one end and then the core's edges are trimmed by flaking off pieces around the outline of the intended lithic flake. The technique was more sophisticated than earlier methods of lithic reduction, involving the striking of lithic flakes from a prepared lithic core. It is named after 19th-century finds of flint tools in the Levallois-Perret suburb of Paris, France. It is part of the Mousterian stone tool industry, and was used by the Neanderthals in Europe and by modern humans in other regions such as the Levant. The Levallois technique ( IPA: ) is a name given by archaeologists to a distinctive type of stone knapping developed around 250,000 to 300,000 years ago during the Middle Palaeolithic period. He lives in West Sussex.The Levallois technique of flint- knapping About the Author ROBERT TURNER teaches flint knapping at Sussex University, Chichester College (Brinsbury Campus), Amberley Museum and Butser Iron Age Village, as well as at shows and National Trust meetings. Illustrated throughout, Flint Knapping is a journey of archaeological discovery through the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Ages. In this informative and original guide, expert Robert Turner explains how flint was used, what tools were made and what they were made for, and provides detailed instruction of how to make them, enabling the reader to replicate their own Stone Age toolkit. A material that has been with us since earliest times, flint still plays a part in our lives today: it is used in cigarette, gas and barbeque lighters in some parts of Britain it is a major building material and many of our beaches have shingle which is just flint by another name. Early mankind once made and used these implements on a daily basis to hunt, prepare food and clothing, to farm, make shelters, and perform all the other tasks required for Stone Age existence. Book Synopsis Flint knapping, which is the shaping of flint or other fracturing stone to manufacture tools, was one of the primary skills used for survival by our prehistoric ancestors. About the Book Flint Knapping is a journey of archaeological discovery through the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Ages.
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