A core tool is a type of prehistoric stone tool made directly from a core (the central mass of raw material, usually flint, chert, or obsidian) rather than from flakes struck off the core. These tools represent some of the earliest and most fundamental implements in human technological history.

🌍 Definition

• Core Tool: A stone tool fashioned by shaping the core itself into a usable implement, rather than using flakes removed from it.
• Category: Part of the Lower Paleolithic toolkit, especially associated with early hominins like Homo erectus.

🔑 Characteristics

• Manufacture: Made by striking large flakes off a stone core, then shaping the remaining mass into a tool.
• Size & Weight: Typically larger and heavier than flake tools.
• Forms:
  • Hand axes (bifacially worked cores).
  • Choppers (unifacially worked cores).
  • Picks and cleavers.
• Function: Used for cutting, chopping, scraping, and processing plant and animal materials.

📚 Archaeological Significance

• Technological Stage: Represents early human reliance on simple but versatile tools.
• Cultural Association: Common in the Acheulean industry (1.7 million–200,000 years ago).
• Behavioral Insight: Shows planning and skill in shaping tools for specific tasks.
• Comparative Value: Distinguishes early core-based technologies from later flake-based and blade-based industries.

🛠 Examples

• Oldowan Choppers: Simple core tools with sharp edges, used by Homo habilis.
• Acheulean Hand Axes: Symmetrical bifacial core tools, hallmark of Homo erectus and later hominins.
• Cleavers: Large core tools with a straight cutting edge, used for butchering.

✨ Summary

Core tools are early stone implements made by shaping the core itself, central to Lower Paleolithic technology. They reveal the ingenuity of early humans in adapting raw materials into versatile tools for survival.