Editing Hand axe (section)

==Production==
Older hand axes were produced by direct [[percussion]] with a stone hammer and can be distinguished by their thickness and a sinuous border. [[Mousterian]] hand axes were produced with a soft [[Knapping|billet]] of [[antler]] or wood and are much thinner, more symmetrical and have a straight border. An experienced [[flintknapper]] needs less than 15 minutes to produce a good quality hand axe. A simple hand axe can be made from a beach pebble in less than 3 minutes.

The manufacturing process employs [[lithic reduction]]. This phase is commonly thought of as the most important in hand axe fabrication, although it is not always used, such as for hand axes made from flakes or a suitable tool stone. An important concern is the implement that has been used to form the biface. If multiple implements were used, it is essential to discover in what order they were used and the result obtained by each one. The most common implements are:<ref name=benito/>
[[File:Bifaz-El Lombo (PD).png|thumb|Hand axe formed using a hard hammer, without further treatment.]]

===Hard hammer faces===
Hand axes can be made without subsequent reworking of the edges.<ref name="alimen">{{cite book|author-link=Henriette Alimen|last1=Alimen|first1= Marie-Henriette|last2=Zuate y Zuber|first2= José|chapter=Les bifaces: considerations morphologiques et technologiques|title=L'évolution de l'Acheuléen au Sahara nord-occidental|lang=fr|trans-chapter=Bifaces: morphological and technological considerations|trans-title=Evolution of the Acheulean in the northwestern Sahara|year=1978|publisher=Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique |location=Meudon, France|pages=120–121}}</ref> A [[hammerstone]] was the most common percussive tool used during the Acheulean. The resulting artefact is usually easily recognizable given its size and irregular edges, as the removed flakes leave pronounced [[bulb of percussion|percussion bulbs]] and compression rings.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cotterell |first1=Brian |last2=Kamminga |first2=Johan |title=The Formation of Flakes |journal=American Antiquity |date=October 1987 |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=675–708 |doi=10.2307/281378 |jstor=281378 |s2cid=163565502 }}</ref> A hammerstone produces a small number of flakes that are wide and deep leaving long edges on the tool as their highly concave form yields curving edges. The cross-section is irregular, often sub-rhombic, while the intersection between the faces forms an acute angle of between 60° and 90° degrees. The shape is similar to that of the core as the irregularities formed during knapping are not removed. The notches obtained were exploited in the production sequence. It is common that this type of manufacture yields "partial bifaces" (an incomplete working that leaves many areas covered with cortex), "unifaces" (tools that have only been worked on one face), "[[Abbevillian|bifaces in the Abbevillian style]]" and "nucleiform bifaces". This type of manufacturing style is generally an indication of the age when a tool was made and with other archaeological data can provide a context that allows its age to be estimated.

===Hard hammer faces and edges===
[[File:Bifaz-Teso de San Francisco (PD+PD).png|thumb|Hand axe formed using a hard hammer. The edges have also been worked using a hard hammer.]]
These hand axes have a more balanced appearance as the modification consists of a second (or third) series of blows to make the piece more uniform and provide a better finish. The modification is often called retouching<ref>For Jacques Tixier the reworking sometimes has the objective of sharpening the edge so he uses the term ''reprise'' (recovery); however, Lionel Balout uses the term ''secondary retouch'' or ''reworking'' equally; while François Bordes prefers the word ''regularization'': {{harvnb|Alimen|Zuate y Zuber|1978|p=121}}</ref> and is sometimes carried out using invasive retouching or using softer, marginal, shallow blows that are only applied to the most marked irregularities leaving scale-like marks. The modification of edges with a hard hammer was carried out from the beginning of the Acheulean and persisted into the Mousterian. It is therefore not useful as an indicator of chronology (in order for it to be considered as a marker it has to be accompanied by other complementary and independent archaeological data). The hand axes arising from this methodology have a more classical profile with either a more [[symmetry|symmetrical]] almond or oval shape and with a lower proportion of the cortex of the original core. It is not always the case that the retouching had the objective of reducing an edge's irregularities or deformities. In fact, it has been shown that in some cases the retouching was carried out to sharpen an edge that had been blunted by use or a point that had deteriorated.<ref name=fritisa>{{cite book|last=Tixier|first= Jacques|chapter=Les industries lithiques d'Aïn Fritissa (Maroc Oriental)|language=fr|trans-chapter=The Lithic industries of Aïn Fritissa (western Morocco)|title=Bulletin d'Archéologie marocaine|volume=3|year=1960|page=119}}</ref>

===Soft hammer finish===
[[File:Hand axe spanish.gif|thumb|{{center|Hand axe probably roughed-out using a hard hammer and then retouched using a soft hammer.}}]]

Some hand axes were formed with a hard hammer and finished with a soft hammer. Blows that result in deep [[conchoidal fracture]]s (the first phase of manufacture) can be distinguished from features resulting from sharpening with a soft hammer. The latter leaves shallower, more distended, broader scars, sometimes with small, multiple shock waves. However, marks left by a small, hard hammer can leave similar marks to a soft hammer.

Soft hammer finished pieces are usually balanced and symmetrical, and can be relatively smooth. Soft hammer works first appeared in the Acheulean period, allowing tools with these markings to be used as a {{lang|la|[[Terminus post quem|post quem]]}} estimation, but with no greater precision. The main advantage of a soft hammer is that a flintknapper is able to remove broader, thinner flakes with barely developed heels, which allows a cutting edge to be maintained or even improved with minimal raw material wastage. However, a high-quality raw material is required to make their use effective. No studies compare the two methods in terms of yield per unit weight of raw material, or the difference in energy use. The use of a soft hammer requires greater use of force by the [[Knapping|flintknapper]] and a steeper [[learning curve]], although it offers more flakes for less raw material.<ref name=hayden/>

===Soft hammer only===
[[File:Bifaz con percutor blando.png|thumb|Hand axe manufactured with a soft hammer, without the appearance of any marks made by a hard hammer]]
Hand axes made using only a soft hammer are much less common.<ref name="alimen" /> In most cases at least initial work was done with a hard hammer, before subsequent flaking with a soft hammer erased all vestiges of that work. A soft hammer is not suitable for all types of percussion platform and it cannot be used on certain types of raw material. It is, therefore, necessary to start with a hard hammer or with a flake as a core as its edge will be fragile (flat, smooth pebbles are also useful). This means that although it was possible to manufacture a hand axe using a soft hammer, it is reasonable to suppose that a hard hammer was used to prepare a ''blank'' followed by one or more phases of retouching to finish the piece. However, the degree of separation between the phases is not certain, as the work could have been carried out in one operation.

Working with a soft hammer allows a knapper greater control of the knapping and reduces waste of the raw material, allowing the production of longer, sharper, more uniform edges that will increase the tool's working life. Hand axes made with a soft hammer are usually more symmetrical and smooth, with rectilinear edges and shallow indentations that are broad and smooth so that it is difficult to distinguish where one flake starts and another ends. They generally have a regular biconvex cross-section and the intersection of the two faces forms an edge with an acute angle, usually of around 30°. They were worked with great skill and therefore they are more aesthetically attractive. They are usually associated with periods of highly developed tool making such as the [[Micoquien]] or the [[Mousterian]]. Soft hammer manufacturing is not reliable as the sole dating method.

Hand axes were created to be tools and as such they wore out, deteriorated and/or broke during use. Relics have suffered dramatic changes throughout their useful lives. It is common to find edges that have been sharpened, points that have been reconstructed and profiles that have been deformed by reworking in order to extend the piece's useful lifetime. Some tools were recycled later, leading Bordes to note that hand axes "are sometimes found in the Upper Palaeolithic. Their presence, which is quite normal in the Perigordian I, is often due, in other levels, to the collection of Mousterian or Acheulean tools."<ref name=bordes>{{harvnb|Bordes|1961|pp= 49–55}}. The quotation is from page 53 and the figure with dimensions is from page 51.</ref>