Editing Hand axe (section)

===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>