Editing Hand axe (section)

====Macroscopic traces====
Some hand axes were used with force that left clearly visible marks. Other visible marks can be left as the scars from retouching, on occasion it is possible to distinguish them from marks left by the initial manufacture. One of the most common cases is when a point breaks. This was seen at sites in Europe, Africa and Asia. One example comes from the El Basalito site in [[Province of Salamanca|Salamanca]], where excavation uncovered fragments of a hand axe with marks at the tip that appeared to be the result of the action of a wedge, which would have subjected the object to high levels of torsion that broke the tip.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Benito del Rey |first1=Luis |last2=Benito Álvarez |first2=José Manuel |chapter=El análisis funcional de artefactos líticos prehistóricos: la Trazalogía|title=Métodos y materias instrumentales en Prehistoria y Arqueología (la Edad de la Piedra Tallada más antigua) |volume=II: Tecnología y tipología|year=1998|publisher=Gráficas Cervántes |location=Salamanca|isbn=978-84-95195-05-0}}</ref> A break or extreme wear can affect a tool's point or any other part. Such wear was reworked by means of a secondary working as discussed above. In some cases this reconstruction is easily identifiable and was carried out using techniques such as the {{lang|fr|coup de tranchet}} (French, meaning "[[Tranchet axe|tranchet]] blow"), or simply with scale or scalariform retouches that alter an edge's symmetry and line.
[[File:Bifaz-Punta reconstruida.png|center|thumb|upright=1.5|Acheulean hand axe whose point fractured and was reconstructed using a different working]]