c. 250,000 BCE
Levallois Technique
Neanderthals
Neanderthal craftsmen develop a technique for making better flint tools
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“Dating back around 250,000 years, the Levallois technique is the name given to a method of knapping flint that was developed by Neanderthals and other proto-humans. The name derives from the Levallois-Perret suburb of Paris, France, where tools forged by this technique were discovered during archaeological digs in the nineteenth century.
The Levallois technique is a more refined version of earlier forms of stone knapping, which involved chipping pieces away from a prepared stone core.
It enabled the tool’s creator to have much greater control over the shape and size of the final flake. The technique begins with selecting a pebble about size of a hand. A striking platform is them formed at one end of the stone, and the edges are trimmed by chipping off pieces around the outline of the intended flake. The base of the stone is then struck in order to produce its distinctive dorsal ridge. When the striking platform is struck, the flake relates from the stone with a characteristic plano-convex configuration and all of its edges sharpened by the earlier chipping. The flake is then ready to use as a knife or as the point of an edged projectile weapon.
Population distributed over a vast geographical region, from Africa to Northern Europe, employed the Levallois technique. It allowed the Neanderthals to perfect their spear-making industry, which in turn aided in the hunting of large animals. Being able to kill larger animals, and therefore feed more individuals while spending less time hunting, aided in the formation of stable people groups, enabling greater sedentism. It also allowed for the production of projectile points for early bow and arrow technology.
The fact that the Levallois technique was refined an perfected by the Neanderthals gives the lie to the popular conception of them as crude and apelike brutes.”
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