Abstract

Stone tools are typically represented by a photograph or drawing and measurements of length, width and thickness. However, lithic artifacts are also a record of knapping sequences, representing the specific mental processes that result in the object's final form. Refitting is one way of examining past decisions, but in cases where refitting is not possible, flake scars can provide evidence of past actions. Using a collection of handaxes from Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa, this paper examines how flake scars can be used to describe a handaxe in terms of the series of actions that created it, constructing schematic representations that link process and final shape, quantifying the human action in tool production and providing information about past mental processes.