The Levallois technique
A core is shaped in advance so that one final strike detaches a predetermined flake.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 100 thousand years
- Known to
- ± 50 thousand years
- Era
- Middle Pleistocene, Quaternary
Levallois knapping requires preparing a stone core through many careful removals so that a single subsequent blow produces a flake of intended size and shape. It is a qualitative step beyond the Acheulean: the maker must hold a multi-stage plan and defer the payoff through a dozen preparatory actions. It appears in Africa and western Eurasia around 400,000 to 300,000 years ago and becomes the signature technology of both Neanderthals and early modern humans.