- Cleaver (tool)
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In archaeology, a cleaver is a name given to a type of biface stone tool of the Lower Palaeolithic.
Cleavers are a little like hand axes. They are large and oblong or U-shaped tools meant to be held in the hand, but unlike hand axes, they have a wide, straight cutting edge running at right angles to the axis of the tool.
Acheulean cleavers resemble handaxes but with the pointed end truncated away. Flake cleavers have a cutting edge created by a tranchet flake being struck from the primary surface.
References
- T. Darvill, ed (2003). Oxford Concise Dictionary of Archaeology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280005-1.
Categories:- Archaeology stubs
- Lithics
- Archaeological artefact types
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