Blade

The basis of stone technology is the removal of pieces of flint or other stone by striking the parent nodule or core with a hammer. When the flakes removed are elongated so as to be at least twice as long as they are wide, they are called blades. A typical blade has parallel sides and regular scars running down its back parallel with the sides. The prerequisite for blade production is the preparation of a blade core of elongated or prismatic shape. Blades appear at an early stage of technological development, but they become important from the Upper Palaeolithic onwards.

A long, narrow, sharp-edged, thin flake of stone, used especially as a tool in prehistoric times. This flake was detached by striking from a prepared core, often with a hammer. Its length is usually at least twice the width. The blade may be a tool in itself, or may be the blank from which a two-edged knife, burin, or spokeshave was manufactured. This term, then, is used by archaeologists in several ways. (1) It can refer to a fragment of stone removed from a parent core. The blade is used to manufacture artifacts in what is known as the blade and core industry. (2) That portion of an artifact, usually a projectile point or a knife, beyond the base or tang. (3) In certain cultures, small artifacts are called microblades. It was a great technological advance when it was discovered that a knapper could make more than one tool from a chunk of stone. The Chatelperronian and Aurignacian were the earliest of the known blade cultures - associated with the arrival of modern humans. Industries in which many of the tools are made from blades became prominent at the start of the Upper Paleolithic period. A typical blade has parallel sides and regular scars running down its back parallel with the sides. A “backed blade” is a blade with one edge blunted by the removal of tiny flakes. Blades led to another invention - the handle. A handle made it easier and much safer to manipulate a sharp, two-edged [blade tool]