Levallois Industry

Poet Levallois

Making Levallois Pointed Tip

Chipping of flakes according to the Levallois method

The industry of levallois is an archaeological stone industry , characteristic of the middle and part of the Upper Paleolithic . Named after Found in the XIX century flint tools in Levallois-Perret , a suburb of Paris . In the XIX century, these tools were considered as belonging to a separate "Levallois culture." Later it was found that the area of ​​distribution of the tools was extensive and covered various cultures and a rather large chronological period. For the first time, the Levallois industry appears in the Lower Paleolithic , but the most widespread among the Neanderthals is the Mousterian culture of the Middle Paleolithic. On the territory of the Levant, the Levallois industry is found even in the layers of the Upper Paleolithic and later.

This method made it much more accurate to control the size and shape of the final product and was more complex than the early methods of stone cleavage. He assumed the flaking of high-quality flint flakes with specially prepared preliminary chipping of the workpiece. The preparation was carried out by radial chipping along the edges and the design of one or two impact pads. The result was a discoid "prenucleus", resembling a tortoise shell. Then, 1-3 cannons were split off from the middle section. Then they could again correct the resulting nucleus or “ nucleus ” and produce the following splitting of the guns.

As a result, round or pointed flakes were obtained, which could be used as tools immediately or after minimal refinement. Used as scrappers or knives , but could also be adapted for use as tips. After the entire cycle of cleaving, the Levallose-type nucleus remained.