Chopper
Multi-functional tool
Lower Palaeolithic
In Europe, In Europe, 1 200 000 to 800 000 years
This objects have been studied in eastern and northern Africa, where they are abundant and referred to as “choppers” or “chopping tools”.
M.N. Brézillon, La dénomination des objets de pierre taillée. Supplément à Gallia Préhistoire. C.N.R.S, Paris.1968
Commentary :
The chopper is one of the earliest stone tools. It is made by a simple technical process involving a pebble being struck with another pebble, to remove flakes that produce a short, thick, and robust edge.
This resistant cutting edge, which is enhanced by the large mass of the pebble, on which it is made, is suitable for a wide range of activities.
This tool is used for percussion in woodworking, processing plant materials, and carcasses. Due to their relative technical simplicity, and natural abundance of pebbles, choppers are present in all the cultures of the European, and African Lower Palaeolithic. These tools therefore accompanied the evolution of hominids, for more than two million years.