Folia archeologica 48.

Simán Katalin: Az őskőkori pattintott kőeszköz gyártása és szakkifejezései

MANUFACTURE OF PALAEOLITHIC STONE TOOLS AND THE TECHNICAL TERMS Technological studies on the manufacture of chipped stone tools has been a standard and frequently discussed element of palaeolithic research in several countries. The various analytical methods, the different aspects of the social background and behaviour patterns of palaeolithic populations, and, to some degree, national traditions led to the formation of schools or trends. In Hungary, regrettably, this approach was either neglected until recently or accepted as a complementary issue of minor importance beside typology. The result is a poor knowledge of technical features on the one hand, and the lack of commonly accepted and understood Hungarian technical terms. The intention of the present paper was to give the outline of basic technologic procedures as an introduction to this branch of science. Following a general description of raw material acquisition strategies, raw material types in their appearance and the physical laws to be considered during chipping, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic basic technological strategies are listed together with possible chipping errors and error sources. As the stress is laid on the identification of artefacts recovered during excavations and the place they occupy in the technological sequence, special attention was paid to common misinterpretations. The other aim of the paper was to create acceptable and unambiguous, clearly understood technical terms instead of using a mixture of English, German and French terminology. Accordingly, the appendix contains a table of technical terms in the above languages and their already existing Hungarian translations or ones suggested by the author. Katalin Simán