The following eight types, including their sub-types and also at times with a mixture of some of the earlier described types define the cultural stage called Middle Paleolithic. This is a period which of shortest duration and hence can be truly considered as a period of transition from Lower Paleolithic to Upper Paleolithic.
1. Scraper:
The actual name of this type is Side Scraper but most of the non European writings still use the term singly. That is unless otherwise qualified as End Scrapers.
(a) Side Scraper:
Side scraper forms the most common of all flake tools known from the entire Lower to Middle Paleolithic period. There are as many as 21 sub-types identified within the side scrapers. These are based on slight techno-morphological variations.
A side scraper is a flake tool in which one or more lateral borders are shaped by contiguous retouching. If this retouching is done in ‘fish-scale’ manner such side scrapers are also referred to as Quinoa scrapers. (Fish scale is a special manner of retouching in which a series of tiny steps appear as ripples.)
(b) End Scraper:
This is a tool type in which the scraping border is at the morphological end of the specimen and also the retouching on the border is steeper than in side scrapers. In Lower and Middle Paleolithic it occurs in simple form of an end retouched specimen while in Upper Paleolithic, it takes a specific shape.
The Upper Paleolithic end scrapers are prepared on thick blades the terminal ends of which are retouched at a high angle. At least 15 sub-types within this category have been identified.
2. Backed Knife:
It is a Lower and Middle Paleolithic knife which needs to be differentiated from the Upper Paleolithic knife blades which are also backed. These are specific flakes which are so removed that behave three surfaces (i.e. in cross-section these tools are triangular) of which two surfaces are niche and converge to form an elongated sharp border running along the length of the flake, see two surfaces and the border created by them never have any retouching.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The surface opposite e border may be flawed to form a sort of backing. In many cases even this surface is composed of e natural cortex. That is, it is a tool type of planning and may carry no evidence of any further working on it.
3. Borer:
It is a type which, like the end scraper, is more of an Upper Paleolithic character. In Lower and middle Paleolithic it occurs in generalized forms. It is a type in which a thick projected end of a key is specially obtained by etching out two (ideally) notches at the base. In many cases removing even one notch can serve the purpose.
4. Burin:
This is again an Upper Paleolithic type but may be known in atypical forms from as early as late Lower Paleolithic. Burin can be prepared on a flack, blade or even on a core.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The working end is exactly comparable to the same of a screw driver. This 0.5 to 1 cm transverse cutting edge is obtained by the intersection of two plains which meet at an angle. Hence these are also called dihedral angle burins. The two plains are called burin facets and the manner of their preparation decides the sub-type of the burin.
5. Paint:
Point in prehistory is often a misunderstood type. There may be many broken flakes or blades which have convenient workable pointed ends (and may indeed, have been used as a point) but such specimens cannot be included into the type Point until they show evidence of deliberate reinforcement on them.
These are triangular flakes in which one of the angles is acute and show reinforcement around the apex. In some special cases retouching may be done along only one border while the other border has a natural fracture. Mousterian point is a very special form of this type known from only some specific areas. The specialty of these points lies in their symmetrical finish with almost all round retouching.
6. Points Leaf Shape—Laurel Leaf, Willow Leaf (Foliate or Blattspitzen):
Back to types again, this is a thin bifacial worked point which is entirely prepared by controlled percussion technique. These points can be differentiated from the leaf points (laurel leaf, willow leaf) in the generalized crudeness of finish in the first place. Secondly, leaf points are prepared by pressure flaking technique in such a manner that the thinning of the body and regularizing the working border are both achieved by the same series of flakes. In Blattspitzen, these are done by separate flakes and hence a large number of tiny step flaking are required in the control of the flaking.
7. Shouldered Points (Dendiculate, Notch):
These are two different types named entirely structurally. Although, all types are structurally defined but the names used to designate them have remained functional just to keep in conformity with earlier literature.
Seen in this regard these types appear both comfortable and also uncomfortable for perception. Comfortable because the name indicated the techno-morphology of the specimen.
A notch is any specimen with a deliberate lateral incurve while a denticulate is any specimen in which more than one notch is prepared along a border. We feel uncomfortable because unlike a Knife’ or a ‘Scraper’ these type names do not appear relevant in our understanding of culture. It is important, therefore, to re-emphasize that types do not attempt to describe a culture. It is that fixed morphological description which helps to identify cultures or culture boundaries from within a complicated spread of activities and their left over’s.
