The oldest human activity, that can be proven by archaeological means is the transformation of pebbles into tools.
In the beginning men hit a a cobble with an other one, separating a sharp flake from the core and producing a sharp edge at the later.
Nevertheless requires this two or three million years old activity a higher level of reasoning and planning.
Human brains managed to choose the proper pebbles for hammerstones and cores, they had to plan the angle of impact and to see it's relation to the effect.
You have to hit with the proper force the right spot (not the thumb ;-) holding the core). Fingers should have absolutely no contact to the sharp edges, caused by the fracture of the stone.
What our ancestors created some million years ago is so complex, that some of my big-mouthed-collegues can't cope with....
Later in human history the way flint was knapped changed permanently. New techniques and styles occurred, were transformed and spread.
Every now and then, new styles appear at territories that seem to be unpopulated untill then. Well of course flinttools always appear together with the men and women who made them... ;-)
By analysing their tools, we can find out quite a lot about human beings themselves. Sometimes more, than some conservative scientists might dream of in their worst nightmares...
This is the point at which the experimental aspect of archaeology gains it's full momentum again. To understand the production and use of tools, you have to be able to produce them in an adequate, scientifically correct way.
Some archaeologists recognised this fact long ago. You'll find on this page several images of flinttools, that men and women used here in Europe.
All of them were made with the historical correct tools.
At present my special interests are focussed on the production of blades. In archeological termini, blades are flakes which are at least twice as long as they are broad.
The backside shows negatives of those blades, that were removed before. Sides of blades are more or less parallel.
The picture on the left shows three different kinds of blades. The biggest one was made with an antlerpunch and a wooden mallet.
The two grey ones, at the upper left, I made with an antler hammer in direct soft percussion. The two small ones at the lower left were made with an intermediate piece of antler.
Please pay attention to the regularity of these microblades. Regularity is often attributed to blades made by pression...but as you can see there is an easier way.