ABSTRACT
During a significant period of the Pleistocene in China, Early Palaeolithic populations used local quartz cobbles to fashion stone tools. The repeated use of cobbles and pebbles was so pervasive that the whole Early and Middle Pleistocene suite of tool use has been characterized as belonging to a homogeneous ‘Chopper-Chopping Tool’ industry. Whilst quartz was commonly used to produce Early Palaeolithic tools, the material is not the most desirable type of stone for manufacture, since it fractures in unpredictable ways and options for reduction are limited due to size constraints and its properties. Nevertheless, cobble experiments have demonstrated that quartz is easier to flake and split than are quartzite and sandstone cobbles, making it an attractive raw material (Leng 1992). Because of its unpredictability in fracturing, however, choosing the proper quartz cobble for tool manufacture is of utmost importance.
