An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s2.7

v1.c9.s2.7

The handaxe-cleaver tools are the most dominant type of the Indian Lower Palaeolithic occurring throughout the peninsular region. Both handaxes and cleavers occur in a variety of shapes and can be distinguished on the basis of their length, breadth and thickness and morphological outlines. Typologically they can be grouped into: cruder types in which the flaking has left deep and irregular scars, thick bodies and asymmetrical forms; and finer types with smoother surfaces due to controlled flaking and symmetrical forms. Unless these two groups occur in a stratigraphic succession they do not imply evolutionary stages. If they are present in the same collection their contrasting typological features perhaps denote only the stages in the manufacture of the tools belonging to the same cultural level.