History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c10.s1.t6.36

v1.c10.s1.t6.36

(2) Massive Cleaver-shaped Flakes - Unprepared flakes: Though similar in technique and size to the preceding one, this group is characterized by cleaver-shaped flakes. Unique to the Nagarjunakonda valley, the flakes of this category have unprepared dorsal surface and striking platform, but are cleaver shaped (Jayaswal, 1978, p. 20). Technologically they exhibit a very striking feature. Only those boulders which showed projecting natural curvatures of cleaver shape were selected for detaching these flakes (Fig. 10). Thereafter, a single heavy blow at the centre of the curvature was sufficient to produce a broad flake having a cleaver-edge on one side.