Editing Lithic flake (section)

==Other flake characteristics==
The [[striking platform]] is the point on the proximal portion of the flake on which the detachment blow fell or pressure was placed. This may be natural or prepared. [[Termination type]] is a characteristic indicating the manner in which the distal end of a flake detached from a core. Flake terminations may be feathered, hinged, stepped, or plunging (also known as overshot or ''outrepassé''). Feathered terminations are often very sharp, as the flake gradually reduces to a very fine thickness before the force exits the core and removes the flake. Hinged terminations are the result of the force rolling away from the core, resulting in a rounded distal end. Step terminations result when a flake prematurely breaks or snaps during removal, leaving a distal end that is often squared off. Plunging flakes are the result of the force rolling back towards the core and often taking off its "bottom". Hinge, step, and plunging terminations, although sometimes deliberately formed, are usually errors called "abrupt terminations". Abrupt terminations are often indicative of internal flaws in a core or previously formed Hertzian cones on the surface.<ref>Macgregor, O.J. (2005) "Abrupt Terminations and stone artefact reduction potential". In Clarkson, C. and L. Lamb (Eds) (2005) ''Lithics 'Down Under': Australian Approaches to Lithic Reduction, Use and Classification''. ''British Archaeological Reports International Monograph Series S1408''. Oxford: Archaeopress</ref> [[Eraillure]]s, also referred to as "bulbar scars", are tiny flake scars that appear on some bulbs of applied force. The reason they form is not entirely understood. Of those flakes that do exhibit eraillures, very few have more than one.

Secondary and tertiary flakes display dorsal flake scars, which are simply the markings left behind by flakes detached prior to the detachment of the subject flake.  These flake scars are one of the lines of evidence used to infer the method of lithic reduction, or the process by which raw material is turned into useful objects.

===Tools===
{{Further|Burin (lithic flake)}}
Flakes can be modified into formal tools, which result from additional working of the piece to shape a flake into a desired form, or they can be used without further modification, and are then referred to as expedient tools. For example, scrapers, which may be made by additional removals, known as retouchings, to the edge of a piece, or [[Burin (lithic flake)|burin]]s, which are created by a burin blow on the tip of a blade which produces a chisel-like edge which may have been used for graving and carving wood or bone.  Because they require less labor to create, expedient flakes can be used strategically as a useful tool for a situation that does not necessarily require a sharpened tool necessary for cutting.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=McCall|first1=Grant|title=Ethnoarchaeology and the Organization of Lithic Technology|journal=Journal of Archaeological Research|date=January 1, 2012|volume=20|issue=2|pages=157–203|doi=10.1007/s10814-011-9056-z|s2cid=143220063}}</ref>