Editing Lithic reduction (section)

====Hard-hammer percussion====
[[Image:Hard Hammer.jpg|thumb|right|An example of hard hammer percussion.]]

Hard hammer techniques are generally used to remove large flakes of stone.  Early flintknappers and hobbyists replicating their methods often use cobbles of very hard stone, such as [[quartzite]].  This technique can be used by flintknappers to remove broad flakes that can be made into smaller tools.  This method of manufacture is believed to have been used to make some of the earliest stone tools ever found, some of which date from over 2 million years ago.<ref>{{harvp|Andrefsky|2005|p=31}}</ref>

It is the use of hard-hammer percussion that most often results in the formation of the typical features of [[conchoidal fracture]] on the detached flake, such as the [[bulb of percussion]] and compression rings.<ref>{{harvp|Cotterell |Kamminga |1987|p=986}}</ref>