Editing Lithic reduction (section)

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

Soft-hammer percussion involves the use of a billet, usually made of wood, bone  or antler as the percussor. These softer materials are easier to shape than stone hammers, and therefore can be made into more precise tools. Soft hammers also deform around the sharp edges of worked stone, rather than shattering through them, making it desirable for working tool stone that already has been worked to some degree before. Soft hammers of course also do not have as much force behind them as hard hammers do.  Flakes produced by soft hammers are generally smaller and thinner than those produced by hard-hammer flaking; thus, soft-hammer flaking is often used after hard-hammer flaking in a lithic reduction sequence to do finer work.<ref>{{harvp|Cotterell |Kamminga |1987|p=867}}</ref>  As well as this, soft-hammers can produce longer flakes which aid in the conservation of materials because they produce a longer cutting edge per unit of mass lost.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Pelcin|first1=A.|title=The effect of indentor type on flake attributes: evidence from a controlled experiment|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|date=1997|volume=24|issue=7|pages=613–621|doi=10.1006/jasc.1996.0145|doi-access=free|bibcode=1997JArSc..24..613P }}</ref>

In most cases, the amount of pressure applied to the objective piece in soft-hammer percussion is not enough for the formation of a typical conchoidal fracture.  Rather, soft-hammer flakes are most often produced by what is referred to as a bending fracture, so-called because the flake is quite literally bent or "peeled" from the objective piece. A bending fracture can be produced with a hard hammer.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Pelcin|first1=A.|title=The Formation of Flakes: The Role of Platform Thickness and Exterior Platform Angle in the Production of Flake Initiations and Terminations|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|date=1997|volume=24|issue=12|pages=1107–1113|doi=10.1006/jasc.1996.0190|bibcode=1997JArSc..24.1107P }}</ref> Flakes removed in this manner lack a [[bulb of percussion]], and are distinguished instead by the presence of a small lip where the flake's striking platform has separated from the objective piece.<ref>{{harvp|Andrefsky|2005|pp=18–20}}; {{harvp|Cotterell |Kamminga |1987|p=690}}</ref>