The oldest and most widely dispersed of human industrial arts found in the archaeological record is stone tools. Archaeologists refer to stone tools as lithics. The art of transforming rocks into functional tools is called flintknapping.
An archaeologist must have a working knowledge of stone materials in order to recognize an artifact from a naturally occurring stone. In the field, it is often a stone tool or fragment found on the surface that lead to archaeological site discoveries. Recognizing which rocks make the best stone tools, and the techniques used to manufacture the tools enhance our understanding of those who made them. With practice, the ability to recognize culturally modified from naturally modified rock can be developed.
SFU Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology