Cleaver (Stone Age tool)

But, unlike hand axes, they have a wide, straight cutting edge running at right angles to the axis of the tool.

Cleavers, found in many Acheulean assemblages such as Africa, were similar in size and manner of hand axes.

Once the large flakes were detached, there were only minor modifications needed to get the desired end product that is now known as the flake-cleaver.

This process was used in the Middle Pleistocene of South Africa, and was the chosen method of producing large flakes that was used to create cleavers.

Cleavers can also be found made from different raw materials such as flint or limestone, but these are not nearly so common.

[4] This tool type is known from various lower Paleolithic sites across western Asia and Indian subcontinent.