hammerstone
an ancient stone tool used as a hammer, as for chipping flint, processing food, or breaking up bones.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use hammerstone in a sentence
This had probably been used as a hammerstone, since it exhibits well-defined percussion marks at each extremity.
The Maya Indians of Southern Yucatan and Northern British Honduras | Thomas William Francis GannThe hammerstone shown in Fig. 41 was found on the surface near the head of Priest Rapids.
The Archaeology of the Yakima Valley | Harlan Ingersoll SmithThe rim of the bowl is flattened, and this flat surface resembles that of the part of a hammerstone used for pecking.
The Archaeology of the Yakima Valley | Harlan Ingersoll SmithThis seems more likely to be a hammerstone used for chipping.
The Archaeology of the Yakima Valley | Harlan Ingersoll SmithA well-worn core hammerstone is also a worn-out specimen, at least in the light of its original function.
The Topanga Culture Final Report on Excavations, 1948 | A. E. Treganza
British Dictionary definitions for hammerstone
/ (ˈhæməˌstəʊn) /
a stone used as a hammer in the production of tools during the Acheulian period
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for hammerstone
[ hăm′ər-stōn′ ]
A hand-held stone or cobble used by hominids perhaps as early as 2.5 million years ago as a crude pounding or pecking tool. Hammerstones were also used by early humans in striking flakes from stone cores to produce core tools.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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