In the Late Paleolithic, about 20 thousand years ago, humans developed a more advanced and sophisticated stone processing technology than existed before. The microblade technology consisted of a set of techniques that allowed the production of standard microblades, or microliths, that is, flakes and blades of very small size. These blades were made from micronuclei.
A micronucleus is a stone artifact designed to produce flake blanks of future tools. French anthropologist and archaeologist, one of the founders of modern scientific archaeology, Louis Laurent Gabriel de Mortillet defined nuclei as “pieces of flint or other stone from which flakes and especially blades have been struck for industrial purposes.”
The use of microliths was significant because it allowed for considerable conservation of stone material and the ability to create blades of any length from small interchangeable elements. Spears, harpoons, daggers, arrows, and sickles were made in this way. These tools were called “insert tools.”
As a rule, the insert tools were made of horn, less often of mammoth tusk or tubular bone. The process of making the frame for insert tools included several stages: splitting the horn lengthwise, rough shaping, marking and cutting grooves, finishing and polishing the surface, and fitting the inserts, the microliths. A mixture of plant resin with ash and sand was used to fix the inserts in the groove. As a rule, the groove had a V-shaped or U-shaped form and was located along one edge of the frame.
Later, in the Neolithic, double-groove tools appeared. Short horizontal notches were applied to the base of the mount, which facilitated the attachment of the tool to a shaft.
