Burin from the Upper Paleolithic (Gravettian) (ca. 29,000–22,000 BP) In

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and the field of

lithic reduction In archaeology, in particular of the Stone Age, lithic reduction is the process of fashioning stones or rocks from their natural state into tools or weapons by removing some parts. It has been intensely studied and many archaeological industrie ...

, a burin (from the French ''burin'', meaning "cold

chisel A chisel is a hand tool with a characteristic Wedge, wedge-shaped cutting edge on the end of its blade. A chisel is useful for carving or cutting a hard material such as woodworking, wood, lapidary, stone, or metalworking, metal. Using a chi ...

" or modern engraving burin) is a type of stone tool, a handheld

lithic flake In archaeology, a lithic flake is a "portion of rock (geology), rock removed from an objective piece by percussion or pressure,"Andrefsky, W. (2005) ''Lithics: Macroscopic Approaches to Analysis''. 2d Ed. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press and ...

with a

-like edge which

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

humans used for carving or finishing wood or bone tools or weapons, and sometimes for

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...

images. In archaeology, burin use is often associated with "burin

spall Spall are fragments of a material that are broken off a larger solid body. It can be produced by a variety of mechanisms, including as a result of projectile impact, corrosion, weathering, cavitation, or excessive rolling pressure (as in a ba ...

s", which are a form of

debitage In archaeology, debitage is all the material produced during the process of lithic reduction – the production of stone tools and weapons by knapping stone. This Assemblage (archaeology), assemblage may include the different kinds of lithic fla ...

created when toolmakers strike a small flake obliquely from the edge of the burin flake in order to form the graving edge.

Documented use

left, 180px, Carinated "burin"/microblade core with multiple facets Standardized burin usage is typical of the

Middle Paleolithic The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle P ...

and

Upper Palaeolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories ...

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

s in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, but

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

s have also identified them in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n cultural assemblages, and in his book ''Early Man in China'', Jia Lanpo of Beijing University lists dihedral burins and burins for truncation among artifacts uncovered along the banks of the Liyigon river near Xujiayao. Burins can also be associated with compound microblade projectile technology, found with microblade cores and/or microblades. In these cases, their purpose is interpreted as both a rapid retouch and hafting preparation strategy for blade-based edge tools and bifaces and as a class of dedicated flake or blade-based tools used to insert microblades and other microliths into organic armatures.

Types

180px, Dihedral burin on a blade Multiple types of burin exist. A type of burin diagnostic of the archaeological

stratum In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as ...

where they are found is the ''"Noailles" burin'', named for its original find-site, the ''Grotte de Noailles'', in the commune of

Brive-la-Gaillarde Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of ), commonly known as simply Brive, is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the aggl ...

, Corrèze, in southwestern France. It consists of a small multiple burin characteristic of the Upper Paleolithic cultural stage called the

Gravettian The Gravettian is an archaeological industry of the European Upper Paleolithic that succeeded the Aurignacian circa 33,000 years BP. It is archaeologically the last European culture many consider unified, and had mostly disappeared by ...

, ca. 28–23,000 BC; these flake tools have been restruck and refined to give several chisellike edges and a blunt, grippable rear edge. Another type of burin is called the "ordinary burin", which occurs when a burin facet is backed against another burin facet. A ''bec-de-flute'' burin, or "axial burin" began as a long flake, but one of both ends have been knocked off, giving two working facets meeting at an angle.Bhattacharya, D.K
"Tool types and Techniques of Upper Palaeolithic culture"
/ref>

References

External links

* {{Prehistoric technology, state=expanded Archaeological artefact types Hand tools Lithics Chisels