Triangular Biface
Working of hard materials
Middle Palaeolithic
300 000 to 45 000 years
Triangular bifaces include several subtypes, based on whether the base is sharp, worked [...] or has cortex or a flat area.
F. Bordes, Typologie du Paléolithique ancien et moyen, Delmas, Bordeaux, 1961
Commentary :
During the Middle Palaeolithic, the Mousterian tool kit comprise flake tools and bifaces, some of which are triangular. The triangular biface has particularly robust cutting edge that is easy to handle. Its long cutting edges can be adapted to work various materials, by scraping, cutting or chopping.
The symmetrical shapes of bifaces, which lasted over long periods of time, are evidence of long-established skills. They also indicate just how attached Neanderthals were, to their technical traditions.