Tool production has seen many changes since the first hand-axes.

During the middle paleolithic, the neanderthals most commonly used the Levallois technique to craft stone tools. The final shape of the flake had to already be visualised and planned while preparing the core, flaking it until reaching the desired shape. This technique was not very economical, as only one or two flakes could be made from one core.

After obtaining the flake, the core itself could then also be further retouched and repurposed, making them a rarer archeological find than the flakes they produced.

The anatomically modern humans, in contrast, created multiple long, thin blades from a single core, leaving less wasted material. They used indirect percussion with a soft hammer and either antler or bone punch.

Bones were also used sporadically by Neanderthals, while it became more common in the upper paleolithic, by modern humans. When a bone point was damaged, they tried to repair it by reshaping or resharpening it.

Wood was also used, as spears and javelins have been the preferred tool for hunting, but slowly gave way to a bow and arrow by the end of the ice age.

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