A significant change in tool production during the Neolithic is the arrival of polished stone axes and hammers. People used them not only for construction and fuel-gathering, but also as weapons.

Some of the most popular rocks remained chert, tuff or tuffitic sandstone. Multiple pieces of blades could be attached with resin to wooden sickles, creating a reaping tool for cereal plants and other farming needs.

Obsidian, with its conchoidal fracture, continued to play a huge part in tool production. It was in immense demand in the central Mediterranean, but was mostly found only on small islands. Since obsidian from different sources has a specific chemical composition, it is possible to trace the exchange networks where it was traded.

Igneous and metamorphic rocks could also be used for the creation of axes. Such were dolerite in Brittany and especially Jadeite from Piedmont and Liguria, which spread beyond western Europe, where it would remain a distinctive material of Neolithic.

The stone axes and arrowheads were also placed at graveyards as offerings for the afterlife.

Stone tools and weapons remained in use even up to the iron age, as the incoming copper ore and metallurgy from the middle east and the Balkans, was too soft by themselves.

Edited with Vegas Pro 19
Sources: docs.google.com/document/d/1mnK9tpEvz9UgeVWuUh8fPF…

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