What are chipped stones?

Chipped stones are old rocks that have been broken into pieces by hitting them really hard.

Imagine you're playing with a rock in the sandbox. If you throw another rock at it, whack!, the first rock might crack or break into smaller parts. That’s exactly what happened to chipped stones long ago, but instead of a sandbox, it was big events, like people hitting rocks together with hammers or even other big rocks.

Think about breaking an eggshell with your fingers. It’s not easy, but if you press really hard, crack!, the shell breaks into little pieces. Chipped stones are kind of like that broken eggshell. People used them a long time ago to make tools, like knives or axes.

Some chipped stones are so old, they're from when people first started using rocks as tools! Scientists can even tell how hard the rock was hit by looking at the shape and size of the chips, it’s like solving a puzzle with pieces of rock.