PERCUSSION & PRESSURE
FLAKING ON THE EDGE OF
AN AZTEC BIFACE

MEXICO
LATE PRECLASSIC PERIOD
A.D. 1175 TO 1521

PRIVATE COLLECTION
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   This picture shows a magnified view of the flaking

pattern on the edge of this double notched Aztec biface.

It shows five large flakes that were very uniformly

removed by percussion flaking. These flakes were

probably removed by striking the edge with a tool

called a billet. The fine flakes that were removed

directly on the edge were done by pressure flaking.

Pressure flakes are pushed off with a tool called a
pressure flaker. Both the billet (hammer) and the

pressure flaker may have been made out of antler.

These Aztec flint smiths were making some of the

largest and most skillfully flaked bifaces in the world at
that time.

Magnified view of edge flaking on Aztec biface.

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