Retouching

Aboriginal people sometimes heated the stone which made it easier to knap and helped make the flaked edge sharper. Tiny scars seen around the cutting edges of some flakes are made with a process called ‘retouch’. Retouch is a process where stone tools are sharpened by striking small flakes from the cutting edges of the tool to make serrations. The tiny ripples through the surface of the tool are from the flake breaking off the core, called ‘ripple marks.