In
archaeology a 'chopper core' is a suggested type of
stone tool created by using a
lithic core as a
chopper following the removal of
flakes from that core. They may be a very crude form of early
handaxe although they are not
bifacially-worked and there is debate as to whether chopper cores were ever used as tools or simply discarded after the desired flakes were removed.
They are found in the early Mode 1 tool industries of the
Oldowan and
Clactonian industries during the
Lower Palaeolithic.
Source
Ashton, NM, McNabb, J, and Parfitt, S, Choppers and the Clactonian, a reinvestigation, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 58, pp21-28, qtd in Butler, C (2005). Prehistoric Flintwork, Tempus, Stroud. ISBN 0-7524-3340-7.