Pecking

Pecking, also known as hammer dressing, was a technique used to shape robust stones that are resistant to refined percussion flaking techniques. The technique involved striking the stone repeatedly with a hard hammer, pulverising the surface. Each blow powdered a tiny amount of stone at the point of contact, and the attrition caused by thousands of blows incrementally reduced the object into the desired shape.

The hallmark of pecking on ancient tools are zones of small overlapping pits. The sizes of the pits tend to correlate with the strength of the blows. Experiments suggest that pecking progresses quickest using a sharp edged hammer, such as a recycled core from percussion flaking.

The technique can be very rhythmic, and in the recent past women in New Guinea incorporated pecking blows into songs while they shaped stone axes. Pecking was used to produce rock art motifs called ‘petroglyphs’ on bedrock outcrops in many parts of the world. Most of the petroglyphs in the Mojave Desert of California were made using quartz hammerstones, suggesting a symbolic connection between pecking, quartz, and sacred imagery.