Many students and researchers have felt the need for an up-to-date guide to the jungle of prehistoric worked stone, either for professional purposes or from personal curiosity.
The qualities of worked stone, in addition to its imperishable nature and its use since the dawn of prehistoric time, certainly confer a special status on it until its replacement by more versatile materials such as metals. Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to think that stone-working contributes to the understanding of past behaviour for prehistoric societies alone. The abundance of easily available raw materials as well as the existence of technical expertises allowed the use of worked stone to continue into historical time. The true decline in the use of worked stone seems to coincide with the appearance of iron. However, let us not overlook gun flints and tinderboxes, nor the threshing sledge (tribulum), still in use today in agriculture.
The first French edition of Préhistoire de la pierre taillée in 1980 contributed to a renewal in the interpretation of lithic assemblages from a technical viewpoint. It included the terminological lexicon published by one of the authors in 1963, and translated by M. Newcomer in 1974, which was relatively rudimentary and still oriented more towards typology than technology.
In 1992, a new edition, in English, gave us the opportunity to take into account recent advances in understanding the technology of knapped stone, as much from a theoretical standpoint as in archaeological applications. Like the earlier editions, it was intended as a basic reference book for as wide a public as possible. A multiligual lexicon in eight languages was appended, written by prehistorians in their own mother-tongues, which should ease communication and subsequently enrich the field of technology.
The new 1995 French edition5 , of which this latest English edition is the unabridged translation, was entirely revised; amongst other additions, a chapter devoted to graphic
expression was included, being essential to communication in technological studies. The multilingual lexicon (with Portuguese added)6 is of course appended to the present edition.

Many students and researchers have felt the need for an up-to-date guide to the jungle of prehistoric worked stone, either for professional purposes or from personal curiosity.
The qualities of worked stone, in addition to its imperishable nature and its use since the dawn of prehistoric time, certainly confer a special status on it until its replacement by more versatile materials such as metals. Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to think that stone-working contributes to the understanding of past behaviour for prehistoric societies alone. The abundance of easily available raw materials as well as the existence of technical expertises allowed the use of worked stone to continue into historical time. The true decline in the use of worked stone seems to coincide with the appearance of iron. However, let us not overlook gun flints and tinderboxes, nor the threshing sledge (tribulum), still in use today in agriculture.
The first French edition of Préhistoire de la pierre taillée in 1980 contributed to a renewal in the interpretation of lithic assemblages from a technical viewpoint. It included the terminological lexicon published by one of the authors in 1963, and translated by M. Newcomer in 1974, which was relatively rudimentary and still oriented more towards typology than technology.
In 1992, a new edition, in English, gave us the opportunity to take into account recent advances in understanding the technology of knapped stone, as much from a theoretical standpoint as in archaeological applications. Like the earlier editions, it was intended as a basic reference book for as wide a public as possible. A multiligual lexicon in eight languages was appended, written by prehistorians in their own mother-tongues, which should ease communication and subsequently enrich the field of technology.
The new 1995 French edition5 , of which this latest English edition is the unabridged translation, was entirely revised; amongst other additions, a chapter devoted to graphic
expression was included, being essential to communication in technological studies. The multilingual lexicon (with Portuguese added)6 is of course appended to the present edition.

Many students and researchers have felt the need for an up-to-date guide to the jungle of prehistoric worked stone, either for professional purposes or from personal curiosity.
The qualities of worked stone, in addition to its imperishable nature and its use since the dawn of prehistoric time, certainly confer a special status on it until its replacement by more versatile materials such as metals. Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to think that stone-working contributes to the understanding of past behaviour for prehistoric societies alone. The abundance of easily available raw materials as well as the existence of technical expertises allowed the use of worked stone to continue into historical time. The true decline in the use of worked stone seems to coincide with the appearance of iron. However, let us not overlook gun flints and tinderboxes, nor the threshing sledge (tribulum), still in use today in agriculture.
The first French edition of Préhistoire de la pierre taillée in 1980 contributed to a renewal in the interpretation of lithic assemblages from a technical viewpoint. It included the terminological lexicon published by one of the authors in 1963, and translated by M. Newcomer in 1974, which was relatively rudimentary and still oriented more towards typology than technology.
In 1992, a new edition, in English, gave us the opportunity to take into account recent advances in understanding the technology of knapped stone, as much from a theoretical standpoint as in archaeological applications. Like the earlier editions, it was intended as a basic reference book for as wide a public as possible. A multiligual lexicon in eight languages was appended, written by prehistorians in their own mother-tongues, which should ease communication and subsequently enrich the field of technology.
The new 1995 French edition5 , of which this latest English edition is the unabridged translation, was entirely revised; amongst other additions, a chapter devoted to graphic
expression was included, being essential to communication in technological studies. The multilingual lexicon (with Portuguese added)6 is of course appended to the present edition.

En 1992, une nouvelle édition en langue anglaise « Prehistory of Knapped Stone »(4) nous a donné l’occasion de présenter les avancées récentes de la technologie, tant dans le domaine théorique que dans celui des applications archéologiques, mais elle se voulait, comme la précédente, un ouvrage de base à l’usage du plus grand nombre. Nous y avions adjoint un vocabulaire multilingue (en huit langues), réalisé par des préhistoriens des langues concernées, afin de faciliter la communication et d’étendre, d’enrichir le domaine de la technologie(5).

Cette nouvelle édition française a été réalisée à partir de l’édition anglaise entièrement remise à jour; un chapitre consacré à l’expression graphique, indispensable à la communication dans les études technologiques, a été notamment ajouté. Elle conserve bien évidemment le vocabulaire multilingue dans lequel le portugais a pris place.

1. Tixier, Inizan, Roche, 1980 ; 2. Tixier, 1963 ; 3. Tixier, 1974  ; 4. Inizan, Roche, Tixier, 1992 ; 5. Nos collègues préhistoriens, Joachim Hahn (Université de Tiibingen) pour l’allemand, Sultan Muhesen (Directeur général des Antiquités et des Musées de Syrie) pour l’arabe, Sergio Ripoll (Université nationale « a Distancia », Madrid) pour l’espagnol, Antiklia Moundrea pour le grec, Daniella Zampetti (Université « La Sapienza », Rome) pour l’italien et Luis Raposo (Musée national d’archéologie de Lisbonne) pour le portugais, ont pris en charge cette transcription.