Ancient stone tools were made by chipping away flakes from a stone, which in archaeological terms is known as a process of “reduction.” These flakes can provide archaeologists with useful information in several ways. First, by reattaching the flakes to the stone core, like a puzzle, it is sometimes possible to create a “refitted core” that shows the shape of the original stone. These refitted cores can provide valuable information about how Paleolithic stone tools were produced. Also, the distribution pattern of the flakes and the stone core at the site can provide information on the degree of transformation that the site may have experienced.