Experimental research examining Later Acheulian handaxes often equates their production with expert knapping skill. Yet knapping mishaps, including step and hinge fractures, mismanaging cross-sectional proportions and transverse breaks are common throughout manufacturing stages and may represent an important source of morphological variability. Recent investigations of handaxes from the ~400 ka Area 1 locality at Amanzi Springs have suggested that the large and asymmetric proportions of these tools may relate the abundance of step and hinge fractures and excessive thick edges that impeded reduction. This study uses both geometric and traditional morphometric techniques to explore the effects of knapping mishaps on the reduction and morphology of Amanzi Springs handaxes. Results suggest that interpretations of Acheulian technological skill can benefit from examining the occurrence of production errors, which may account for some of the morphological differences in handaxes observed on both diachronic and geographic scales.

检验后阿舍利手斧的实验研究常常将它们的生产等同于专业的敲击技能。然而，敲击事故，包括台阶和铰链断裂、横截面比例管理不当和横向断裂在整个制造阶段都很常见，并且可能是形​​态变异的重要来源。最近对 Amanzi Springs 约 400 ka 区域 1 地区的手斧的调查表明，这些工具的大而不对称比例可能与台阶和铰链断裂的丰度以及阻碍复位的过厚边缘有关。本研究同时使用几何和传统形态测量技术来探索敲击事故对 Amanzi Springs 手斧的减少和形态的影响。