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The study of stone tools is often called lithic analysis by archaeologists.

Stone tools may be made of chipped stone or ground stone. Chipped stone tools are made from cryptocrystalline materials such as chert, radiolarite , chalcedony or obsidian via a process known as lithic reduction. One simple form of reduction is to strike stone flakes from a nucleus (core) of material using a hammerstone or similar hard hammer fabricator. If the goal of the reduction strategy is to produce flakes, the remnant lithic core may be discarded once it has become too small to use. In some strategies, however, a flintknapperA flintknapper is an individual who manufactures stone tools through the process of lithic reduction. This is done by using a fabricator, such as a hammerstone, to remove lithic flakes from a nucleus or core of tool stone. More refined work can be done us reduces the core to a rough unifacialIn archeology, a uniface is a specific type of stone tool that has been flaked on one surface only. Such tools can be placed into two general classes: 1) modified flakes and 2) formalized tools, which display deliberate, systematic modification of the mar or bifacialIn archaeology, a biface is a two-sided stone tool, manufactured through a process of lithic reduction, that displays flake scars on both sides. Bifacial artifacts can be made on large flakes or lithic cores, and may be grouped into numerous distinct clas preformA preform is the rough, incomplete and unused basic form of a stone tool formed by lithic reduction. Typically, a preform is the shaped remnant of a lithic core. Larger and thicker than the intended tool, it lacks the final trimming and refinement that is, which is further reduced using soft hammer flaking techniques or by pressure flakingIn lithic reduction, pressure flaking is a method of trimming the edge of a stone tool by removing small lithic flakes by pressing on the stone with a sharp instrument rather than striking it with a percussor. This method, which often uses punches made fr the edges. More complex forms of reduction include the production of highly standardized blades, which can then be fashioned into a variety of tools such as scraperIn archeology, scrapers are unifacial tools that were used either for hideworking or woodworking purposes. Whereas this term is often used for any unifacially flaked stone tool that defies classification, most lithic analysts maintain that the only true ss, knives, sickleFor the fictional unit of money called a "sickle", see Money in Harry Potter. A sickle is a curved, hand-held agricultural tool typically used for harvesting grain crops before the advent of modern harvesting machinery. It consists of a curved blade withs and microliths . In general terms, chipped stone tools are nearly ubiquitous in all pre-metal-using societies because they are easily manufactured, the tool stone is usually plentiful, and they are easy to transport and sharpen.

Ground stone tools are maufactured from larger-grained materials such as basalt and some forms of rhyolite, which are not suitable for flaking. Because of their coarse surfaces, many ground stone tools are ideal for grinding plant foods. Some ground stone tools are incidental, caused by use with other tools: mano s, for example, are hand stones used in conjunction with metate s, and develop their ground surfaces through wear. Other ground stone tools include adzes, celts, and axes, which are manufactured using a labor-intensive, time-consuming method of repeated grinding against a harder stone, often using water as a lubricant.

Another type of stone that may be considered an artifact, but is manifestly not a stone tool, is burnt or fire-cracked rock, also abbreviated as FCR. Fire-cracked rock is rock of any type that has been altered and split by deliberate heating. It is a feature of many archaeological sites, particularly in the south-central United States. FCR is occasionally confused with heat-treated tool stone, but the latter is a different type of material resulting from a different heating process.