WHAT IS THE CORE ?

CORE: 1. A piece of stone used as a blank from which flakes or blades were removed by prehistoric toolmakers. Usually it was the byproduct of toolmaking, but it may also have been shaped and modified to serve as an implement in its own right. An object, such as a hand ax, chopper, or scraper made in this way is a core tool. Cores were most often produced when hit by a pebble, antler, or bone hammer. [blank, nucleus] 2. A black or gray zone in the interior crosssection of a vessel wall, usually associated with incomplete removal of carbonaceous matter from the clay during relatively low-temperature firing; not to be confused with black coring at high temperatures, which results from trapped gases and may lead to bloating. [coring (n.)]