It includes a range of tool types: side scrapers, points, notched pieces, and denticulates, plus the Levallois cores and prepared core fragments that represent the technological process of manufacturing those tools.

The presence of specific tool types in specific proportions tells researchers something about what the cave’s occupants were doing.

Scrapers are associated with hide processing — the preparation of animal skins for clothing, containers, bedding, and other uses.

Points are associated with hunting, particularly the production of hafted projectile tips.

The diversity of the assemblage at Shanidar suggests that the cave was a multi-purpose residential site, not a specialized location used only for specific activities.

Some of the stone tools show evidence of hafting — of having been attached to wooden handles or shafts.