Final answer:
Aurignacian tools represent an advancement over Oldowan tools through refined flint knapping and the production of blade tools that were long, thin, and more efficient. Acheulean hand-axes are symmetrical and bifacial, indicating cognitive and motor skill improvement, whereas Oldowan tools were simpler cores used for basic tasks.
Step-by-step explanation:
Distinguishing Aurignacian from Oldowan Tools
The Aurignacian tool industry is distinct from the Oldowan in a few key ways. Aurignacian tools are part of the Upper Paleolithic blade tool industry and reflect advanced techniques and a greater diversity in tool creation. Unlike Oldowan tools which were made through hard hammer percussion creating basic cores, Aurignacian and Acheulean tools employed more sophisticated flint knapping techniques. These methods included the use of soft hammer techniques to create bifaces, and later, the blade tools of the Aurignacian were long and thin with sharp edges, more efficient than the flake-based tools of the Oldowan.
Acheulean hand-axes were symmetrical and bifacial, showing improvement in cognitive abilities and motor skills compared to the Oldowan tools which were cruder and made by striking rocks together to produce a sharp edge. The Oldowan tools were primarily used for cutting, scraping, and chopping with their core serving as the basic utensil. In contrast, Acheulean tools, and eventually Aurignacian blade tools, were more diverse, including hand-axes, small knives, scraping and engraving tools meticulously crafted from a variety of materials including stone, bone, and antler.