Prehistoric tools were made from many different materials. The most common tools in the archaeological record are those made from rocks and minerals. This is due to their ability to preserve well and not disintegrate over time. Prehistoric humans would seek out stones that would break in predictable ways and could be easily manipulated. These included flint, obsidian, chert, and different versions of quartz. Sometimes prehistoric humans would use fire to heat the raw stone material and make it easier to shape into a tool. As tools became more specialized, the types of materials used to make them expanded. Prehistoric humans began to use bones, antlers, wood, and other organic matter to help them with their daily activities. They would also combine materials to make their tools. For example, they would use wood for shafts of spears or arrows and attach these to stone projectile points using a thread made from animal hide and glue made from plant resin. As humans moved throughout the world, they encountered new types of materials that they could use to create new tools. For example, stone tools made of flint are very common in Western Europe while tools made of obsidian (volcanic glass) are much more common in Eastern Africa.

Archaeologists are always trying to understand how prehistoric humans lived. One way they do this is by recreating past peoples' daily activities using the artifacts left behind in the archaeological record. This type of archaeology is known as experimental archaeology. One activity that archaeologists have replicated is the process of making stone tools or flintknapping. Flintknapping is the process of removing flakes from a stone core in order to shape the core into a tool or make flakes for use as tools themselves. The toolmaker strikes the stone intentionally to get the desired shape, size, and sharpness. The first stone tools were made by hammering, or simply by striking one stone with either another stone or a tool made from antler or bone. Later tools, like arrow points, were made by using a technique known as pressure flaking. In this process, humans applied pressure against the flake rather than striking to remove it. Pressure flaking is much more accurate than hammering. After the general shape of the tool is established, it can be further refined, polished, and sharpened over time. Archaeologists have learned about flintknapping by studying the many examples they have found of flakes and cores that were discarded during the process of making stone tools.

The discipline of archaeology has changed dramatically since the time when average people were searching for strange or exotic objects. Today's archaeologists carefully excavate sites by recording the context and stratigraphic relationship of the objects they recover. Archaeologists are careful to take detailed notes during the entire process. When people continue to live in the same location for a long period of time, they build on the remains of those who lived there before, thus creating layers of remains that can be studied to learn how people lived and how they interacted with other groups. Excavation, however, is only part of the process of archaeology. Today the archaeologist may use techniques of the chemical or physical sciences to study materials used in the past and to determine where they were made and if they were brought into a site from somewhere else. Another approach is that of experimental archaeology where archaeologists attempt to recreate the objects of the past to understand the process by which the objects were made. Examples of experimental archaeology might be making tools (e.g., flintknapping) or by attempting to recreate some special type of pottery.