racloir Chiefly Archæol.
(ˈræklwɑː(r))
[a. Fr., = scraper.]
A scraper, esp. of a type discovered amongst the remains of the Mousterian period of the Middle Palæolithic period.
| 1892 P. L. Simmonds Commercial Dict. Trade Products 311/2 Racloir, a scraper; a grater; an instrument to strike off the heaped corn in a measure. 1923 Nature CXII. 118/2 The latest group which is found upon the Stoke Newington ‘floor’ is a clearly-defined Mousterian industry, with fine examples of both racloirs and of the equally characteristic trimmed-flake points. 1935 Antiquity IX. 118 [Flint] blades of Upper Palaeolithic facies, racloirs, tranchets, and carinated fragments. 1956 A. L. Armstrong in D. L. Linton Sheffield vi. 94 Zones II and III yielded quartzite hand-axes, racloirs, and scrapers displaying great skill and a refined technique. |